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Press Panel: The Future of Media in a Post-Truth Age
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Anoushka
1:45
1:46
Hello and welcome to a panel discussion on 'The Future of Media in a Post-Truth Age'. The panelists are Jeremy O'Grady, Editor-in-Chief of The Week, Robert Guest, Foreign Editor of The Economist and Jim White, Telegraph columnist, writer, and broadcaster.
1:59
Robert Guest, initiates the discussion and states,“We live in the era of fake news, but it’s not the first one.
2:03
He starts with a story run by the New York Sun in 1835 about a man who saw monsters in the sky through the modern telescope.
2:05
Guest adds, "Slowly, others people pointed out that the New York Sun is making it up. However, later, everyone realized that every newspaper went on to do similar stuff like that equivalent to 19th century click bait."
2:07
Guest points out that real news needs to go out. However, news gathering costs money and if it has to be made possible then it must be funded.
2:08
Should there be laws prohibiting fake news?
Yes (0% | 0 votes)
 
No (0% | 0 votes)
 
Total Votes: 0
2:11
Jeremy O Grady talks about The Week. He says that the whole idea of reputation has been set before us. Talking about other such news outlets, O Grady says that they already have a reputation where people can trust the news.
2:14
O'Grady distinguishes between two phenomena that have emerged in the media landscape. "One is fake news, and the other which is eating at our faith in news is the idea of partisanship."
2:15
2:16
Talking about a Reuters survey, he asserts that the problem with fake news is with the mainstream media and not the people.
2:18
Bringing the discussion to whether we are in a post truth or post fact age, O Grady adds,"To what extent are we in the post fact age? Is it a particularly novel age or has it been always like this or are we exaggerating the fact age or the truth age."
2:19
Jim White recounts his days at The Independent. He adds that the change has been revolutionary to the point that The Independent is no longer printing a newspaper.
2:21
White continues,“We have greater means to collaborate and function today. This new situation has democratized the situation.”
2:23
The moderator frames the question for the panel," Why are people moving towards orthodoxy and bipartisanship?"
2:26
Robert Guest replies, “There are many studies that show that being highly intelligent has absolutely no protection against believing complete fake information.”
2:27
He continues,"The Russian intelligence services planted the idea in African communities that HIV was created by CIA to kill the black people and people bought it."
2:28
He moves on to discuss similar fake news stories that had geopolitical consequences in the past.
2:30
O Grady feels that we are instinctively tribal human beings. O Grady states "It's the lack of trust in mainstream media which is the most disturbing aspect of our current predicament."
2:31
He believes news has become entangled with comment. He mentions that consumers have lost faith but news organisations are being disreputable.
2:32
Taking the example given by Robert Guest, O Grady questions the notion of objectivity further and asks whether we are trying to give news as unbiased as possible or do we take a certain point of view and report.
2:33
Jim White talks about the difference between fact and opinion through his experience last summer Olympics in Russia and the sophisticated way in which the media is treated by them. ”Russia was beyond its best behavior,” he adds.
Guest: “Authoritarian regimes are good with manipulating the western media.”
2:34
2:35
Moderator questions, "Where does the onus lie to counteract the fake narrative?"
2:36
Do you thing social media affects your thought process?
Yes (0% | 0 votes)
 
No (0% | 0 votes)
 
Total Votes: 0
He asks whether social media should be regulating its policies or do people should be using their own judgment to understand what fake news is.
2:37
O Grady says there is a need to inculcate in schools about epistemic vigilance- where information is coming from and how to sort it.
2:38
He adds that platforms will become invigilators of news and this is a danger of giving the onus to social media to judge what fake news is.
2:39
Jim White talks about the success of digital marketing done by NYT. He hints about how Trump uses our skepticism in media for his benefit, calling it all the fake news all the time if the story is against him.
Thank you for joining us for the discussion.
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