Handling fake news and eyewitness media

firstdraftnews.com | @firstdraftnews | #ONA16
BEST PRACTICE IN HANDLING
FAKE NEWS AND EYEWITNESS MEDIA

BEATING THE HOAXERS AT THEIR OWN GAME

BEATING THE HOAXERS
Beating the hoaxers at their own game

WHY BOTHER DEBUNKING?
On average, it takes more
than 12 hours for a false claim
on social media to be
debunked
The false claim travels farther
and faster than the debunk
Source: Shao, Ciampaglia et al, University of Indiana – ‘Hoaxy: A Platform for Tracking Online Misinformation

“Our analysis shows that tweets reporting unverified rumours spark a sudden burst of
retweets within the very first minutes, showing that users tend to share early,
unverified reports rather than later confirmations or debunks.”
They also found that tweets sent in support of an unverified claim tend to generate
the most retweets. This also aligns with the other finding that a (potentially) true rumor
is more interesting than a false one.
Source: Zubiaga et al, Warwick University: ‘Analysing How People Orient to and Spread Rumours
in Social Media by Looking at Conversational Threads'

On average, it takes more
than 12 hours for a false claim
on social media to be
debunked
The false claim travels farther
and faster than the debunk

Trust in news is falling in many countries

SOURCES OF FAKES
• Oﬃcial sources of
propaganda
Here’s what you need to look out for:
Credit: Craig Silverman

SOURCES OF FAKES
propaganda
• Hoaxers and marketers

SOURCES OF FAKES
propaganda
• Fake news websites

SOURCES OF FAKES
propaganda
• Unintentional
propagators like…

SOURCES OF FAKES
propaganda
• Unintentional
propagators like…
• Journalists, news
organisations, you, me
EVERYONE Credit: Craig Silverman

HOW TO SPOT A FAKE
• Find the original source.
• Check the About page.
• Run the domain through whois.icann.org
• Google every name, reverse image search all photos.
• Compare against other sources.
• Think about the motivation for sharing/creating it.

EFFECTIVE DEBUNKING
Strong, clear visuals
These images are
both fake, but the
debunkers are
unwittingly sharing
it further

EFFECTIVE DEBUNKING
• Don’t re-share the fake/false image
without changing it
• Be clear
• Add context
• Make the dry, boring debunk as
shareable as the salacious lie
• Use humour and creativity
where appropriate

EFFECTIVE DEBUNKING

EFFECTIVE DEBUNKING
Use ‘nofollow’ links
<a href=”www.spam.com” rel=’nofollow’>Spam</a>
Or risk boosting the hoax’s SEO
Credit: Aviv Ovadya

EFFECTIVE DEBUNKING
Humour and creativity
Make
people
want to
share the
debunk!

EFFECTIVE DEBUNKING

EFFECTIVE DEBUNKING
😕

HANDLING GRAPHIC IMAGERY

There is more graphic imagery to ﬁlter than ever before…
Credit: Sam Dubberley

…and we’re not ready

When is it most traumatic? (Emhub Study)
• When they were not expecting to see something horriﬁc.
• When they were repeatedly exposed to distressing content.
• When they were looking for or at distressing content which was then not
subsequently used in news output, reporting or advocacy campaigns.
• When content reminded the individual of personal experiences or was in
some way connected to them.
• When the audio in a video contained sounds of human suffering such as
screaming or people begging for their lives.

The personal impact can be profound

Personal care

Ensure that, before introducing new social media newsgathering techniques into the
newsrooms, ensure that the potential for viewing more distressing or traumatic content is
taken into account.
Ensure workflows for introducing video on to general servers includes warnings of traumatic
content.
Ensure staff rotation policies are in place so staff are given breaks from viewing distressing or
traumatic content during shifts. Also ensure that viewing social media is not left to one staff
member during any given shift.
Advice for managers

Handling fake news and eyewitness media

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (14)

Similar to Handling fake news and eyewitness media

Similar to Handling fake news and eyewitness media (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (10)

Handling fake news and eyewitness media