>> A BIG DAY AHEAD TOMORROW, A BIG WEEK AHEAD, LEANN CALDWELL.
THANKS SO MUCH.
>> Reporter: THANK YOU
>>> WELL, BOTH SIDES OF THE
AISLE HOPING TO SWAY PUBLIC
OPINION WITH THE PUBLIC
IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS.
IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS. EVEN THOUGH THE HEARINGS ARE
HAPPENING LIVE THERE ARE A LOT
OF DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR
CONSUMING THEM FROM LIVESTREAMS
ALL DAY LONG TO CAREFULLY
SELECTED SNIPPETS ON TWITTER
CURATED BY WHO YOU FOLLOW.
NBC REPORTER DYLAN BYER TO HELP
US ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE LOOKS
DIFFERENT THAN THE LAST TIME THE
PRESIDENT WAS ANYWHERE NEAR
IMPEACHMENT.
IMPEACHMENT. HOW DOES THE DIGITAL MEDIA, ALL
OF THE OPTIONS HELP DEMOCRATS AS
THEY TRY TO MAKE THEIR CASE FOR
IMPEACHING THE PRESIDENT?
>> Reporter: IT IS A GREAT
QUESTION AND THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE
IS VERY DIFFERENT.
I THINK THE TWO SORT OF
HISTORICAL TOUCH POINTS TO GO
BACK TO ARE, ONE, THE WATERGATE
HEARINGS WITH NIXON AND THEN THE
IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS WITH FORMER
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON.
THE WAY THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE
SHIFTED OVER THAT TIME WAS
SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH.
SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE WATERGATE
HEARINGS YOU HAD A NATION THAT
WAS GRIPPED BY ONE SINGLE STORY,
LIVING IN A MEDIA ENVIRONMENT
WHERE YOU REALLY HAD JUST A FEW
TRUSTED SOURCES AND MORE OR LESS
WHILE PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE
DISAGREED OVER THE WATERGATE
HEARINGS THEY DIDN’T DISAGREE
OVER THE FACTS AS LAID OUT BY
THE BIG BROADCAST NETWORKS AND
THE MAJOR NEWSPAPERS.
BY THE TIME YOU GET TO THE
CLINTON IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS,
YOU ARE ALREADY TALKING ABOUT A
MUCH MORE FRACTURED MEDIA
ENVIRONMENT WHERE THERE’S A LOT
MORE AGGRESSIVE SPIN COMING FROM
THE REPUBLICAN AND THE
DEMOCRATIC SIDES, BUT YOU ARE
STILL IN A MEDIA LANDSCAPE WHERE
THERE ARE AGREED-UPON SOURCES.
FAST FORWARD TO TODAY.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. >> Reporter: AND WE’RE REALLY
TALKING ABOUT VERY, VERY SILOED
PARTS OF THIS COUNTRY, WHERE IF
YOU ARE PRO TRUMP YOU DON’T
REALLY HAVE TO HEAR OR EVEN GET
TO HEAR ANYTHING THAT WOULD
SUGGEST THAT THESE HEARINGS ARE
DAMAGING TO THE PRESIDENT, LET
ALONE THAT THESE HEARINGS ARE
LEGITIMATE.
LEGITIMATE. SO THE SORT OF BIFURCATION AND
POLARIZATION OF THE MEDIA THAT’S
TAKEN PLACE AS WELL AS THE
DEMONIZATION OF THE MEDIA THAT
HAS TAKEN PLACE, LARGELY AT THE
HANDS OF THIS PRESIDENT AND HIS
SUPPORTERS, HAS CREATED IN THIS
WORLD WHERE BY AND LARGE THE
IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS CAN PROCEED
AS THEY DO AND YOU MAY VERY WELL
NOT KNOW WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
GIVEN THE FILTER THROUGH WHICH
YOU’RE INTERPRETING THAT NEWS.
>> DYLAN, IT IS ONE THING,
RIGHT, YOU CAN SEE A CERTAIN
SLANT OR SOMEONE’S CERTAIN
PERSPECTIVE, BUT THEN THERE’S
MISSED INFORMATION ENTIRELY,
RIGHT?
RIGHT? WE KNOW IT IS A BIG ISSUE ON
SOCIAL MEDIA, THAT THERE ARE
CLIPS AND THINGS OUT THERE THAT
ARE JUST NOT TRUE.
HOW MUCH OF A CONCERN IS THAT AS
WELL NOW THAT PEOPLE ARE GETTING
SO MUCH OF THEIR NEWS ON SOCIAL
PLATFORMS?
PLATFORMS? >> Reporter: IT IS A HUGE
CONCERN.
