Be Skeptical But Not Cynical: Advice From a Media Professor

“The key is to not be cynical, but skeptical… Cynicism is when we believe that everyone is lying, everyone has an agenda, and you can trust no one. Skepticism is when we have healthy doubt.”
    — Geoffrey Baym, on the 12 Geniuses episode

In the latest episode of “Debate Without Hate: Elections 2024” on the 12 Geniuses podcast, media expert Geoffrey Baym talks about news media, social media, and our toxic divides. He discusses how to think about media literacy during this contentious presidential election. 

 It’s healthy to be skeptical. Journalists and other content creators often get things wrong, and sometimes, the distortions are even intentional. Our toxic divides ramp up our emotions and fears, making bad and biased information even more common. 

Baym, professor of media studies and director of the PhD program in Media and Communication at Temple University, makes the case for embracing skepticism — and avoiding the temptation to be cynical. When we reject information simply because we perceive the person or outlet sharing it as “not being on our team,” that’s a problem. It leads to a fracturing of narratives, where we try to fit complex issues into us-versus-them buckets. We must try to be as skeptical of information shared by our political peers as we are of information shared by our political opponents. 

Baym also talks about how our cynicism and team-based filtering harms democracy: 

“I know I can turn on Fox News every single night, and I can find out what Joe Biden has done today to destroy America. Or I can turn on MSNBC and find out the ever-impending threat that Donald Trump poses. That, I think, characterizes so much of our media landscape, and it’s a tremendous disservice to national unity, but also, you know, to the democratic system itself.”

Watch this 12 Geniuses episode now. 

Want to stay in the loop about efforts to overcome toxic divisions? Sign up for our newsletter.