Abstract
In 2021, the term infodemic was coined to describe the state of misinformation about health and science that has the potential to undermine public health initiatives and endanger lives. The current infodemic, this essay argues, emerges in a digital culture that exacerbates three phenomena: distributed propaganda, the hollowing of local media ecosystems, and rampant media cynicism. This chapter uses these phenomena to introduce the concept of “civic distance.” Civic distance here reflects the increasing space between our media lives and the human interactions necessary for meaningful engagement in civic life. The comparison to the automobile is made to reinforce the impacts of “distance” on our interactions with others.
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Mihailidis, P. (2023). Civic Distance: Digital Culture’s Intrusion on Trust, Engagement, and Belonging. In: Fowler-Watt, K., McDougall, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Media Misinformation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11976-7_1
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