How fake news is changing the global media industry
Publish date: 15 February 2017
Issue Number: 1670
Diary: Legalbrief eLaw
Category: Internet
The viral spread of fake news and ‘alternative facts’ is changing the global media industry and moves are well under way to address the problem. Legalbrief reports that the spread of misinformation has been fuelled by the growth of social networks and voters around the world who are anxious to have their political views justified. In the US where the problem is rampant, a California lawmaker has introduced a Bill to require the state to add lessons for high school students on how to distinguish between real and fake news to the curriculum. Stony Brook University's Center for News Literacy pioneered the idea of educating future news consumers, and not just journalists, a decade ago with the rise of online news. About four in 10 Americans often get news online, a 2016 Pew Research Center report found. Stony Brook last month partnered with the University of Hong Kong to launch a free online course addressing the issue. As Facebook works with The Associated Press, FactCheck.org and other organisations to curb the spread of fake and misleading news on its influential network, teachers say classroom instruction can play a role in deflating the kind of ‘Pope endorses Trump' headlines that muddied the waters during the 2016 presidential campaign. ‘I think only education can solve this problem,’ said Pat Winters Lauro, a professor at Kean University in New Jersey who began teaching a course on news literacy this semester. A report on the News24 site notes that some critics believe fake stories targeting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton helped Donald Trump overcome a deficit in public opinion polls, and Trump himself has attached the label to various media outlets and unfavourable reports and polls in the first weeks of his presidency. Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that fake news is ‘killing people’s minds’. The Guardian reports that Cook said firms such as his own needed to create tools that would help stem the spread of falsehoods, without impinging on freedom of speech. Cook also called for governments to lead information campaigns to crack down on fake news. ‘We are going through this period of time right here where unfortunately some of the people that are winning are the people that spend their time trying to get the most clicks, not tell the most truth,’ Cook reportedly said.
