Faith & Fake News with Rachel Wightman

Most Christians have encountered phony posts on our feeds meant to rile us up. But not everything we see on social media is so obviously absurd. As online spaces increase in importance, we urgently need to consider how to love our neighbors on the internet—and this includes sharing the truth. Rachel I. Wightman is a librarian, an educator, and a believer in finding the integration of faith and fact-checking. She is the associate director for instruction and outreach at Concordia University, St. Paul. Prior to moving to Minnesota in 2012, she spent two years as librarian and missionary in Kampala, Uganda. 1. Tell us about your background and why you decided to write this book? 2. The last handful of years have been challenging with the pandemic, politics, and racial tension. What are some observations you have noticed about how people educate themselves on these matters? -You mention that algorithms influence us in Chapter 1. -In Chapter 2 you mention paywalls that myth of free information. 3. In Chapter 4 you cover “noticing our emotions”, why is this important? -In chapter 3 you mentioned that if a comment is removed we can become mistrustful or we label something as fake news out of frustration. Why do we respond this way? 4. In Chapter 5 “learning to evaluate” you talk about lateral reading. Give us an overview of what a healthy information gathering process looks like? -People have become quite cynical towards supposed “experts”, what might you want people to consider? (It seems like people see themselves as the experts!) 5. As Christians, how do we balance God’s word with the realities of the culture around us? -Sometimes people can become aloof or culturally out of touch in the name of being separate from the world. This can lead to being insensitive towards those who are hurting or different. How can we balance being not of the world and being all things to all people?