“You have leaders that think it’s fake and there’s nothing going on, and you have leaders saying there is something going on.”

Mary Barrientos works at a small business in Elm Grove. Over the last two years, she has learned a lot about the impact of misinformation on her and the local community. Mary reflects on the misinformation and division surrounding controversial topics like Covid-19 and says the situation has left her frustrated.

Niko: Can you tell me what’s your name and what do you do for work?

Mary: My name is Mary Barrientos and I work in retail. I’m a cashier at Fazio’s chocolate in Elm Grove.

Niko: What sort of news, do you get from sites like Yahoo or Google?

Mary:  Usually on Yahoo it about what’s going on out in the world with Biden and Covid. Along with Hollywood and that’s about it.

Niko: Do you know what misinformation is and how would you define that?

Mary: Misinformation or false news is when you read something off yahoo and go on television and watching a show. Then you watch the news and it might be different from what you see. It defiantly is something that impacts the news you take it.

Niko: Can you give me an example of misinformation you’ve seen maybe recently or something you remember from the past?

Mary: I’m gonna say with misinformation with Covid and the mask mandates if you should wear a mask then next thing you know they say you shouldn’t wear one. It gets very confusing and misleading to a lot of people.

N: What is the first time you can recall hearing about misinformation or fake news?

M: Probably with covid and when it first came out. They said it wasn’t going to be as bad and it wouldn’t make it to the United States. It wasn’t as bad as the news was making sound on places like Yahoo. It was a little like misinformation about what was happening with covid in the area.

N: Do you think those sorts of topics make it easier for people to fall victim to getting the wrong information?

M: Definitely yes, there’s so many people reporting on things like covid it can be very misleading when you hear something from one source and hear different from another. It can be very misleading and you really question with what is happening, because there was so much information in what you saw on the news and read. It just never ended up people being on the same page, because it was always different from what others were hearing.

N: How has misinformation or fake news impacted you personally?

M: I would say with covid, I’m sticking with the covid and the masks. You hear that one county is making you wear a mask and you walk into the grocery store or restaurant and nobody was wearing a face mask. But according to the television and what you’re reading online that county was required to wear these masks. It makes it really difficult if you’re someone trying to protect yourself from covid and this county has a mask mandate that you feel safer to do your shopping at. They are requiring them to wear a mask, but then you walk in there and only half the people are wearing a mask, that’s very misleading.

N: Is it frustrating to you when you had these situations happen and certain things weren’t being followed?

M: Yes, it’s frustrating, like I said you’re going into somewhere thinking it’s safe and following protocols, social distancing and you go in and they aren’t doing it. As a person you have your own opinion, but for me as a person I would rather go to a county that has that mandate. You then go to that county and again, they aren’t doing it and you just get frustrated.

N: Well, you mentioned you work in customer service in retail has misinformation affected you in your work life or work environment.

M: No, because where I work, we follow whatever the mandate was at the time or following what the CDC was saying and follow that. Maybe with customers that are coming in and not wearing a mask and having to tell them to put one on can be a little frustrating. Because, they are aware of it and know that there’s a mandate, but they come in without one on and it’s frustrating. You gotta tell them to put them on when you already know that was the law or what was expected of them in that county. Again, as far the workplace, no everything was great, but for the customers that came in it did become frustrating.

N: have you found that fake news has impacted your relationships you have in your family members or family friends?

M: Yeah so, with misinformation with the covid again with the vaccine. Because a lot of misinformation with the vaccine trying to educate people that it’s okay to take the shot. It does get frustrating, because you have to hear people talk about how oh we’re gonna get controlled by the government or it can affect my newborn babies and whatever other side-effects you can think of. It is frustrating to try and talk to people and tell them no, we aren’t gonna get controlled by the government. It’s a very sore subject, because a lot people are very misleading with things like the vaccine.

N: Do you think that those certain topics provide obstacles when trying to talk to friends, family or people like that?

M: Yeah, I think that it’s a sore subject for a lot of people and you think to yourself should I bring something up about covid or shouldn’t I bring it up. Because you have the people that think it’s not real or again it’s the government controlling us. Me personally, I don’t bring things up unless someone else brings it up first. I would say I’m sort of walking on eggshells of what I say, because so many people have their own opinions about covid. So yeah, it does become this sore subject to try and talk to people.

N: Is there someone responsible for the spread of misinformation or a common factor amongst these people you to walk on eggshells around?

M: 100%, again I wouldn’t say I’m into politics, but a lot of republicans are against things like covid. I think a lot of negative input about covid and the whole thing of covid from getting it to getting vaccines. I think that the Republicans put a bad taste in people’s mouth about covid and influenced a lot of people. As leaders of our country say a lot about it, that only further divided people’s opinions on things like covid.

N: Why do you think people will look at certain people and sites and immediately believe them?

M: Because of what they read or hear, when news breaks it’s already all over on social media. So, whatever information you’re looking for you just Google it and it’s there and you just immediately believe it. You’re like oh my God, this just happened and someone is there reporting on it and you believe what they are saying.

N: So, you think it’s like reinforcing those ideas they have in their head, those preconceived notions on certain subjects and things like that?

M: Oh yeah definitely, because you have leaders that think its fake and there’s nothing going on and you leaders saying there is something going on. As Americans people don’t want to be locked up, they want their freedom. Even though millions of people are dying they don’t care. They still want to go out to bars, dinner, or go out to movies. So, if a party tells them, yeah, we’re gonna erase covid and act like it didn’t happen. Then that’s the party they’ll go to. Not to the one that’s saying, you know what covid’s still here, we still need to think about social distancing and bringing masks back. As Americans, we want that freedom and they’ll all go that opposite way.

N: My final question is, how dangerous do you think in general misinformation or fake news is?

M: Oh, I think it’s very dangerous, as an American I think that as Americans we have turned our backs on a lot people and things, not just covid, but a lot of areas. We turn our backs on a lot of issues that are happening around us. We’re growing and raising kids into this environment with negative input and all the negative stuff that is happening, kids listen to all that. It can be dangerous down the road, because of how other people might interpret what is happening. As Americans I think we need to express ourselves more wisely, not cautious, but what we say maybe we should think about how the effects someone.