Do Facts Still Matter? Implications of "Truth Decay" for the practice of Public Relations

The Museum of Public Relations, in partnership with the Institute for Public Relations, hosted a timely conversation on the implications of "truth decay" for the practice of public relations. "Truth decay" is a term coined by the authors of a new RAND study to refer to the diminishing role of facts and analysis in public life.

The RAND Corporation’s new study Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life describes a set of trends—disagreements over objective facts, the blurring of opinion and facts, declining trust in formerly respected information sources, erosion of civil discourse, political paralysis, and alienation from political and civic institutions—that pose an important challenge to the field of public relations and, more broadly, to democracy itself.

A panel of distinguished PR practitioners and scholars reviewed the implications of this timely study.

Keynote

Jennifer Kavanagh, Ph.D., Associate Director, Strategy, Doctrine, and Resources Program, RAND Arroyo Center, co-author, Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life

Panelists

James Campbell, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University at Buffalo, SUNY
Patrick Ford, Worldwide Vice Chair and Senior Adviser, Burson-Marsteller
Tina McCorkindale, Ph.D., President and CEO, Institute for Public Relations
Mark Stouse, CEO, Proof Analytics
Norris West, Director of Strategic Communications, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Lucas Held, Director of Communications, The Wallace Foundation (moderator)