Fact-check, journalists told
With trolls and hacks peddling fake news, journalists were reminded to find the tipping point on whether or not to report on fake news that could give falsity additional oxygen
SINGAPORE — Journalists are constantly being targeted by agents of disinformation who want fake news items from the social media to gain added traction and credibility by making it to the mainstream media.
The warning was aired in one of the breakout sessions Monday during the 2019 Trusted Media Summit organized by the Google News Initiative in the tech giant’s headquarters in this city state.
The workshop pushed Responsible Reporting in an Age of Information Disorder and “the crucial role newsrooms play in the polluted info ecosystem.”
With trolls and hacks peddling fake news, journalists were reminded to find the “tipping point” on whether or not to report on fake news that could give falsity “additional oxygen.”
“The mere act of reporting can risk amplifying bad actors and public interest must always be balanced against the potential consequences of the story,” a session material cautioned.
Media outlets were urged to determine the “tipping point at which it becomes beneficial to cover disinformation, write about manipulated content and online extremism.”
Ethical challenges were also raised during the session for monitoring and reporting on misinformation on closed messaging apps and groups.
The mere act of reporting can risk amplifying bad actors and public interest must always be balanced against the potential consequences of the story.
Likewise, journalists were advised to master the methodologies being used by agents of disinformation so as not to fall victim to “source hacking” in which mainstream media firms are manipulated to propagate disinformation.
With the general public and even supposedly discerning journalists having to sift through information overload, agents of disinformation are having a field day propagating fake news.
Meanwhile, presidential spokesman
Salvador Panelo yesterday reiterated that the administration does not engage in spreading fake news.
Panelo made the remark after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization cited four kinds of fake news supposedly coming from the Philippines, in which one is allegedly state-sponsored.
“Fake news is fake. Wherever fake news are coming from, they’re fake. But government does not use fake news,” Panelo said.
At least seven types of mis- and disinformation were identified in the Google Summit. These were false connection, false context, manipulated content, satire or parody, misleading content, impostor content and fabricated content.
In false connection, headlines, visuals or captions don’t support the content, while in false context genuine contents are shared with false contextual information.
Manipulated content referred to genuine information or imagery manipulated to deceive, whereas satire or parody was identified as a popular methodology by fake news peddlers who want to make it appear that they have no intention to mislead and were just floating funny takes on issues.
Journalists were advised to master the methodologies being used by agents of disinformation so as not to fall victim to source hacking in which mainstream media firms are manipulated to propagate disinformation.
Impostor content was given special focus whereby genuine sources like media organizations and journalists are impersonated to lend credibility to fake news.
Cited as example was the experience of journalist Alex Harris who was forced to make a clarification on fake tweets made through an impostor account.
“There are two fake tweets circulating today attributed to me. They are doctored versions of tweets I sent while trying to tell the stories of victims and survivors...,” Harris twitted.
A tangible example on “tipping point” was made on a story in the Philippines which alleged that Muslim athletes from Singapore were served non-halal food in the 30th Southeast Asian Games which Manila is hosting.
The initial story of a Filipino athlete complaining about pork sausage “kikiam” being served them first came out from mainstream media, which unfortunately was not vetted for veracity.
The pork sausage was said to be made from chicken under halal guidelines and with the fake news on the Singaporean team being served the said pork sausage debunked.
The initial quotes attributed from a Singapore sports official were proven to be a total fabrication debunked by an official statement from the Singapore team.
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