T1. Fake News

Task 1.  Brainstorming & Thinkpiece: ‘Fake News’.

Why this photo?

Well, that is what ‘Fake News’ does – stirs the waters to obscure what one should be seeing clearly (technically scientists call it an ‘interference pattern’ and that works in this context too. 

As per this photo, the effect can be strikingly attractive and interesting … but its intention is to obscure reality (‘the truth’ …. whatever that may be!).

First, read an article I wrote on my website on this subject under the ‘News’ tab to set the scene: Who 2 Believe?  Some questions emerge that I’d like you to think about and brainstorm and then write about in an assignment for me:

• A definition:  what, to you, IS ‘Fake News’?   Does the definition depend upon who you are? Don’t just look up a definition: start with a blank sheet of paper and ask yourself the WHO, the WHAT, the WHEN, the WHERE, the WHY and the HOW of this term, ‘Fake news‘. Let’s face it, having a basic definition of the WHAT doesn’t help or explain much if one has no idea WHERE it came from, WHO is promulgating it and benefits from / loses because of it, WHY are people engaging in it – what is there to gain by it, HOW the fakery is being done etc.  So I would like to see you produce this as a ‘narrative’ definition of ‘fake news’ which addresses the key question words above rather than a convenient ‘one-liner’ from a dictionary.

• What makes ‘Fake News’ possible and why has it suddenly become a massive feature in media and politics …? (Might be helpful to think in police terms: means [who is able to do it], motive [who has something to gain by doing it] and opportunity [the time, experience and the equipment])

• Are there ways of detecting and countering ‘Fake News’ (and if so, what are they)?  Not as easy as it sounds: Facebook and other social networks and many other newspapers and news websites and TV stations employ ‘Fact Checkers‘ and even add content inaccuracy warnings to postings. Some Facebook and Twitter members (like Ex-President Trump) have found themselves with posts removed or their accounts temporarily put ‘on ice‘ – now referred to in some quarters as ‘being in Facebook Jail‘.   One such person was interviewed on CNN the other day and in response to comprehensive, independent fact-checking which proved conclusively that her assertions were NOT factually correct at all, she declared all fact-checking agents and services to be biased and to be manipulative of the truth in order to deceive people like her…   The truth may, as they say: ‘set us free‘, but, so it would seem, only if we want to believe we are free…. we are also free to reject / ignore the truth….    You might also think about ‘dot extensions’ (.gouv…   .ac.uk  …  . org  …   . com etc….  are some more reliable than others?  Which can one trust – if any!?).

• What is within the capability of the ‘man on the street’ which he/she can use to uncover ‘fake news’?   What does this depend upon (technology, apps, time, inclination, education & training, intelligence…)?

• What are the most effective strategies and practices available to ‘real news’ providers to counter ‘Fake News’?  Are there limits to how successful these can be (can Pandora’s Box be re-opened and Fake News put back in there)?

• What techniques will YOU employ on a day to day basis here at University AND in your future workplace to be certain that the source materials you choose to use are valid and reliable [neutral and can be trusted]?

• What legal and ethical responsibility will you bear in the future as a content-provider/purveyor/publisher or webmaster for the information you make available online?  How will you ‘cover your back’ … can you just trust colleagues not to give you inaccurate, unchecked or deliberately faked material … and if they do, and you put it up online, what measure of legal responsibility do YOU bear professionally and perhaps even personally?    Are you aware of the legal position relative to the discharge of your functions and responsibilities as webmaster?  You need to be!
  

OUTPUT REQUIRED:

In the light of your brainstorm and discussions around the above bullet points, in TEAMS of THREE or FOUR as hereunder:

4 teams of Four plus

2 teams of Three

YOU MAY DO A OR B BELOW!

• A. produce a ‘Thinkpiece’ * in your best English of  UP TO 4 PAGES of A4 (in 12pt size font):
  • it should act as a reminder that you can pin to your office wall / keep on your desk addressing all the key points above (especially the definition) in order to emphasise the dangers of Fake News and what you need to do, even when under pressure, to ensure the veracity of the information you ‘publish’ (even if you didn’t actually write it) and ‘cover your back’ [protect yourself, your career, your reputation and your future].  Remember, the word ‘publish’ means to make something available in any form – not just digitally and in writing –  to anyone: even to just ONE person…..If someone somewhere suffers as a result you could find yourself in some ‘difficulty’…]
    

OR

• B. Produce a team video clip (15 Mins MAX  / 10 MIN) in your best English (to which ALL team members must make an equal oral contribution) that you will put on on your company intranet telling (in highly-specific detail) those of your colleagues who will produce ‘copy’ / stories / articles etc that you and your staff will be putting online, exactly what they MUST do to ensure their information is accurate and tested before they pass it to you for publication.  They must understand the consequences for you and for them of non-compliance. You should also consider a form to be completed by each person wanting material published, confirming what they have done to ensure compliance.  Come to class prepared to showcase your videos (show to your colleagues and your tutor. Also send me a link so I can access your videos for marking purposes
• Other teams will submit their hard-copy, team  ‘Thinkpiece’ at the same time.     It goes without saying that, as far as the written work is concerned, you should take advantage of Grammarly and spell-check facilities (NOT DeepL and translation tools!) and proof your work closely and out loud!

* If you do not know what thinkpieces are – I suggest you look it up and view/read a few to see, what purposes they serve and how they are written and set out. (They are not essays or reports exactly…..).

SUBMISSION DATE:  To Be Advised

[ASIDE – Something you might consider: Perhaps ‘Fake News’ is toward one extreme end of a wider issue – that of how to ‘weigh’ (peser) information to determine if it is valid and reliable: can it be trusted? Dare you depend upon it? 

• It may have come up on the 1st page of Google search returns, which might mean a lot of people have been looking at it, but does that make it reliable? … After all, one can pay to get oneself towards the top of search returns…. and with money, there is usually an ‘interest’ there….
• Do dot.extensions help (a Q I asked above)?
  • .com / .co.uk – evidently commercial…. likely to be selling something to make a profit…. that is hardly going to be neutral, is it?
  • .gov/.gouv – OK, this is the ‘state’.  But does that make it reliable?  The state has a duty to provide information it does provide accurately … but it can choose to present some things and not others…. It can also interpret figures and facts according to the ruling party’s preference….. that means it may well not be presented in an un-biased way…
  • .org.  That’s finally something usually without a profit motive… so is it going to be balanced?  Not necessarily. Associations are usually formed to advance a particular shared interest of the members of the group.  ‘Tourism Concern‘ is (‘was’ now, I think!) an association that is not there because it is concerned to support the industry, rather it is almost the opposite – it is fighting against the industry and the damage to culture and environment that the Tourism industry causes in their view.  It’s views are largely one-sided.

T