CONCERN. BY THE WAY, FOR THE BIG TECH
COMPANIES THAT I COVER, THEY’RE
WRESTLING WITH THIS
MISINFORMATION ISSUE ALL THE
TIME.
TIME. THAT’S NOT JUST, YOU KNOW,
SLIGHT SORT OF DIFFERENT
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE FACTS.
THAT IS VERY OFTEN LEGITIMATELY
FAKE CONTENT THAT IS BEING
PRODUCED AND SORT OF MASS
MARKETED AT SCALE AND GOING
VIRAL.
VIRAL. I THINK THAT’S A MAJOR CONCERN
FOR THE TECH COMPANIES.
I ALSO THINK JUST GOING BACK TO
THE SORT OF BIFURCATION OF OLD
MEDIA, TELEVISION MEDIA, WE ARE
LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN
SEE CONSPIRACY THEORIES ON CABLE
NEWS.
NEWS. I MEAN JUST LAST NIGHT ON FOX
BUSINESS THERE WAS SOMEONE PROP
GATED THE CONSPIRACY THEORY THAT
SOMEHOW GEORGE SOROS WAS
CONTROLLING THE STATE
DEPARTMENT.
DEPARTMENT. >> REALLY?
>> REALLY? THERE’S ONE.
THERE’S ONE. >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. NO, TRULY.
NO, TRULY. SO THESE CONSPIRACY THEORIES
HAVE -- THEY’VE GONE BEYOND
SOCIAL MEDIA AND SORT OF COME
BACK TO THE MEDIA ITSELF.
YOU KNOW, YOU AND I HAVE HAD
THIS DISCUSSION BEFORE.
>> YES.
>> YES. >> BUT WE ARE LIVING IN A WORLD
WHERE IF YOU DON’T HAVE A
CERTAIN DEGREE OF MEDIA LITERACY
AND IF YOU’RE NOT COMING FROM A
PLACE WHERE YOU REALLY
UNDERSTAND WHO IS DOING THE REAL
WORK OF JOURNALISM AND WHO IS
JUST TRYING TO SPIN YOU OR
PROVIDE YOU WITH MISINFORMATION,
IT CAN BE VERY HARD TO
UNDERSTAND WHAT IS TRUE OR WHAT
IS NOT.
IS NOT. I THINK FOR A LOT OF AMERICANS
YOU GET TO A POINT WHERE WHEN
YOU DON’T KNOW WHO TO BELIEVE
YOU MIGHT JUST SORT OF DECIDE TO
TUNE OUT.
TUNE OUT. >> YEAH, I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU
THAT.
THAT. IT SEEMS LIKE THERE MAY BE LESS
OF A CHANCE PEOPLE’S OPINIONS
WILL BE SWAYED BECAUSE THEY ARE
HEARING THINGS THAT FEED INTO
WHAT THEY ALREADY BELIEVE, BUT
WITH THE DIFFERENT WAYS TO GET
INFORMATION YOU WOULD THINK,
MAYBE PEOPLE WILL BE MORE TUNED
IN, THEY WILL BE MORE INFORMED
AND KNOW MORE.
IT SEEMS LIKE IT COULD BE HAVING
THE OPPOSITE EFFECT?
>> Reporter: THAT’S RIGHT.
THE SORT OF PROMISE OF THE RISE
OF SOCIAL MEDIA, OF THE INTERNET
GENERALLY WAS THAT THERE WAS SO
MUCH MORE ACCESS TO INFORMATION
AND THE CITIZENS COULD GO
FORWARD AND THEY COULD GET NEWS
FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES AND SORT
OF FIND OUT WHAT WAS TRUE.
THAT BY AND LARGE, WHILE IT IS
AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE, THAT HAS
NOT BEEN THE EFFECT THAT THE
INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA HAVE
HAD.
HAD. INSTEAD, THE EFFECT HAS BEEN
THAT PEOPLE GO FURTHER AND
FURTHER INTO THEIR SILOS, EVEN
TRADITION MEDIA NOW REWARDS THE
SORT OF SENSATIONAL INFORMATION
THAT CONVINCES PEOPLE THAT THEIR
WORLD VIEW IS RIGHT.
SO THAT’S WHY YOU GET THESE
CONSPIRACY THEORIES, THIS
MISINFORMATION, OR EVEN JUST
BIASSED COVERAGE THAT MAKES YOU
VINDICATE YOUR WORLD VIEW EVEN
IF IT IS, YOU KNOW, THERE’S
NIGHT AND DAY BETWEEN THE FACTS
AND THE WAY THAT -- AND THE WAY
THAT YOU’RE INTERPRETING THE
NEWS.
NEWS. >> IMPEACHMENT IN THE DIGITAL