How good journalists can face down fake newsmongers
Summary
The untimely death of the great 'Hans Rosling' said to be one of the most gifted and humane educators of this age gave media institutions a lot of food for thought, after he delivered what what was described as a spectacular TED talk in 2006 using global data to show how the world had changed during the 20th century. He was a passionate believer in the idea that we could find illumination, if not salvation, in facts. This idea was taken greatly into consideration as the fake news crisis deepened. It turns out that the public sphere may be even more poisoned than it had been previously anticipated. Adam Tinworth (insightful blogger) wrote last week that we need to recognize the real nature of the war in which journalists are now involved. Tinworth borrows a concept from military stratergy 'asymmetric warfare' to explain why mainstream media are failing to hold Trump & co to account.
Key Statistics
- 2006 = Hans Rosling TED talk
My Opinion
Fake news doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon, so it is right that journalists find a more concrete method of diffusing or reducing it; the media is becoming a place where nobody knows what to believe; so something needs to be done, more than just blocking the offending websites. Blocking offending websites does not do anything to diffuse the issue because the culprits can just set up another website spreading fake news under another name.
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