Recognizing & Calling out ‘Information Omission’
Lying by Omission is another form of Disinformation
Recognizing & Calling out ‘Information Omission’
Today’s information architecture is becoming increasingly complex. It includes radio, print and television stations, publishing houses, online repositories of information, website and phone based apps and tools that allow for an ever easier creation of websites, online posts, video and audio recordings, etc. by individuals, institutions, think tanks, businesses of all sizes and many more organizations with messages to share. In addition, a dizzying array of social media sites puts the tools of sharing information into the hands of nearly every individual with access to the internet.
Originally, the inadvertent or intentional censors of information were those few individuals who had access to paper, pencil and the printing press. Now it is the designers and distributors of social media and other websites who have the power to censor the words and ideas being shared with the populace. In today’s news, there are frequent references to the current “information war” or to people or entities who “hijack the narrative”.
Not far behind, there are countless references to the information triad: misinformation, disinformation and malinformation (MDM). These have been defined by the Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity as follows:
Lying by Omission - One way to spread Misinformation
The Canadian government seeks to promote “Information Integrity” through its Global Declaration on Information Integrity Online. (Link) It states:
The term “information integrity” is defined in this Declaration as an information ecosystem that produces accurate, trustworthy, and reliable information, meaning that people can rely on the accuracy of the information they access while being exposed to a variety of ideas. By using the term “information integrity,” we wish to offer a positive vision of a broader information ecosystem that respects human rights and supports open, safe, secure, prosperous and democratic societies.
It can be noted that in its definition of “disinformation”, the Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity neglected to include “omission” as a key factor in the information ecosystem. And yet, we learn from those who deal with psychological impacts of information provision that:
Lying by omission can be used to spread disinformation if people develop an incorrect impression based on partial information. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/ blog/mental-mishaps/202108/erasing-memories-lies-omission-can-spread-disinformation
How can one recognize Information Omission?
If one does not know what one is looking for, one will not 3ind it. Look at sources of media that are NOT affiliated with government or corporate funds and check the headlines presented there. Then double check if the topics or the details are being included in or omitted from the “mainstream” i.e. corporate or government funded/controlled media.
When comparing stories in both types of media, consider the key questions Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, but also these questions traditionally formulated in Latin:
- Cui bono? if the assertions here are true, who could possibly benefit from people like me believing them?
- Cui malo? “who suffers?” or “bad for whom?” Asking who suffers or will suffer from a given action or event shines another light on certain news stories.
- Cui prodest? “who profits?” This question is used to raise a similar question as ‘cui bono’, and specifically in order to point out the fact that those who benefit from a certain event are likely to be responsible for it. (Source)
Also ask, given what I already know from (XYZ source) what is NOT being stated here? Which aspect is simply relegated to the sidelines or actually not mentioned, at all? Who would benefit from the general population NOT knowing this? Which risk might I pose to the party/parties involved if I became the media and taught others the missing context or details? Who has the most to lose if we stop certain injections or lay down our weapons?
How can one guard against Information Omission?
The best way to immunize one’s self against Information Omission in the media is to ensure that one follows a wide range of media types and sources. In other words, one needs “a healthy news diet” that consists not only of government and corporate backed/funded/operated media platforms but that also includes a large serving of many different independent sources from a wide range of cultural, geographic, political and economic perspectives. Then it becomes much easier to spot MISSING information where others claim they are pointing at MISinformation.
People are told that to report on a certain topic is to misinform the public. The public is led to believe a certain thing. The public makes demands of their policy makers around their misinformed belief. The policy makers are also part of the public and have been lead to believe that certain thing, unaware of all the missing context around and details related to this belief. Policies are made that support or even enshrine the belief. If the resulting policies are harmful, people will not be told and the level of harm continues or worsens. This entire time people are shaped to believe their information sources are acting with integrity and are providing the complete context and correct details. They are also led to believe that those who point to omitted information are misleading them. Those “whistleblowers” and the omitted information are then mocked, vilified or punished in some way in an attempt to silence them. Those doing the silencing may or may not be unaware of what is in actually being left out of the news coverage they have been following.
