Fiction as Fact

People say believe half of what you see
Son and none of what you hear
--Marvin Gaye

Timely example of media influence on politics. Recent survey data show that nearly 60% of Democrat respondents believe that Russia tampered with vote tallies in order to get Donald Trump elected president. Moreover, 35% of Independents and 15% of Republican respondents also indicated belief in Russian tampering.

This is despite no supporting evidence and multiple on-the-record denials by FBI and DHS officials.

What there has been, of course, is a deluge of grapevine journalism that has been reporting rumors and hearsay related to Russia and Trump to information consumers.

The above results are consistent with strategic information transmission research. When consuming information presented by politically motivated media, people can be fooled into believing lies.