Election season can be a tumultuous time of uncertainty, disagreement and stress, and many feel defenseless against this turmoil. However, strong opinions never justify hatred toward opposing viewpoints.
Media literacy is increasingly important in our current fragmented media environment, where we are constantly bombarded with information from every direction. We’re drowning in scandal, sensation and dramatization, and it can be hard to discern fact from opinion when the two have seemed to merge seamlessly.
Know where your information is coming from– understand what sources are being used and the intention behind the sources while checking your own biases.
Make your voice heard through voting but educate yourself on each candidate’s policies and plans for their term.
Vote for someone because you care, not because everyone else is doing it.
Equally as important, try not to get involved in conversations and debates that you’re uneducated on. It’s important to educate yourself on various topics of debate, instead of spreading harmful or inaccurate information just to seem smarter or more in-touch.
You don’t have to know everything about every candidate, every policy or every issue, so don’t be afraid to back out of debates that you don’t fully understand.
The Editorial Board of The Chanticleer would like to remind everyone that it is OK to have open conversations with those who have opposing opinions, and doing so in a respectful manner can go a long way. We understand the two presidential candidates are vastly different, but everyone’s choices and opinions are a result of their own personal experiences and values.
“People must start listening to each other, rather than seeing who can argue the loudest,” The Chanticleer’s Managing Editor/Print Madisyn Padgett said in “Professor weighs in on election tensions”