Hear This From SXSW: Fake News Facts
The Forrest Four-Cast: March 22, 2018
Disinformation and propaganda are hardly a novel phenomenon — hoaxes have been a part of the media landscape since the Dreyfus Affair. But just as technology is transforming the creation of real news, it is also transforming the creation of fake news. Sophisticated platforms make fake news ever easier for propagandists to create, and ever harder for consumers to spot. Making things worse, fake news has a built-in advantage — it spreads faster than genuine news, because it is designed to be inflammatory. If you missed any of these SXSW sessions on fake news and its implications for democracy, check out these full-length audio replays.
How the Tech World Aids Russia’s War on the West. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet Union built ties to authors and artists in the West as a way of shaping our political discussion. The same thing is happening today between the Kremlin and the West’s technology community. Listen to Chris Zappone of the Melbourne Age show how propagandists exploit cyberspace.
Today’s Cyber Warfare Looks a Lot Like Advertising. Cyber warfare is the next modern weapon — enemy propaganda masked as fake news and Facebook ads. With less accountability and more access to global reach, nefarious forces are getting more effective at turning the Web into a fight for our minds, undermining our security in the process. Learn from insiders who have the backstory (or ARE the story): security reporters, cyber warfare experts, and more.
Will We Trust Media When Our Own Eyes Deceive Us? Thanks to the advent of machine-learning, it will soon be easy to doctor photographs, audio, and video — even for complete amateurs. Combine this fact with historically low trust in the media, nefarious actors seeking to disrupt democracies, and the speed at which a hoax can cross the planet. Renee Diresta of Data For Democracy and Alexis Madrigal of The Atlantic explored what happens to society when we can’t believe anything we see or hear online.
The Only Solution to Fake News: Education for All. Your mother shared a fake news story. Your students cited “alternative facts.” There’s only one thing to do: implement news and media literacy education. In this session, Ed Madison of the University of Oregon, Barbara McCormack of the Newseum, and Esther Wojcicki of the Journalistic Learning Initiative discussed ideas for empowering all participants in the news media cycle.
Find more podcast content by exploring the SXSW online schedule. When you click on a session and see an audio bar, then you’ve got your listening assignment for the day! Also, we’ve made it easier for you by recapping some of the SXSW highlights. Check out previous roundups of audio content related to Senator Bernie Sanders, The Future of Work, Boosting Benefits, Politics Matters, Culture Changers, Fresh Media Voices and Building Inclusion.
Lock in SXSW 2018 prices by purchasing a badge for SXSW 2019 during our limited pre-sale. Don’t delay, as this limited pre-sale ends at 11:59 pm PDT on Saturday, March 24.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
