[4] Further, it stimulated a panel discussion at the University of Sydney on the role of media institutions in society and the ways in which democratic governance and civic engagement can be improved.

Kavanagh, a senior political scientist, has expressed concern that there is an increasing number of people in America and Europe are doubtful of climate change and the efficacy of vaccines.

The authors allege that “fake news” constitutes an aspect of truth decay and the associated challenges arising from the diminishing faith in historically authoritative sources of accurate information such as government, media and education.

[6] Notwithstanding this distinction, the authors argue that the expression “fake news” has been intentionally deployed by politicians such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to diminish the accuracy and facticity of information promulgated by sources that do not align with their partisan position.

In that context, the authors argue that a limited focus on phenomena such as “fake news” inhibits a vigorous analysis of the causes and consequences of truth decay in society.

[10] In New York City, major newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst engaged in "yellow journalism" by deploying a sensationalist style of covering politics, world events and crime in order to fend off competitors and attract market share.

For example, in April 1898, the New York Journal owned by Hearst published a number of articles with bold headlines, violent images and aggrandized information to position the Cubans as "innocent" people being "persecuted by the illiberal Spanish" regime and thereby emphasize the propriety of America's intervention in the Spanish-American War to the audience.

The authors argue that radio broadcasting and tabloid journalism emerged as a dramatized form of media that focused on news surrounding public figures such as politicians, actors, musicians and sports athletes as entertainment rather than reliable and accurate information for the audience to utilise in considered decision-making.

Journalists began to deploy first-person narration in their reporting of world events to illuminate the inequities faced by African American citizens who strived for recognition and civil rights.

[13] In Chapter 4, Kavanagh and Rich describe the "drivers" of the aforementioned four trends of truth decay as cognitive prejudices, transformation of information systems and cuts to the education sector.

It is alleged by the authors that, in the long term, cognitive prejudices have created "political, sociodemographic, and economic polarisation" as individuals form cliques that are diametrically opposed in their worldview and communication, thereby attenuating the quality civil discourse in American society.

[6] This competition, it is said, has reduced profitability and compelled news organizations such as ABC and Fox to pivot from costly investigative journalism to sensationalized opinion as a less-costly method of attracting an audience.

Kavanagh and Rich argue that individuals utilise the information and critical thinking skills established in traditionally authoritative sites of discourse such as secondary schools and universities to make decisions.

[17] The authors argue that this has meant that, in the face of the increasing volume of online news, fewer students have acquired the technical and emotional skills to identify the explicit and implicit biases of reporters and thereby critically assess the accuracy and reliability of information emanating from sources such as the government and media.

[6] It follows that, in the absence of a baseline set of objective facts, the authors suggest that the ability for individuals and politicians to meaningfully listen and engage in a constructive dialogue about economics, science and policy is diminished.

[6] The authors note that the deterioration of civil discourse and increasing dispute about objective facts has created a deep chasm between conservative and liberal politicians in America.

This incurs short-term economic costs for the U.S. economy as the government becomes rigid an unable to respond promptly to domestic crises that require direct intervention.

[20] On 22 August 2018, Michael Rich joined Professor Simon Jackman, John Barron, Nick Enfield and Lisa Bero for a discussion of the causes and consequences of truth decay in modern society.