Fake News Fitness
A Web Media Literacy tool
Feeding news source ratings
To a community database
To support high school projects.
goo.gl/pgDXHZ
Americans are Not Fake News Fit.
Most of us have not yet learned:
This is Democracy’s problem.
Those who cannot assess the validity of news stories will instead amplify what fits their filter bubbles, rather than acting as the informed citizenry a democracy requires.
Fake News is whatever I say it is!
Fake News Fitness: Tool & Project
Post-MisInfoCon Needs
Thanks to MisInfoCon, our prototype works, and we know other groups creating similar and complementary tools and curricula. Needed:
Possible Big Fish: TheNewsLiteracyProject
NLP’s eLearning Form
http://martinlutherking.org
How Our Browser Extension Works
Blank Form (like NLP but all fields together, and no help)
Partial-Filled (reads DOM and WHOIS, plus blank fields)
FNF Form
Viewing martinlutherking.org
The Blended Learning Project
Team
A nationwide media literacy + civics campaign for the 2020 election
There are 22 million teenagers in the United States who will be of voting age by the 2020 election.
It is our aim to help as many of them as possible learn how to challenge harmful, misleading and untrue messages.
Teens have never known a world without an internet…
…and teachers don’t have the support they need to teach media literacy + civics in a modern way.
why?
A non-partisan campaign driving adoption of innovative media literacy + civics education in classrooms & communities
A call-to-action for young people to create and lead critical conversations about the kind of democracy they want.
what
video: user story #1
video: user story #2
Innovative
Tools & Pedagogy,
loosely aligned to standards
Educator
Support Networks,
formal and informal ed
National / State
Partnerships
Do you have experience running large-scale campaigns, driving curricular adoption, or teaching media literacy + civics?
We plan to convene a group of passionate stakeholders to build out the framework for 22x20.
Meet us in NYC, September 2017.
team
NewsMap
Putting news coverage in context
What problem are we solving?
There are a lot of news stories out there.
Wrapping your head around all the coverage, from across the ideological spectrum, is difficult.
Who has this problem?
Journalists and researchers doing large-scale investigations. These are our early adopters.
However, NewsMap is useful to all journalists, researchers and readers looking to understand and contextualize coverage.
Our solution
NewsMap visualizes assertions made in news so journalists can uncover new connections and patterns
What do you need moving forward?
Our next step is to explore natural language processing options, including a possible partnership with Reuters:
• get access to Open Calais, their named entity recognition software
• seed our database with a lot of content
Meet with Reginald Chua:
Executive editor of editorial operations, data and innovation
Dave Troy
410 Labs
@davetroy
Natasha Klushina
SpringerNature
@NatashaKlush
Nausicaa Renner
Tow Center for Digital Journalism
@nausjcaa
RC
INN
@rclations
Nic Dias
First Draft News
@niccdias
Christian Feld
Nieman Fellow
@ChrFeld
Jennifer Stark
Uni of Maryland
@_JAStark
Dlshad Othman
Internews
@dlshadothman
NewsMap team
Empathy Accelerator
A Framework for Fighting Vulnerability to Misinformation by Bridging Worlds
What problem are you solving
People are more likely to believe and share misinformation when reacting out of fear and a lack of understanding of others’ life experiences.
News consumers locked in echo chambers and ideologically homogenous communities, as well as media who are losing the trust of their audiences.
Enter empathy accelerator
�An audience engagement framework that media outlets can use to foster empathetic discussion between members of disparate groups exploring the “why” behind their beliefs in order to disarm bias and fear.
Inspirations:�Broockman & Kalla: Durably reducing transphobia: A field experiment on door-to-door canvassing (April 2016)�The Coral Project: Talking politics: an interview with Spaceship Media �Right Question Institute: A Catalyst for Microdemocracy
What are your thoughts on funding transportation and infrastructure in your community?
Question Generation by
Media Facilitators
Matchmaking
Survey
Facilitated Discussion
Content Curation
“Yes! Small, super gas efficient [car], has been all over the country with me.”
“I love public transport”
Is your mode of transportation a source of pride for you and why?
Follow-Up: What do you think your mode of transportation will be in five years?
We need...
