Claire Wardle, who leads strategy and research at First Draft, explains how newsrooms can start dealing with the issues that fake news is causing for the journalism industry
In this week's podcast we're focusing on the impact "fake news" has on audiences, journalists, and the news industry as a whole.
The issue has been around for years, but the rise of social media has made it even easer for misinformation and disinformation to spread like wildfire across the internet, as we all saw during the recent US election campaign.
"We need to wake up to recognise the severity of this," said Claire Wardle, First Draft, explaining the impact of fake news on the public and journalism industry at last week's newsrewired (8 February).
"This issue is no longer about journalists sometimes running YouTube videos that have been unsubstantiated – we are past the point of just having to worry about journalists sometimes tweeting out old photos," she said.
"This is a much bigger issue now, we are talking about systematised campaigns to influence public option."
How much of a problem is misinformation for journalists, and how should newsrooms be responding to the issues it raisies for the journalism industry? Listen to Wardle's keynote speech here, and let us know how your newsroom is tackling fake news.
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