Osama, Ollie, and Al – Awkward Alliteration Attempts Abound

In Chapter 7, authors Jackson and Jamieson feature the controversy surrounding Osama Bin Laden, Oliver North, and Al Gore to illustrate the importance of verifying facts one finds on the internet in order to form opinions based on legitimate facts (thus repeating the same conclusion that is reached in every single chapter, but with the inclusion of computers). In this particular controversy, which occurred “within weeks of September 11”, an anonymous e-mail began to circulate stating that conservative senator Oliver North had been warning Congress about the dangers of bin Laden and al Qaeda for years, but that a number of prominent liberal senators, most notably Al Gore, had completely dismissed his testimony.

Almost immediately, information was unearthed that resulted in the complete disproval of this rumor, but for many who didn’t bother to do their research and blindly followed the hype the lie continued to be real. Obviously, many people were unjustly influenced by false information, and this may have affected them during such events as elections. However, rather than allow such people the excuse of ignorance to explain their actions, I would simply like to once again point out the “duh” factor of this entire chapter. Perhaps it comes from being of the generation that grew up with the internet, using it so consistently in settings like school where we were told that all of our information had to be verified, but I cannot comprehend how anyone would have been able to receive a message such as this one and not try to figure out whether it was true or false, especially before passing it on, as this chain e-mail quickly was. It is of course true that when this scandal first occurred in 2001, it was in the earlier days of the internet, and fact-verifying sites were less well-known and harder to find. But still. Sheesh.