Instead of allowing ourselves to be spoon-fed like toddlers, by having corporate and/or government backed and censored media choose which items to include in our “news diet” we should seek to access a wide open buffet of information. We need to believe that we, as informed, critically thinking adults, are able to use our own intellects to discern matters for ourselves.
What are the consequences of Information Omission?
In nature, when someone threatens to come too close to the nest, one of the birds sets up a decoy, suggestively flying in another direction, leading the potential predator away. In the case of those who could be harmed if certain truths were to come out (harmed in the case of financial losses should certain practices and consequences of these practices become too widely known) those protecting the “nest” will lead people in all sorts of other directions. It becomes a vicious circle. Many tactics used within the information ecosystem function as the decoy bird and distract attention away from particular content. Information Omission is similar. Certain information is shared. Other information is accidentally or purposefully hidden or otherwise kept from view and attention. People don’t know the birds even exist.
How should one respond to Information Omission?
In the case of geopolitical information as in the example of Dialogue Works, if you hear anything from the geopolitical experts presented that your regular news channel is not talking about, or presenting only from a one sided perspective (insinuating that the other side is guilty of promoting misinformation) this could be a chance to send the news directors of those platforms a quick email, asking why the particular topic is NOT being covered, or why only experts with one view are highlighted. Especially if that viewpoint presented runs counter to the views of the expert analysts commenting outside of the mainstream media bubble and provides more profit for a certain interest group, like the war machine. Direct those delivering the news to the interviews with experts listed below.
If Covid-19 coverage has taught us anything, it should be that “protecting people from misinformation" via a media that ignores, deflects, misrepresents information has been deadly.
Remind our news providers of the requirements that govern their professions, requirements around “defending the public’s interest”. These can be found here: https://canadianshareablenews.substack.com/p/are-our-canadian-media-living-up
Defending the public’s interest includes “promoting the free flow of information”, “exposing crime or wrongdoing”, "protecting public health and safety”, and “preventing the public from being misled”
News organizations – including newspapers, websites, magazines, radio and television – are to “provide forums for the free interchange of information and opinion. As such, they should seek to include views from all segments of the population and to “make room for the interests of all: minorities and majorities, those with power and those without it, holders of disparate and conflicting views” (Source)
What happens when we do not push back against Information Omission?
When it comes to geopolitics, the longer we accept the status quote, the less likely it becomes that we can still stop the current ridiculous march to more and more military conflicts. As a US war correspondent living in Donbass, stated:
“Politics and war can best be exemplified by the game of chess. In chess, there are three specific stages - the opening, the middle game, and the end game. The opening is when the two opponents move their pawns into a defensive line and develop the major pieces for maneuver. It is relatively bloodless, and if done correctly, more strategic than tactical. There is no defining moment when the game transitions from the opening game to the middle game, but the middle game is where the fighting really begins, and you know it when you get there.
The middle game is where the majority of pieces are lost, the fighting is most intense, and surprise moves are most likely. The game can often end in checkmate during this phase, with one side being totally defeated by a surprise move they did not see coming. Remember that.
If there is no surprise defeat, the middle game is usually short, and when it is over, the chessboard is vastly different than when it began. In the end game, the majority of pieces on both sides have been eliminated, only a few pieces remain - the kings, of course, and a few pieces close to them, defending them. From here, the game ends in checkmate, a definitive defeat of one side or the other, or a stalemate, where both sides agree that neither can win, thus ending the game, and agreeing to start over at some time in the future.
Russ Bentley reposted by Media Studies professor Mark Crispin Miller here:
Our government funded press, Big Corp, Big Tech, including those who gathered as part of the world’s largest corporate lobby group in Davos, Switzerland at the latest annual gathering of the World Economic Forum, continue lobbying for even MORE censorship, and for even more expert voices to be silenced.
