Caveat Nuntium

You Won’t Believe # 3 on this List

When I was a sophomore in high school, I read the book, The Hidden Persuaders, by Vance Packard.  It felt like I was learning little secrets that had been around me all the time, but I had never seen before.  It shocked me; but it also empowered me.  In this book, Packard gives countless examples where consumer research and psychology, like subliminal messaging by advertisers, manipulates our expectations and induces our desire for certain products.

This was my introduction to caveat emptor, or buyer beware.  I learned that advertisers are going to do what they are going to do to entice us to buy.  It became my job, our job, to be aware and make our own decisions based on what we want to buy and not what they want to sell.  Packard wrote that book in 1957, I read it for the first time in 1977.

Now, in 2024, I am coining the term caveat nuntium, which can translate to either beware the news or beware the message.  I know I have coined this because if you use the all-powerful Google to search for the two words together in a phrase, nothing comes up.  We all know Google would have found it.  My first cautionary tale is my sub-title.  There is no list.  No # 3.  And certainly not anything I write here will be something you can’t believe.  The sub-title is a ubiquitous example of titles, headings, and leads that pull us in as they play on our human curiosity. 

Have you ever read the Onion?  The Onion, publishing online since 1996, is an American satirical digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes articles on news.  Satire.  Funny.  Not real.  I am sure that I am not the first nor last who got duped, if only for a second, thinking what I was reading was true.  In time, I learned that the second I think something doesn’t sound right, that I should check the URL or source.  As soon as I see that, I can enjoy the satire for what it is. 

In 1994, we were introduced to Snopes, a website focused on debunking myths, urban legends, and untruths (we call those lies in New Hampshire).  In fact, in 2017, I was personally interviewed by Snopes, and I was able to debunk the false narrative about Skittles being the only food we were giving to survivors.  If you went to Snopes today, you can be assured that it is not illegal in Massachusetts to put tomatoes in clam chowder (it is simply tacky and gross, with all due respect to my friends in Manhattan). 

But here’s the thing.  False messages and finding the truth are nothing new.  However, the Onion is now just one grain in the sand of all the false news and messages we read, humorous or otherwise.  And Snopes does not have the bandwidth to correct all of the untrue narratives.  We must beware and be aware individually.  We must engage in caveat nuntium.

Recently, I have noticed that clickbait has evolved into clickfabrication.  I must have just coined that phrase as well because Microsoft Word just made me add it to my dictionary and, again, Google came up empty.   Here’s what I mean.  Clickbait was this thing where headlines and teasers would try to entice readers with headlines that were deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading.  Take my sub-title for instance, if there was a list, one could argue that it is a subjective opinion that # 3 could be difficult to believe.  Clickbait.  But if you have clicked on a half dozen headlines in the last week, the odds are very good that in at least one piece there is either fleeting or zero reference or connection to the headline.  And this is not just in random obscure social media.  It is happening in mainstream as well. 

Statistics are another form of news and message where we should beware.  I addressed this in more detail in an editorial I wrote last year.  In 2007, toothpaste company Colgate ran an ad stating that “80% of dentists recommend their product.” Based on the promotion, many shoppers assumed Colgate was the best toothpaste choice for their dental health.  That was clearly the implication.  In reality, the survey asked them to list several brands of toothpaste they would recommend.  We never learn the percentage of dentists who recommend other brands.  A lie is a lie even if it is a lie of omission.  Not cool.  And Colgate’s reputation suffered for a bit.  Statistics are often used in a crisis.  Hurricane Ida in 2021 was costlier than Hurricane Maria in 2017.  Sounds like Ida was worse, until you learn that there were varied report of about 100 deaths due to Ida, but more than 3,000 due to Maria.  Which sounds worse now?  No two crises are the same and to compare them or use statistics without context can leave the reader with the wrong understanding.  Unless the read is aware. 

Artificial Intelligence is the topic du jour of news, messages (and imagery for that matter) where we must beware.  I have written about AI not just once, but twice.   It would be easy if everything produced by AI was labeled as such, and to be fair, many are attributed that way.  Yet, it is still likely that every day we come across something AI generated that is not labeled.  To be clear, AI content is often true and accurate.  In fact, there are innumerable professionals engaged in creating, verifying, distributing, and teaching about the useful and honorable aspects of AI.  However, not all of it is truthful, useful, labeled, or honorable.  That puts the responsibility on us to be aware, to do our due diligence. 

Finally, if you talk to professional communicators, who worry the most about false news and messages, the most egregious forms are misinformation and disinformation.    Misinformation is false or misleading information, unintentionally, presented as fact.  When one believes something is accurate, but in reality, it is not.  Disinformation is false or misleading information purposefully distributed.  When one knows something to be untrue but shares it anyway.  The world continues to change.  Think about how many mediums and messages existed a few hundred years ago.  Even twenty years ago, compared to today.  When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press around 1536, many people feared that society would lose control of knowledge.  How little could they know the breadth and depth of what we would face today.

So, caveat nuntium is my philosophy.  Life can be fun, care-free, and relaxing.  And, we can stay on our toes, take time to question, and pursue truth.  The two concepts are not mutually exclusive.  In late 2010, I coined the term “Ussie” for a selfie-like photo with two or more people.  I have always been literal, and it bothered me to hear references to selfies with multiple subjects.  Fortunately, I have dozens of witnesses on Facebook that can back me up.  Since then, I have heard it used on Veep and more recently Ted Lasso.  The last time I Googled the history of the word it claimed it originated in 2013.  I am not credited.  Maybe I will have more luck with caveat nuntium and clickfabrication.  You are my witnesses.

In closing, I wrote above that the printing press was invented around 1536.  That is not true.  It was invented around 1436, and some claim that Gutenberg was not even the actual inventor.  See my point?  Caveat nuntium.

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