Fake news isn't new. It's about as old as news itself. What is new is the speed and potency of fake news in the age of social media, and the way in which it figured in this year's election. From stories about Hillary Clinton selling weapons to ISIS to claims by the President-elect that he won the popular vote… sensational and poisonous stories have spread rapid fire on Facebook and Twitter, helped along by ad sales and algorithms that propel fake news to the top of pack, occasionally with violent results. How damaging is fake news to democracy, and what role do mainstream media outlets as well as technology companies play in defusing it?
The way forward in a post-truth world
More
- Facebook addresses hoaxes and fake news
- Fallows on there being "no such things as facts"
- Hemmer's 'Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics'
- Hemmer on how Trump has turned a problem with political journalism into a crisis
- Gillmor on need for Twitter, Facebook to be champions for media literacy
- Wall Street Journal on liberal v. conservative Facebook
Credits
Guests:
- James Fallows - Atlantic - @JamesFallows
- Rebecca Blumenstein - Wall Street Journal - @RBlumenstein
- Nicole Hemmer - University of Virginia - @pastpunditry
- Dan Gillmor - Arizona State University - @dangillmor