By Ande Jacobson

I recently received a review copy of an upcoming book by Teri Kanefield and illustrator Pat Dorian that’s coming out in February 2024, and it’s a good one. Their new book entitled, A Firehose of Falsehood: The Story of Disinformation, is a graphic novel providing an extremely well-sourced history and use of disinformation and the damage it can do. Many of the scenes depicted are fictionalized accounts to illustrate aspects of how disinformation grew into the powerful, malevolent tool it has become. It’s not new and in fact has its origins in ancient times. The ways in which disinformation is deployed have evolved with our technology to the point where it’s become so ubiquitous, it’s often hard for people to recognize. In the end, the only real protection we have is to wear a figurative raincoat to protect ourselves from its onslaught and be ever vigilant in verifying the information we consume through reputable sources. That raincoat consists of awareness, education, and care. It takes effort, but the alternative is bleak. This upcoming book is considered a crossover YA/Adult work, and as I was reading, it sparked a bit of Rocky and Bullwinkle nostalgia in the sense that it seemed to hit on multiple levels.

The original Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle from the early 1960s was a cartoon that appealed to kids and adults alike. Kids enjoyed the madcap antics of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and his loyal companion, Bullwinkle J. Moose. For adults, the tongue-in-cheek cold war satire provided clever, topical entertainment.

In the case of Kanefield and Dorian’s upcoming book, as a graphic novel it of course has a comic book appeal. The story moves in short bursts of action and dialog amplified by dramatic, four-color artwork. It even includes some ironic, nerdy humor, yet the subject is deadly serious. Some of the early portion of the book detailing the more ancient history of disinformation is a bit disjoint, but as the story moves into more recent history, the plot becomes more focused and relatable. Many of the events are familiar, and as they are explained in the book a reader can gain a far deeper appreciation and understanding of them. Even though specific sequences are dramatizations, dialogue from various transcripts of public speeches and videos is seamlessly integrated giving the exchanges additional weight.

The book is bounded by an introduction defining the concept of disinformation through anecdotes of Stalin’s campaigns and an epilogue chronicling Trump’s Big Lie and the future of American democracy. In between it is broken into ten topical chapters. While there is no table of contents up front, following the epilogue there is an extensive notes section and an even more comprehensive bibliography of legal documents and books.

The chapters are as follows:

1. Ancient Lies
2. Disinformation and the Printing Press
3. Fascism and Myth-Making
4. Nazi Germany and The Big Lie
5. Active Measures
6. Russia Attacks America
7. Disinformation Destroys
8. The American Public Sphere Takes a Beating
9. The Desire to Destroy
10. Wear Raincoats

Reading the book as the graphic novel it is intended to be is a quick read. The story begins with a Mao Zedong quote on page 3 noting that “A lie repeated a hundred times becomes the truth.” The story ends on page 223, and the rest is reference material. Along the way, a clear history emerges. In addition to showing how disinformation has been used through the ages, Kanefield provides useful definitions for the various methods that have been developed along with guidance on how to recognize them.

Near the beginning of the book, Kanefield provides working definitions of some basic terms that are sometimes misunderstood.

Kanefield also takes care to discuss the three sources of authority defined by Max Weber:

• Traditional: Authority is derived through traditions such as in a monarchy or a theocracy.
• Rational-Legal: Authority is defined by a system of laws and is the basis for democracy.
• Charismatic Leadership: Authority is wielded by a strongman/dictator. Fascism is an example of this type of leadership and is a more recent development dating back to the early 20th Century arising from failed democracies. Fascist leaders generally gain their positions through legal means and then destroy the legal foundation once they are in power for the purpose of remaining in power.

So what are the various methods of employing disinformation? Several of them include:

• Lies (the bigger the better), rumors, and malicious gossip.
• Concealed warfare employing lies to sow discord and division and demoralize an enemy.
• Scapegoat a defined group to create an enemy.
• Conspiracy theories to amplify underlying fears and prejudices.
• Myth-making to attack an enemy or boost the in-group.
• Discredit the truth.
• Active measures encompass numerous methods to actively spread false information to a target audience and prevent honest discussion. Methods include whataboutism, censorship through noise, and false balance (a form of noise).

Kanefield and Dorian provide detailed examples of how the various methods are used. They include historical context in colorful vignettes that clearly show the sender and receiver and the consequences of such actions. They show how each technological advancement created upheavals in society from the printing press to the advent of the internet and finally social media. While each advancement had great benefits, they also amplified the malicious activities of those peddling disinformation turning a trickle of disinformation into a firehose of constant exposure.

The biggest casualty of successful disinformation campaigns is the truth. If a society doesn’t have a common understanding of a fact-based reality, division and dysfunction are inevitable. The division that disinformation sows is the single biggest threat to democracy.

So what can we do? Kanefield and Dorian provide some useful advice in how we can effectively wear raincoats to protect against the firehose of disinformation pummeling us from all sides. They show explicitly that given the volume of the disinformation constantly flowing, it’s impossible to counter it all with facts. The key is to make everyone aware its existence and teach them how to recognize it. It requires vigilance on all our parts. They provide a handy warning of the dangers we face along with some recommendations of how to be safe online.

Beyond the online precautions, they stress the following actions we can all work toward:

• Support education.
• Support good journalism and educating journalists to move away from just seeking clicks.
• Watch out for false equivalences.
• Believe in the truth – truth matters.
• Don’t amplify disinformation – use a truth sandwich rather than repeating a lie.
• Support institutions.
• Get involved in democracy.
• Push to regulate social media ads.
• Repair the public square so that arguments are based on facts and rational thinking, not rage induced rants; allow all who want to participate to do so; and explore different ideas.

Smoky the Bear comes to mind in all of this. Only we the people can stop, or at least defang, disinformation.

Look for this informative book in February 2024.  

---

References:

A Firehose of Falsehood, written by Teri Kanefield and illustrated by Pat Dorian
https://terikanefield.com/
https://agoodreedreview.com/2023/03/20/book-disinformation-warrior/

---

A Good Reed Review also gratefully accepts donations via PayPal to help defray the costs of maintaining this site without creating paywalls.

---