Purpose

Public libraries and public service broadcasters are threatened by political developments in the UK and USA. They are targets in a divisive culture war waged by ideological organisations that disseminate misleading and false information about social and political matters on line, on screen and in print. The purpose of this paper is to alert information professionals to this issue and suggests that, although they should not engage in this war, they must be prepared to use their professional expertise to identify and correct unreliable material. Further, they should cooperate with other true information organisations to expose the fallacious sources that endanger democracy.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analysed material from academic texts and papers, professional journals, serious contemporary journalism, political manifestoes, Internet blogs and items from the BBC sound archive to illustrate the history, size and nature of the problem and to suggest how it might be dealt with. This documentary analysis was based on the belief that information professionals are not the only people examining and concerned about this issue. It therefore included material from a wide range of other disciplines, including psychology, medicine and politics.

Findings

There is evidence that populist movements from the political right dislike information organisations and have historically, through misinformation and misrepresentation, persuaded working class citizens that they are being exploited by an elite. Public libraries and the BBC are highly trusted organisations, but much of the British public goes to sources it trusts least, such as tabloid newspapers, for information on politics and society. Librarians and BBC broadcasters demonstrated their value during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they need to engage with other professional groups to fully understand what is happening and counteract the threats it presents to our democracy.

Originality/value

The paper deals with a significant current issue that needs to be considered urgently by practitioners, academics and policy makers. It includes practical examples and suggestions demonstrating how information workers have and can help their users identify and use trusted and accurate information sources and perhaps be made aware of editorial bias.

中文翻译：

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文化大战，图书馆和BBC

目的

公共图书馆和公共服务广播公司受到英国和美国政治发展的威胁。它们是意识形态组织发动的一场分裂文化战争的目标，这些意识形态组织以在线，屏幕和印刷形式散布有关社会和政治问题的误导性和虚假信息。本文的目的是提醒信息专业人员注意此问题，并建议尽管他们不应该参加这场战争，但他们必须准备好利用其专业知识来识别和纠正不可靠的材料。此外，他们应与其他真实的信息组织合作，以揭露危害民主的谬论来源。

设计/方法/方法

作者分析了学术论文和论文，专业期刊，严肃的当代新闻，政治宣言，互联网博客以及BBC声音档案中的内容，以说明问题的历史，规模和性质，并提出可能的处理方法。这份文献分析是基于这样的信念，即信息专业人员不是检查和关注此问题的唯一人员。因此，它包括来自心理学，医学和政治学等其他众多学科的材料。

发现

有证据表明，来自政治权利的民粹主义运动不喜欢信息组织，并且在历史上通过错误的信息和虚假的陈述说服工人阶级公民，他们被精英所利用。公共图书馆和BBC是值得高度信赖的组织，但是许多英国公众会从其最不信任的来源（例如小报）那里获取有关政治和社会的信息。图书馆员和BBC广播公司在COVID-19大流行期间证明了其价值，但他们需要与其他专业团体合作，以充分了解正在发生的事情并消除其对我们民主的威胁。

创意/价值

本文涉及的是一个重要的当前问题，从业者，学者和政策制定者都需要紧急考虑。它包括一些实用的示例和建议，以说明信息工作者如何并且可以帮助他们的用户识别和使用可信赖且准确的信息源，并可能使他们意识到编辑偏见。