Beyond Fake News

REPORTING IN THE AGE OF MISINFORMATION

Kat Eschner | @KatEschner

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#REPORTINGFAKESCI

bit.ly/fakesciwri22

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN (I HOPE)

• Some important basics about the landscape of information disorder

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• Best practices for engaging with mis-, dis- and malinformation in your work

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• How to get started on reporting three different kinds of stories about false information that will serve any beat

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• Special considerations for science and health reporting

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• Where to go for more information and help

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Don’t call it fake news!

FIRST DRAFT NEWS (FIRSTDRAFTNEWS.ORG)

“At First Draft, we advocate using the terms that are most appropriate for the type of content — propaganda, lies, conspiracies, rumors, hoaxes, hyper-partisan content, falsehoods or manipulated media.”

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FIRST DRAFT NEWS (FIRSTDRAFTNEWS.ORG)

“Most of this content isn’t even fake; it’s often genuine, used out of context and weaponized by people who know that falsehoods based on a kernel of truth are more likely to be believed and shared. And most of this can’t be described as ‘news.’ It’s good old-fashioned rumors, it’s memes, it’s manipulated videos, hyper-targeted ‘dark ads’ and old photos re-shared as new.

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So what is it?

INFORMATION DISORDER

DISINFORMATION: When people intentionally create false or misleading information

WHY? Money, political influence, maliciously causing trouble or harm

MISINFORMATION: When people share disinformation but they don’t realise it’s false or misleading

WHY? Out of fear, to protect people, just in case, as a display of their identity

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MALINFORMATION: Genuine information that is shared with the intent to cause harm

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“We need to recognize that the techniques we saw in 2016 have evolved. We are increasingly seeing the weaponization of context and the use of genuine content — but content that is warped and reframed.”

FIRST DRAFT NEWS (FIRSTDRAFTNEWS.ORG)

CONSIDER THE ROAD SHARK

SUCCESSFUL MIS/DISINFORMATION

• Builds on real events and details

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• Targets emotion

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• Appeals to existing beliefs/bias

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• Exploits networks

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• Often visual, engineered to be easily shared

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CRAIG SILVERMAN (CRAIGSILVERMAN.CA)

AND ANOTHER THING

• The tactics and techniques used by those who misinform evolve rapidly, along with the platforms they use
• But many of the basic narratives are being recycled and readapted over and over again, even from the days before the internet
• The difference is reach and the scale of damage it’s doing to societies

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BEST PRACTICES

REPORTING STAGE

DO

• Keep track of evolving stories in this area
• Watch for keywords and terms (spreadsheet!)
• Accept that people often have good reason to not trust official sources of information
• Reach outwards: Talk to others reporting in your area about what they are seeing and ask your readers too

DON’T

• Imagine that you aren’t also vulnerable to false information
• Cover every piece of mis/disinformation you encounter. Consider REACH and STAKES before writing about a piece of false information
• Don’t attribute unless you have a *lot* of evidence

WRITING STAGE

DO

• Explicitly label false information
• Be specific (propaganda, lies, conspiracies, rumors, hoaxes, hyper-partisan content, falsehoods or manipulated media)
• Acknowledge uncertainty
• Practice good source control
• Prepare your audience for what’s next (try to fill those gaps!)

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DON’T

• Once more, with feeling: Don’t call it fake news!
• Don’t let your sources talk down to your audience
• Stop following the story

3 BASIC KINDS OF STORIES: GETTING STARTED

THE DEBUNK

• Reactive
• Can be very SEO-friendly
• Important but should be used in moderation–debunks reach fewer people than misinformation
• Can be a good way to get extra content out of ongoing investigations

THE DEBUNK

• Move quickly–false information moves fast and people will most likely only be interested for a short period
• Clearly state what the misinformation is and why it isn’t correct
• Aim to fill knowledge gaps with either: knowledge OR better defined uncertainty
• Write simply and clearly. This is not the time for ornate prose. Be approachable.

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• Wayback Machine (download the Chrome extension too!) to archive
• InVid (another great Chrome extension) to investigate photos and videos
• Google Reverse Image Search, Yandex, etc.
• Social media investigation tools
• More tools in notes

THE PREBUNK

• Proactive (involves a little more foresight)
• Cheap to produce
• Helps develop a beat/area and make you a go-to source for info in that area
• Can help your organization lead the narrative

THE PREBUNK

• Think about inoculating people against misinformation
• Try to anticipate your audience’s questions
• Three main types of prebunks: fact-based (AKA a debunk); logic-based (explaining the tactics that are being used to manipulate); source-based (pointing out bad sources of information)

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• Google Trends (to figure out what people are looking for)
• Your own analytics (to figure out what’s being most-read, if anything is ready for an update)
• Ask your sources if they’ve been hearing about anything (but check it out before you pull the trigger)

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THE FOLLOW THE MONEY

• Investigative (longer)
• Important anchor work
• Can intersect with other beats: politics, finance, crime
• Can include that wonderful moment where somebody asks “how did you get this number?”

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THE FOLLOW THE MONEY

• Pull back the curtain on actors/networks/beneficiaries behind false information
• Often involve the use of digital tools and verification techniques
• Illustrate the scale of the problem (often we’re talking about numerous accounts on social media, a mix of real and unreal actors)

• This kind of investigation may involve a huge range of digital tools as well as some good old-fashioned reporting
• Sometimes you can’t actually get back to the origins of the problem and what makes more sense is illustrating the scope for your readers
• It pays to invest in creating the habits of monitoring false information so when you start working on one of these, it isn’t all new

SOME MORE THOUGHTS

• Not every story is going to be just one of these – expect to see a mix in whatever you’re reporting on
• In a quickly evolving/breaking news situation, active debunking on social media can be an important tool
• Always think about reach-actors-intent to harm-stakes
• A lot of this stuff requires a fair amount of digital know-how and a sense of what kinds of tools are available/what kinds of questions it’s possible to ask. Worth investing in these things beforehand

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SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR SCIENCE

• Science and health beats are particularly vulnerable to certain kinds of false information (on subjects like climate change and COVID-19 for example)
• Why? Remember the KNOWLEDGE GAP
• But also, these are simply subjects where there is a lot of money tied up in things and many people/entities who misinform have that money
• All this means that it is crucial, as COVID-19 has shown us, for science and health journalists to learn how to report on this stuff

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WHERE TO GO NEXT

• https://firstdraftnews.org
• http://bit.ly/vhandbook
• http://bit.ly/verificationtoolsandtips
• kat.eschner@gmail.com - I am happy to talk more about this, send more resources, anything I can do to help

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