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Edited by Marco Nurra
Presenting #ijf19. The 2019 festival will be the best yet. More than 650 speakers – of whom 49% are women – will take part in about 280 sessions. This is a condensed version (about one third) of the festival programme, divided category by category.
Newspapers help to radicalise far right, says UK anti-terror chief. Neil Basu criticises hypocrisy of mainstream news providers in wake of Christchurch attack. “A piece of extremist propaganda might reach tens of thousands of people naturally through their own channels or networks, but the moment a national newspaper publishes it in full then it has a potential reach of tens of millions.”
Terrorism bred online requires anticipatory, not reactionary coverage. “There is a whole literature now on what best practices look like for journalists and editors reporting as live events of this type. Many point to academic studies such as this, from 2015, linking a “contagion” effect to mass killings, and to thoughtful guidelines on how to cover mass shootings responsibly. The Tow Center, which I direct, produced a series of reports in 2016 about the interdependence of terrorism and the media and political response. Responsible reporters ought to have the basics imprinted on their subconscious: Do not report facts until they are verified, do not focus on the perpetrator over the victims, do not use sensational language that might glamorize the terrorist,” writes Emily Bell.
Lessons for journalists from the New Zealand terror attacks. “No news organisation is obliged to publish everything, especially material created by the terrorist themselves. Journalists select and edit all the time, that is even more critical around an incident like this.”
🔔 Charlie Beckett will be a #ijf19 speaker: “Pitfalls of over-reacting to populism: the relationship between populism and the media“, “Nationwide collaborations on local investigative reporting in Germany and the UK“
Facebook will no longer allow advertisers to target by age, gender and ZIP code for housing, employment, credit offers. The sweeping changes come two years after ProPublica’s reporting, which sparked lawsuits and widespread outrage.
🔔 Julia Angwin, editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Markup and formerly investigative journalist of the independent news organization ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal, will be a #ijf19 speaker: “Witness vs. forensics: the future of data-driven investigative reporting. #ijf19talk by Julia Angwin“, “The Perugia Principles: new guidelines for journalists working with whistleblowers“, “Radical change in the world calls for radical changes in journalism“, “Media capture in the digital age“, “News orgs that are doing it differently“
I wrote a story that became a legend. Then I discovered it wasn’t true.
“It would have been the story that led my obituary. But in recent weeks I have realized, with a creeping feeling of unease, that it was wrong.”
19 fact-checkers are teaming up to fight misinformation about the EU elections. The project is called FactCheckEU. They’ll fact-check politicians’ rhetoric and misinformation ahead of the May parliamentary elections.
Does the “backfire effect” exist—and does it matter for factcheckers? Full Fact’s Research Manager Amy Sippitt takes an in-depth look at whether the so-called “backfire effect” really exists—and what it means for factcheckers.
🔔 We’ll tackle the topic of disinformation & fact-checking at #ijf19 on these panels: “Journalism, fake news and disinformation: equipping journalism for the fightback“, “The video verification toolkit: the journalist as a data worker“, “Technology and automation in the fight against misinformation“, “Vaccinating against misinfodemics: journalists and public health misinformation“, “Nutrition labels for news: how can standards help our media ecosystem?“
The bizarre and terrifying case of the “deepfakes” video that helped bring an African nation to the brink. “Lower-tech versions of disinformation have already led to violence in some countries, and civil society and activist groups in those places expect deepfakes to make media manipulation even worse. […] Smaller, fragile nations don’t have the checks that help limit deepfakes’ impact in stronger nations, and will be particularly reliant on companies like Facebook and YouTube’s efforts to counter them. While experts predict that no country will be immune, developed nations with a robust, independent press and other democratic checks are less likely to be susceptible to government attempts to manipulate public opinion with deepfake videos.”
🔔 We’ll tackle the topic of deepfakes at #ijf19 on these panels: “Deepfakes, shallow fakes and real deal journalism“, “Preparing for the next wave: video fake news“, “Prepare, don’t panic: dealing with deepfakes and other synthetic media“, “Beyond fake news: what’s next for tackling online misinformation“
WhatsApp continues fight against fake news with new ‘search image’ feature. WhatsApp is currently testing a new ‘search image’ feature that allows users to easily upload an image found on its platform to Google. The messaging app will then direct users to a Google search results page that shows “similar or equal images” elsewhere on the web. This information can help users find out if an image is real or has been photoshopped or even learn the background of an unaltered photo thats been stripped of its context.
🔔 Carl Woog, Head of Communications for WhatsApp, will be a #ijf19 speaker: “In conversation with WhatsApp“
We can’t combat fake news if we don’t really understand it. Social media is creating real problems for the world, but moral panics still far outweigh reality. That’s a recipe for policy disaster.
🔔 We’ll tackle the topic of regulation at #ijf19 on these panels: “Regulation of information spread on social media: is it being done too hastily?“, “Unintended consequences of EU technology regulation?“, “Social media: prejudice and reality. What does academic research show?“
Wake up, Italians – our country is in a state of democratic emergency. “A liberal democracy does not become authoritarian within a few months, but there are signs, however slight and seemingly unconnected, that seem to chart this depressing journey.”
🔔 Roberto Saviano will be a #ijf19 speaker
Why newsrooms are unionizing now. “This generation is tired of hearing that this industry requires martyrdom, that it requires that you suck it up, that you accept low wages and long hours.”
Mexican asylum-seeking journalist fears death if he’s deported – But he has been denied asylum in the United States. “We would have nothing if we stayed: no home, no work, no family,” he told the Post. “It was my last chance. It was the only option I had.”
Edited by Marco Nurra