# We need a better, smarter electorate. Now ... how? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 10, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-better-smarter-electorate-now-how/1010021 "2024-11-10T13:53:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 41
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-better-smarter-electorate-now-how/1010021/41 "2024-11-10T18:33:15Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > My point is that it’s incredibly naïve to think that everything that is wrong with America is due to the insidious influence and incredible power of the propagandists, that if only the people weren’t being led astray the light of truth would dawn in their eyes and they’d wake up to how wrong they’ve been. It’s probably worth your while taking up that argument with somebody who actually _made_ that argument. But that person isn’t me. OTOH, when you look – again – at those who believe the 2020 election was stolen _from_ Trump _by_ the Democrats … > **[Where Do Election Deniers Get their News? | Hong Qu](https://hongqu.scholars.harvard.edu/presentations/where-do-election-deniers-get-their-news)** > > In response to deplatforming and law enforcement surveillance after January 6th, the election denial movement migrated to less moderated and traceable online platforms such as Truth Social, chat messengers, and podcasts. We reveal a list of popular... There’s value in understanding who clings tightly to outright fabrications, why they are susceptible to clinging to them, and where they encountered them initially and/or where they are powerfully reinforced. I’d also like to suggest – tagging @kenobi_65 just for grins – that nobody _ever_ wants to admit that _they’re_ influenced by advertising, propaganda, or marketing. And yet the annual advertising expenditures in the US are around $350-400BN. Why, then? I’m just going to graciously skip over your equating my view of the actual contemporary US misinformation data with the actions of the Third Reich, but please don’t make the mistake of assuming that I didn’t notice. I did 😉 ETA: here’s a link to the (11pp PDF) Fairleigh Dickinson study that I referenced above: [**What you know depends on what you watch: Current events knowledge across popular news sources**](https://portal.fdu.edu/fdupoll-archive/confirmed/final.pdf) You shouldn’t have _less_ factual knowledge by watching a given network than you would have if you watched nothing at all. We should all be able to agree on _at least_ that, I would think. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-better-smarter-electorate-now-how/1010021)._