Fairfield Updates and Resources

June 15, 2020
Yesterday was Flag Day. As a native of the Philadelphia area, I grew up with the hometown connection to Betsy Ross and Independence Hall. Coming from a military family, I was steeped in the tradition of flying the flag on Flag Day, Memorial Day and 4th of July, to name a few, a tradition I have continued with my family. In recent days, I have been reminded that what for me has been a symbol of freedom is not be the same for others, particularly the black and brown members of our community. However we each view the flag itself, I hope that we will all continue to uphold the ideals of free speech for all members of our society.

I wanted to take a moment to talk about free speech as it relates to the information we consume, whether online, in print or on TV. First of all, free speech does not mean hate speech. And when we are exercising our right to free speech, it is important to understand the role of disinformation and misinformation in threatening our democracy.

A little over a week ago, I attended an Election Security webinar hosted by the USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative. Besides cybersafety, the presentation focused on disinformation and misinformation. As the USC team notes on their website, “Validating information in the age of information is becoming increasingly difficult. We now consume news over a 24 hour cycle. Hackers and bad actors are trying to take advantage of unfiltered, unfettered content, so it’s important to know what’s real, and…what’s not. We will address misinformation from deep fake to false advertising and news to help keep you on the lookout.”
 
During the webinar, they described disinformation as false information meant to appear credible, but intended to deceive and confuse, to distort the facts. There is usually a strong emotional pull.

Misinformation, on the other hand is false information, without an intent to deceive. Misinformation spreads because we all have a confirmation bias, or a tendency to believe those things that align with how we see the world. It can also be a fake narrative that does not include the full context of a conversation or visual image. And finally, it can spread because we are all guilty of staying in our echo chambers. Social media algorithms keep us there, seeing what we like. Bipartisan or non-partisan content often receives less attention.
 
A few years ago, I attended a leadership seminar at the University of Pennsylvania and the Dean of the Communications school emphasized these same points. In other words, consume your media with awareness. Think before you share. If you are uncertain about the veracity of your information, don’t share it or even consider reporting the content. If it is related to an election campaign, consider contacting a campaign official directly.

These are all things we can do to protect our freedom and democracy.

If you are a small business who applied for PPP or even if you did not, continue to access the free support and technical assistance available through organizations like the Connecticut Small Business Development Center and Women’s Business Development Council. As we navigate this pandemic, there will continue to be many questions, and these professionals are available to help. Take advantage of these resources.

Fairfield CARES is excited to announce that through June 17th, you can access a number of individual on-demand replays of the movie "Angst" AND the excellent post-movie panel discussion at your leisure.

Just click here and login with the credentials:

Previous Updates:

June 12
June 4
June 3
June 2
May 29
May 28
May 27
May 26
May 21
May 20
May 19
May 18
May 15
May 14
May 11
May 7
May 5
May 4
May 1
April 30
April 29

April 27
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April 22
April 20
April 17
April 15
April 14
April 13
April 8
April 6
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April 4
April 2
April 1
March 31
March 26
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March 17

March 16