Amidst an “Amateurs Invasion”; Can we Save the Truth?
“Guys: Catalonia is officially independent now! Dana, haven’t you heard the news yet?!”. Mohannad, my colleague suddenly screamed during our afternoon editorial meeting. I was a bit skeptical, so I immediately turned to the news wires and couldn’t find any news story confirming his claim. So I asked: “Mohannad I can’t find it anywhere, are you sure?” . “Yes, I just received the news on a WhatsApp group!” Mohannad replied in a very affirmative tone. I tried to explain to him repeatedly that if it’s not on a news wire, it’s probably fake. But he insisted: “More than 20 guys on a WhatsApp group confirmed it; it must be true!”.
Rumors and fake news have always existed, but they’re being widely disseminated and authenticated by the wrong measures today. The number of shares on Facebook, retweets on twitter, or views on youtube are increasingly becoming acceptable measures for the credibility of a news story.
I keep asking myself: Amidst this swamp of “Fake News” spread by amateurs: Are we in over our heads; or can we save real journalism today?
Citizen Journalism: A Threat?
As the name itself suggests; citizen journalism is: “the act of non-professionals, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and disseminating news and information”.
Personally, I’m glad people have a voice today, and that in incidents on which traditional media is either late or barred: the people are there taking pictures and videos, and in a split of a second: the story is out into the world wide web. Yet, the journalist in me sees the dark side of this newly acquired power given to practically anyone with a smart phone and an internet connection: More Fake News.
Ali Jaber, MBC Group Television Director and Dean of The Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication and Information Studies, said during a recent lecture he gave to MBRSC masters students: “Journalism is a complicated process of research, auditing and proofreading; and this is what we’re missing today in this age of polarity and amateur coverage executed by practically anyone”.
Katia Jamil, MBC Morning Show Editor-in-Chief, thinks that journalists have an increasing responsibility to question every news story. She clarifies saying: “We need at least two credible sources to broadcast a story. We shouldn’t blame social media for the spread of fake news, because it’s also spreading truthful stories and rallying support for charitable causes at an unprecedented pace”.
Should we “reinvent” Journalism?:
To fight fake news, perhaps we need to start from within. Manon Peyr, a senior MBC TV Producer, thinks that we should “reinvent journalism according to the means with which people are consuming it today”. She suggests that tech giants come together and formulate a dedicated department giving special labels to accurate sources and filtering out fake stories. On the other hand, Fouad Haider, an entertainment news producer, believes in educating people on the social networks themselves adding: “We need to lead by example. We should use social media to tell truthful stories and point out the fake ones”.
A Light at the End of the Tunnel:
In the wake of the 2016 American Elections, social networks such as Facebook are beginning to realize the pressing need to fight fake news. They’re currently taking measures to identify and filter out fake news stories, offering users more perspectives and additional information.
On the other hand, The Italian government is cooperating with leading digital companies including Facebook to train school students on how to recognize fake news and conspiracy theories online. Hopefully, in the near future more schools and educational institutions around the world will follow their lead.
We Shall Not Surrender:
“When efforts are gathered: we can make a huge difference.” said Micheal Moore during his play “Terms of my Surrender”, which I attended in New York last August. If we spread awareness through every means possible; we will save journalism, and we will — one step at a time — turn many tweeps and Facebook users into critical news producers and consumers. There will always be fake news and there will always be people who are going to — deliberately or unknowingly — spread them. But as long as the wise keep mentoring the masses, real journalism will prevail.