#empathy_accelerator
Marie Connelly — community manager at Vox Media. @eyemadequiet
Liz Gillis — social media producer at WBUR in Boston (@itsgillis)
Jenny Holm — program manager for Europe and Eurasia at Internews (Washington, DC) @eatwithpleasure
Cathy Fahey — humanities librarian, Salem State University (@cathy_library)
Rayshauna Gray — historical researcher with Tufts University's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy & coordinator with Harvard Business School's Gender Initiative
Amisha Patel — software engineer at Wired magazine (@amishaaap)
�Rachael Serur — software developer at Vermonster with a background in psych research (Boston, MA). @eachrach
Steve Rosenbaum — publisher: TrumpTracker.news, Author, Filmmaker (@MagnfyMedia)
Project Candelabra
Breaking down silo walls by democratizing research and tools for understanding mis/disinformation
Problem: Research, skills, and understanding of mis/disinformation are siloed.
Academics�
Offers: Research���
Needs: �Cross disciplinary approaches
Journalists
Offers: Audience, Ground Truth�
Needs: �Tools, expertise, information
Developers
Offers: Expertise, tools
�Needs: Connections to tool-users
Policy Makers
Offers:
Action, resources
�Needs: �Research, expertise
Solution
Build a platform to break down barriers between disciplines and make the study of mis/disinformation accessible to a wider community of specialists by:
�
Research
Find Tools
Collaborate
We democratize & �highlight research on mis/disinformation
About
Research Focus
Examples of other research and storytelling tools
Recruiting Early Adopters
Early adopters for this project are hubs already devoted to connecting journalists and research technologists, for example:
Connecting to these hubs will provide both initial users and seed content for the platform.
Moving Forward, We Need:
Team
Talk Back
Encouraging News Literacy for Voice
“Sam, read me the news”
What the experience is like now...
The problem:
“Being able to summon up the news headlines while cooking is a great way to bring news into people’s lives - but with it comes a whole new set of challenges around business models and storytelling.”
— Reuters Institute report on journalism, media and technology predictions for 2017
Who has this problem (USER)
A solution: TalkBack
Metadata Standards
Article metadata:
Encouraging News-Literate Users
How do we reach our users with this framework?
When was this published?
Has anyone else reported this?
“Sam, read me the news”
What the experience could be like...
Going forward
Team #voice
Visualizing News Inequality
Even legitimate news sources can paint misleading pictures of places they cover
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
The problem
The amount & type of coverage in different neighborhoods isn’t always equitable or representative.
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Marine Park
Williamsburg
Who has this problem?
Who’s impacted?
Media organizations.
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
The solution
Quantifying inequality in coverage & publicizing patterns
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Coverage in Southern Maine
Coverage vs. total population
Coverage vs. Trump’s election results
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Misinformation doesn’t always involve falsehoods
Misallocating attention: selective facts, in aggregate, can still mislead & undermine the public’s trust in journalism
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Going forward: reproduce this work!
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Team
Thanks!
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Prompt
Changing news transparency from a passive to an active process by Inviting news consumers to participate
What Problem Are We Solving?
Who Has This Problem?
Our Solution
Moving Forward
Team
connecting journalism with public trust
http://informall.info
http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/10/21/libraries-and-communities/
https://www.kettering.org/sites/default/files/product-downloads/Public%20Trust%20in%20Journalism%20and%20Media.pdf
Who has this problem?
mapping connections between journalism and libraries
http://informall.info
Public Library
Click to chat
555-555-1212
Databases�Proquest
Lexis-Nexus
EBSCO
Jstor
Reserve a room
Next Steps
http://informall.info
Jason Griffey @griffey �Fellow Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society
Anastasia Aizman �Developer - Library Innovation Lab
Sam Stites @samstites�Data Engineer - Sentenai
Margot Williams @MargotWilliams �Research Editor - The Intercept
Emily Ferrier @Emilycr0w �Senior Librarian, Olin College
Cassie Robinson @CassieRobinson �Director of Strategy & Design at Doteveryone
Emily Menchal @themenchalist �Public Librarian
Changing the Narrative
Strategies and simple actions to help newsrooms combat the threat to democratic institutions.
bit.ly/changingnarrative
Team
For more info, email askjournalists@gmail.com
What Problem Are You Solving
In a time of attacks against the press, threatened civil rights and diminished trust in the media, Changing the Narrative is about demonstrating the value of a free press to the general public by reporting the real impact of current events for diverse audiences while demystifying the journalistic process.
Who has this problem
Everybody.
What is your solution
Actionable steps that can help journalists and newsrooms shift the narrative from a defensive media approach to an audience-driven service that affirms the value of the press.�
This includes simple outreach ideas, checklists for better covering new developments and communication strategies for newsrooms and audiences.
