On January 21, four prominent Canadian journalists discussed journalism and misinformation in the Hart House Debates Room, moderated by Marva Wisdom, director of the Black Experience Project. The event, “Journalism in the Age of Fake News,” was hosted by the Hart House Debates and Dialogue Committee.
Jesse Brown, founder and host of the podcast CANADALAND, began the discussion by clarifying the term “fake news.” According to Brown, fake news initially referred to realistic news sites often run by teenagers who found they could make money from clicks on made-up stories. These fake news stores differ in intent and can vary from memes shared on the internet to serious propaganda efforts. “Lies aren’t new,” said Brown, but “fake news” was quickly “co-opted by Donald Trump” as an umbrella term to convey dissent toward journalists.
Ryerson School of Journalism professor Asmaa Malik noted that “with social networks, the sources of information have become more and more obscure.” The spread of misinformation, according to Malik, is complicated by its amplification on social media and by the failure of readers to go directly to the source. Panelists agreed that the lack of media literacy is concerning. Malik called for better “training [of] skeptical media consumers.”
The Toronto Star’s Washington bureau chief Daniel Dale discussed how hard it is to “combat misinformation once it has spread,” citing personal experience. Over six years ago, Dale was covering a story about former Toronto mayor Rob Ford and was falsely accused by Ford of trespassing on Ford’s property and standing on cinder blocks to spy over his fence. To this day, Dale’s innocence has not been fully restored in the eyes of the public, despite Ford’s public retraction of all accusations.
Toronto-based VICE reporter Tamara Khandaker added that browsing social media is often the main source of Canadians’ daily “news diet.” These threads, however, do not have room for “nuanced conversation.”
The panel unanimously stressed the importance for individuals to establish a broad base of news sources that includes sources they do not like or agree with. Brown warned if one does not diversify one’s own sources, one will be critically unaware of what other people are consuming, and Khandaker urged the audience to go out of their way to read stories that friends are not sharing.
Malik further stated that journalists, especially those working for traditional news sources, must better understand how news works on social media networks. Though overshadowed by the larger phenomenon of fake news spread through these networks, the panel noted that new media outlets like Buzzfeed and VOX are more aggressive and internet-savvy companies that put pressure on mainstream media sources to stay relevant.
While the panel found social media and personal biases to be the biggest threat to journalistic integrity, other threats, such as manipulated photos and videos, were seen as less important to the spread of misinformation. Instead, Brown suggested that convincing fakes can actually help, because a lack of “perfect evidence” can make the public more skeptical.
When asked about the most important goal for journalists in the modern world, Brown emphasized the importance of journalists as information providers. Even journalists who work for media companies with a political slant, he said, typically prioritize telling what is actually going on over intentionally “lying to get a point across.” Khandaker added that the job of journalists is to provide context so that people can make informed decisions.
It is also important for journalists, continued Malik, to be transparent so they too can be held accountable. Dale acknowledged the important roles for various kinds of journalists. Journalists hold powerful people accountable by investigating and revealing misdeeds, but those who “tell interesting human stories that make us think, or laugh, or cry” also play a role in “making society better.”
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