As part of a series on fake news, Principal Investigator Russell Hall, Reference and Instruction Librarian, held a panel discussion titled “Understanding ‘Fake News’” last Tuesday.

   

Behrend faculty discussed the ‘fake news’ issue from their areas of expertise. The four speakers on the panel were Steven Berg, P.h.D, Assistant Teaching Professor of Psychology, Karrie Bowen, Lecturer in Social Media, Public Relations, and Media Production, Eric Corty, P.h.D., Director of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Lena Surzhko-Harned, P.h.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science.

   

Bowen began discussing journalism and the duties of a journalist stating “we [journalists] look at it as information shared by a media outlet to the mass public,” referring to that which is considered news. She went on to explain news as information that is timely and relevant, with a good journalist eliminating bias as best they can and using a multi-viewpoint approach with multiple sources. According to Bowen, a journalist’s job is to serve the public.

   

The issue of ‘fake news’ has been around since the start of mainstream journalism, however, according to the discussion board, journalism is currently dealing with a new set of controversies referred to as ‘fabricated news,’ news that is presented as factually accurate even if it is not. This is not just stories online or in newspapers, it also relates to photoshopped images or edited videos. As a result, news outlets will sometimes falsely report this fabricated information because it looks factual.

   

Although the motivation for producing ‘fake news’ ranges, the common goal is to try and make the information look as real as possible, which is “becoming increasingly easier with our technology,” said Corty.

   

Hall presented the question, “What makes ‘fake news’ believable?” Surzhko-Harned began discussing the rapid spread of information during moments of crisis. “Information comes from all directions sometimes making it hard to determine what is true,” she said. She also noted ‘fake news’ is being used as an international device of control, specifically used in politics to discredit the opponent. Surzhko-Harned also mentioned the idea of framing where citizens generally tend to believe information from sources they find credible.

   

Berg stated that information repeated over time, even if meaningless, can become meaningful, and the message with eventually stick with the consumer. According to Berg, this is relevant when looking at the increasing use of social media. Corty followed up by stating everyone has a different sense of reality, therefore relatively similar information can be interpreted differently from person to person. Corty also spoke on the idea of confirmation bias, essentially the idea that people will give more guidance to information they already believe is correct. “The human tendency to seek out information that supports existing beliefs,” as Corty put it.

   

The last topic discussed was social media and the impact it has on journalism. Bowen began discussing the positive aspects, although social media platforms, particularly Facebook which has been circulated in the ‘fake news’ narrative, does not make money through fact checking information that surfaces on the website. Social media is accessible to everyone, which can be good for spreading factual information. However, according to Bowen, with online publication comes citizen journalism, a false level of expertise in journalism. Bowen explained the time and dedication it takes to learn effective journalistic strategies, being a good journalist is something that not just anybody can do.

   

The panel concluded with the discussion of possible solutions and what to look for to determine the credibility of a news story. Good news stories will show all sides of an issue and will name their sources. According to Bowen, the journalist's job is not to be friends with everyone, it’s to have good working connections with people. The panel agreed, there is no solution that will completely eliminate the issue of ‘fake news’. Bowen explained the importance of educating students to be more media literate, it could be a good practice to cease jumping right into presented information and instead take it with a grain of salt and fact check.