Preliminary Strategies
Examples of checklists
What do you need moving forward
�Following the finalization of the initial core strategies and idea map:��Institutional commitments from a variety of newsrooms in different markets and platforms to pilot strategies and tactics and share results and feedback.�
You Shared It
Addressing misinformation through an engaging, interactive tool that makes a really big topic, personal
Questions? #teamyousharedit
What problem are you solving?
Varying degrees of misinformation cause people to feel that they are immune to its effects.
A misinformation
Who has this problem?
The educated, savvy, news consumer who perpetuates the cycle of misinformation on social media.
What is your solution?
An interactive experience that educates about misinformation and includes a personalized narrative, showing that you are both a victim and contributor to the problem.
People learn about misinformation through an interactive tutorial that teaches them about the different forms misinformation can take.
3 steps to getting smart
What do you need moving forward?
A misinformation analyzer which can determine the validity of an article based on content and source.
Team
Questions? #teamyousharedit
Spark
Bringing the power of Meetup and public conversation to journalism:
local, engaged, networked
An Xiao Mina
@anxiaostudio
Meedan /
Berkman Klein Center
John Gray
@mentionmapp
Mentionmapp
Hadley Robinson
@hadrobinson
AJ+
Kate Coyer
@kcoyer
Berkman Klein Center
Check
Mentionmapp
AJ+
Who’s paying attention online?
How can we foster a conversation around
news and issues?
Slices of time
Community created
Keeping it short
AL.com and Spaceship Media�(January 11, 2017)
“We asked Alabama Trump Voters to talk politics, values with California Liberals”
Zocalo Public Square�(January 20, 2017)
Could a “Trigger Moment” Imperil the Civil Liberties of Religious or Ethnic Groups?
Organizers’ Toolkit
As with many networked meetups and groups, community members will receive a collaborative toolkit to help them get started with building a local event.
2
2
1
Partner News Organizations
Public
Event Spaces
Seed Fund
Two news organizations in two localities can help us get the ball rolling with a pilot. They should have some event organizing experience.
Two public event spaces in two localities to host their respective events. These might be libraries, community colleges, town halls and museums.
Amongst our team, we have the design, development, video and organizing chops to bring this project life. We need funding to allocate resources for this pilot.
An Xiao Mina
@anxiaostudio
Meedan /
Berkman Klein Center
John Gray
@mentionmapp
Mentionmapp
Hadley Robinson
@hadrobinson
AJ+
Kate Coyer
@kcoyer
Berkman Klein Center
BetterMedia
the info hub for research & solutions to misinformation, polarization, filter-bubble issues
BetterMedia.info @BetterMediainfo #Misinfocon Feb 2017
What's the problem? it's complicated
"Despite a relatively vast amount of existing literature on the topic, a general lack of conceptual coherence and a rapidly changing news eco-system hinder the development of effective strategies to tackle the issue."��-Giglietto, Fabio, et al. "Fakes, News and the Election: A New Taxonomy for the Study of Misleading Information within the Hybrid Media System." (Nov 30, 2016). https://ssrn.com/abstract=2878774
Whose problem is it?
Phase 1, "Design Solutions" open document, grows to 200 pages, from 100s of contributors worldwide, gets wide press coverage.
Our response #1: issue + projects map
an issues + projects map and wiki, for ongoing use by THE MOVEMENT. Gather & improve widely distributed work.
Wikipedia for misinformation fighters™
Our response #2: BetterMedia wiki
We are building the go-to, most complete and useful hub for research & solutions to misinformation, polarization, & filter-bubble issues in media.
Wikipedia for misinformation fighters™
Our response #3: BetterMedia Slack space
Slack space linked from "Design Solutions" doc and wiki offers collaboration space for any related project. ��Any project at #Misinfocon Slack can continue on BetterMedia if you want, talk to us.
What we need moving forward:
��BetterMedia.info @BetterMediainfo
$$
$
Demo: site live at bettermedia.info
BetterMedia.info Team
Tim McCormick @tmccormick���Craig Ambrose @craigambrose�
in collaboration with Lina Rodriguez @linmart and the Media ReDesign team at INTUG (International Telecom Users Group), managers of “Design Solutions for Fake News” public document crowdsourced by Eli Pariser.��+ thanks Aviv Ovadya, Nausicaa Renner, Claire Wardle, et al..
use, follow, join, help BetterMedia: thanks! �
BetterMedia.info @BetterMediainfo
Public Editor
Open source, visually-represented, content credibility metrics generated by citizen scientists.
