Doctors have decades of experience fighting “fake news.” Here’s how they win.
Some lessons from the health community’s long battle with misinformation.
5 new automated fact-checking projects underway
Today, the sheer volume of sources from which information is spread makes verification a strain on newsroom resources. That’s why there are a myriad of projects underway aimed at automating the process. Here’s a look at five automated fact-checking projects.
Online Publications
How Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales plans to curb the spread of fake news
Jimmy Wales, the founder of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, has launched a website aimed at countering the spread of fake news by bringing together professional journalists and a community of volunteers and supporters to produce news articles.
The new platform, called Wikitribune, will be free to access and carry no advertising, instead relying on its readers to fund it, while the accuracy of news reports will be easily verifiable as source material will be published, Wales said.
Day in the life: How BuzzFeed’s Craig Silverman debunks fake news
Craig Silverman has been studying fake news for years, but things really started snowballing in the months leading up to the presidential election, with the rise of false political stories. As BuzzFeed’s first media editor and resident fake news expert, the Toronto-based Silverman has his hands full debunking specious reports and helping other news organizations do the same.
Newsroom Strategies
European newsrooms are forming a united front against fake news
Three-week-old fact-checking coalition CrossCheck is gaining steam.
Traditional media company competitiveness has been put aside in favor of collaboration. The result: having more than one publisher discredit a false story renders the debunking more powerful. Now, beyond just debunking, new stories are being generated from the joint input of publishers.
How Sweden is fighting fake news
Sweden has just celebrated 250 years of press freedom. If you thought this tradition would make it safe from fake news, you’d be wrong. Here, then, are four things to know about the state of fake news in Sweden.
“The impact we’ve made has been noticeable on people in powerful positions, whether it’s politicians or mainstream media. We’ve opened them up, to see that you can’t ignore this, and that’s a good first step.”
The BBC is using ‘slow news’ to fight fake news
The BBC is taking a stronger stance on fighting the online spread of misinformation, having launched a dedicated lie-debunking unit at the heart of its newsroom.
Currently, half a dozen people have been assigned to the team, and plans are afoot to double that, according to BBC News editorial director James Angus.