Alan Duke has had a fascinating career trajectory to date. As a US army veteran, followed by 26 years with CNN, he then co-founded Lead Stories, an innovative fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015.

The mission of Lead Stories is to help journalists, marketers and others identify and understand what is happening on social platforms with shared content in real time. It’s also a 3rd-party fact-checker for Facebook, using its tools to find fake content early so that it's spread across social platforms can be thwarted.

I really enjoyed catching up with Alan to learn more about how content goes viral. Tune in as we discuss the evolution of technology in journalism, the recycling of stories and claims, and examples of his work with Facebook and TikTok – and Oculus goggles.

Links mentioned:

CrowdTangle.com

LeadStories.com

The International Fact-Checking Network 

The Social Dilemma Documentary

Maarten Schenk’s Twitter

Alan Duke’s Twitter