Team
Nick Adams, Ph.D – Berkeley Sociologist, Data Scientist
Saul Perlmutter, Nobel Laureate – Dir., Berkeley Institute for Data Science
Tessa Sproule – Co-Founder, Vubble (digital video discovery and distribution)
Riyaz Shaikh - Data visualization consultant, Web developer
Nadav Gavrielov – Digital product at the New York Times
The BIDS “Signal to News” Working Group, including: Emmanuel Vincent (Climate Feedback), John Pettus (FiskKit), Artemis Jenkins, Cody Hennessy, Chris Holdgraf, Charlotte Cabasse-Mael, Chris Vaughan, Daniel Kim...
Problem
How can we help the public evaluate the credibility of the content within a news story?
Who is affected?
Readers – who don’t know when they are reading low quality information
Newsrooms – that care about quality & are currently not rewarded for it
Teachers, Students, & Citizen Scientists – who don’t have tools for practicing critical thinking/literacy
Our Citizen Science Solution
Moving Forward
Next Steps:
Form coalition with this community to establish credibility standards
Finalize UI/UX
Build custom modules for Hypothes.is, TextThresher, Vubble
Potential Partners:
Classrooms: Critical Thinking, Logic, Rhetoric, Journalism
Vubble, Wikipedia, NYTimes, BBC, and other content creators/distributors
Resources we need:
UI/UX Designers
Software Developers
The Problem��Fake news sites are still making money off programmatic advertising
Programmatic��Using machines to buy advertising
Ad-Buying Platforms
Verification Services
$3.2 Billion
Programmatic Spend by
World’s Largest Brands
(World Federation of Advertisers)
“I would much rather pay a little premium as a brand and go for verified sites.”��- Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing Officer
“It’s a question again of how much and where. And I think all brands are doing this soul-searching at this point in time.”��- Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing Officer
The Solution��Make a better list of sites.��Build a tool that advertisers can use to comprehensively block fake news sites
The Approach�
Bringing awareness of misinformation
in the 2018 election
Wake Up Colombia
The problem we are solving
DEMOCRACY IS THREATENED FOR THE 2018 ELECTION
Who has this problem
Citizens of voting age
35,241,808 potential voters
Our solution
Work with journalism schools in the five major Colombian cities, to prepare a group of outstanding students to successfully provide/ teach media literacy before 2018 presidential election within their communities without an ideological agenda.
Bogota
Medellin
Cali
Barranquilla
Bucaramanga
movin
What do we need
Interactive online platform where we can keep track of the process and access information (e.g videos, curriculum and examples of success)
Full-time person working on logistics.
Travel stipend to visit universities
Institutional support to endorse the project and validate our idea
1
2
3
4
What do we need moving forward
Contact Journalism School deans in Colombia, and show them this project to embed this project into a graduating class.
Recruit experienced journalist willing to work in the project and interested in preserving Democracy and trust in journalism.
1
2
1
Collect
Create
2
3
4
5
Approach
Connect
Track
Collect the best practices around media literacy and community engagement .
Create videos for students to use as they connect with communities and for public distribution.
Approach Journalism Schools in Bogotá, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga (5 principal cities in Colombia).
Connecting experience journalists with students to inspire and share experiences.
Track the process and provide support as they are learning and having conversations with their communities.
Steps to move forward
Process
University
Students
Conversation
Wake up Colombia
“W U Col”
Communities
provide tools
Resources
Awareness
Team
Images
https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/251068/ballot_election_lotto_politic_political_selection_vote_icon
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/World_map_(blue_dots).svg
http://washingtonhispanic.com/portal/internacional/colombia-votan-en-dc-por-la-paz/
http://in8.uk.com/2015/02/what-do-you-need-right-now/
http://www.mediaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/shutterstock_212116750-e1479401971146.jpg
http://midweststreams.com/Content/img/process-icon.png
Visualizing News Inequality
Even legitimate news sources can paint misleading pictures of places they cover
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
The problem
The amount & type of coverage in different neighborhoods isn’t always equitable or representative.
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Marine Park
Williamsburg
Who has this problem?
Who’s impacted?
Media organizations.
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
The solution
Quantifying inequality in coverage & publicizing patterns
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Coverage in Southern Maine
Coverage vs. total population
Coverage vs. Trump’s election results
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Misinformation doesn’t always involve falsehoods
Misallocating attention: selective facts, in aggregate, can still mislead & undermine the public’s trust in journalism
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Going forward: reproduce this work!
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Team
Thanks!
bit.ly/misinfocon-news-inequality
Some design considerations for fighting misinformation while preserving free expression
Team
Takeaways: Preserving free expression
Not a solution, but some considerations:
What do you need moving forward
Efforts to combat misinformation should be independent and collaborative. We need each other!