Organizations outside of the "Trusted News Initiative” censorship apparatus such as Reclaim the Net https://reclaimthenet.org and Wide Awake Media https://wide-awake-media.com make a point of informing their followers of the deliberations regarding an INCREASE in tech-based censorship which will lead to even more Information Omission. Meanwhile, the CBC, AP, AFP, BBC, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Facebook, Financial Times, Google/YouTube, Microsoft, Reuters, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Twitter, The Washington Post are all part of the so-called "Trusted News Initiative" working together to decoy the news watching public away from the consequences of increased Information Omission. When prophetic, informed voices are left OUT of the global discussion, we are all the poorer for it, more and more well intentioned and uninformed decision makers are lead to believe that to act for ceasefires and peace negotiations is WRONG, and so military spending and death counts continue to mount without examination.
Four Places to Start
FOR GEOPOLITICAL TOPICS
By learning from the experts, as the host of the YouTube Channel Dialogue Works asks clear questions to gain insight into their expertise we can all teach peace, one dialogue at a time, by better understanding the roots behind and the disastrous implications of the current conflicts of our day. Hopefully the interviews on Dialogue Works help us all to understand the bigger picture around the major worrying issues of our time and put aside our preconceived notions based on years of omitted information. Dialogue Works can be found here https://www.youtube.com/@dialogueworks01 , with brief summaries of the biographies of some of the experts most frequently interviewed can be found here: (LINK TO BE ADDED) A similar excellent tool is the Youtube channel Judging Freedom run by retired US Judge Tony Napolitano where a similar lineup of veteran geopolitical experts is regularly interviewed. https://www.youtube.com/@judgingfreedom
FOR TOPICS RELATED TO COVID-19
The website Totality of Evidence https://totalityofevidence.com/ contains an extensive timeline of the events related to the declared COVID-19 pandemic, a collection of brief biographies of key whistleblowers and other evidence-based scientists, as well as links to what is referred to as “smoking guns”. This is evidence which in normal times (prior to the advent of full spectrum censorship) would have long been sufficient to recall the COVID-19 vaccine products and charge their manufacturer with charges related to fraud endangering human lives, or other related crimes.
People wishing to identify Information Omission can “fact check” any COVID-19 related claims around possible “safety and efficacy” of COVID-19 related products or measures by comparing those with the information referenced in the timeline or other parts of this website. They will find how much published evidence clearly demonstrating the lack of safety or efficacy was already available long before any vaccine mandates were enacted as conditions of employment in health care or the public service for example.
FOR TOPICS RELATED TO AGENDAS AROUND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Persistent Information Omission carried out by our “trusted news” platforms has led many people with a one-sided “news diet” to believe that any mention of schemes around global governance simply must be nothing more than “conspiracy theories.” The people behind Wide Awake Media believe as the saying goes, that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” They have compiled video clips of key individuals associated with a variety of “agendas” speaking on their visions for the future of the planet and its inhabitants. These “agendas” range from Agendas 21 and 2030, the “Great Reset”, the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, “Net Zero”, the “New World Order”, Transhumanism and more. The videos can be found under AGENDAS here: https://wide-awake-media.com/. It is true that when brief clips are taken out of context their intended meaning might not be well conveyed. So we note that this website functions as a starting point only and viewers are encouraged to find the complete recordings or related publications by the same speakers to draw their own conclusions. Then viewers can return to their regular mainstream sources and look for coverage of the same speeches and individuals. They then might notice that Information Omission is a major factor to consider when relying on mainstream media outlets today to keep us well-informed of world issues.
FOR TOPICS RELATED TO THE DECLARED CLIMATE CRISIS
A driving factor of the various agendas to enact global governance and surveillance around the “carbon footprints” of the world’s population has been the perceived need to “save the planet” by cutting CO2 emissions. Here too, one can recognize how Information Omission has long lasting effects. Documentaries that indicate how for the past decades, climate data has been carefully selected (i.e. cherry picked) to support certain interpretations are roundly vilified in an attempt to prevent people from seeing them. A starting point when trying to understand why and how there can be such opposing claims around what seems to be a clear cut case is this association of evidence-based climate scientists: https://clintel.org/. Is their data riddled with “misinformation” or are they providing information that has long been missing? Information Omission has deep and long lasting ramifications in our psyches and in the policies underpinning our lives.