We want to work with you! We are available as a resource to work through these considerations with anyone designing a tool or process to address misinformation.
Credibility Scores
Provide credibility scores for online news content—a FICO score for information.
What problem are you solving?
There is no reliable and comprehensive source for the credibility of a site or article
Who has this problem?
...and many of the groups here today.
Who would use this right now
Ideal users
If higher scores mean more attention and $$$ then that improves the entire media ecosystem.
What is your solution?
Triaged
Content
Scores
Advertisers
Platforms
Watchdogs
ML
Researchers
QA
Review mechanisms
What do you need moving forward?
Team
Other advisors (not at misinfocon) include experts in news verification, machine learning, computational propaganda, and crowdsourcing.
Data Solidarity Group
Fact-checking data standard for moving facts effectively among news organizations, platforms, and devices.
What problem are you solving
Reporters' Lab at Duke University�http://reporterslab.org/fact-checking
Solution
A fact-checking data standard to systematically organize & publish claim reviews.
"Blockchain for facts" or "Knowledge Graph for fact-checking"
synchronize data among fact-checkers, journalists, and platforms.
reduce time-to-market of facts by reducing repetitive work.
increase reach by orchestrating publishing from different outlets to different audiences.
help build smarter news tools browser extensions, "preemptive fact checking"...
Schema.org’s claimReview data standard
Currently used by:�WashingtonPost.com�FullFact.org�PolitiFact.com�Snopes.com
Our addition to claimReview standard
Inspired by fullfact.org
Prototype
1) Extend the existing claimReview standard.
2) Mapping of relations between existing claims
3) Browser extension to check if a news article is reviewed.
Reporters' Lab at Duke University�http://reporterslab.org/fact-checking
Full Fact claimReview graph
graphcommons.com
Reporters' Lab at Duke University�http://reporterslab.org/fact-checking
Full Fact claimReview graph
graphcommons.com
Washington Post claimReview graph
graphcommons.com
ClaimReview graph from Washington Post�On GraphCommons.com
Washington Post claimReview graph
graphcommons.com
Moving forward
We need journalists and news orgs start using the proposed data standard.
Make Google open their news markup data to the public.
Data Solidarity Group
Jari Bakken, VG, Norway @jarib
Ahmet Kizilay, GraphCommons.com @ahmetkizilay
Burak Arikan, GraphCommons.com @graphcommons
Chengcheng Shao, Indiana University @rojeeer
Automated Factchecking Report�https://fullfact.org/automated
FullFact graph (interactive map & data)�https://graphcommons.com/graphs/8989f484-a5cc-4172-a8fe-23a41bd6cee
Washington Post graph (interactive map & data)�https://graphcommons.com/graphs/ccc451a8-65a3-4883-a6d1-e9fc286443f9
Information has been weaponized.
Our best defense is a well-informed citizenry.
(A not-so-classified dossier.)
Situation
Students’ brains are under attack. Threats to their cognitive security imperil our democracy. Tom Cruise isn’t going to save us.
Targets
Middle and high school students, who may have already developed poor information habits, represent a population perhaps most vulnerable to this assault.��We aim to create skilled information seekers who are readily able to differentiate between all types of media; insidious, not, and everything in between.
Our Mission
Deploy a three module curriculum that teaches students to spot misinformation.
The curriculum will be:
Alliances? Yes please.
We will move this idea out to the world through access to middle and high school age students
Operatives
BOOM
Meme-inar
Meme literacy for the war on disinformation.
Problem: Meme literacy is deficient
Memes are the language of the Internet, but not everyone is fluent.
Well meaning people who want to fight against disinformation or use memes to communicate often don’t speak the language. It can be difficult to understand the culture or even to find an entry point.
Who has this problem
Everyone at #misinfocon! We’re all working to fight against misinformation and disinformation. We know fact checks aren’t enough. We need a better understanding of the language and culture of the Internet. Memes help fake news stay alive. We need to understand how and why.
What is your solution: Meme-inar!
What do you need moving forward
Sketch, prototype, or demo
Example websites and strategies we would follow:
Team
SMASH
Social Media Accountability Starts Here
“They watch us - who watches them?”
Unaccountability of Social Media
Social media is the new public infrastructure – but without accountability.
Existing watchdogs are not overlooking the entire space: � EFF, CommonSense, Pew
Social Media will try to address it, but…
The public needs a voice to hold the major platforms accountable.
Who has this problem: Everyone
A Social Media Watchdog Organization
Needs moving forward