The Trusted Web Podcast

Joost de Valk is an entrepreneur and application software developer from the Netherlands who is best known for Yoast SEO. Joost started out as a consultant and blogger in 2004 before developing Yoast, one of the most successful plug-ins for WordPress.

Tune in to this episode as we discuss the current landscape of search and AI, and the implications for both. Google and Bing have implemented new AI chatbots to create a more conversational technology for searches, but this also raises questions of trust and accuracy. Joost also speaks of large-scale AI models and their tendency to generate text without factual background.

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/. 

My guest and I share a very deep passion for a trustworthy internet, and his name is Andy Parsons. Over the last few decades, Andy has been a CTO of over a dozen companies, a founder of several companies and a start-up mentor. Andy is currently a Senior Director at Adobe, overseeing its Content Authenticity Initiative. 

In 2019, Adobe launched this Content Authenticity Initiative with launching partners Twitter and NY Times., where the idea was to establish what they call Digital Content Provenance, which we will extensively discuss throughout this episode. Tune in to this episode as we discuss balancing permanence and flexibility in technology, how we can drive trust from mathematics, the role of open sourcing, and how the Adobe-led community has gained traction with creators, technologists, journalists, activists, and educators.

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/. 

Scott Stornetta is a Grandfather, Teacher, Investor and scientific researcher – and an invention he did 30 years ago totally revolutionizes the world of tech today. In 1991, he and Stuart Haber, published the whitepaper "How to Time-Stamp a Digital Document”. This paper, in fact, could be described as the invention of blockchain. In 1992 this paper won the Discover Award for Computer Software; it’s considered to be one of the most important papers in the development of cryptocurrencies as we know it today.

Tune into this fascinating conversation as we explore inventing blockchain by proving its impossibility, the current state of trust and blockchain's role in fixing it, stakeholders in mass adoption of timestamps and Web3 – and Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and how to get there.

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/.

Karen Mahabir is the AP’s Fact Check and Misinformation Editor, based in New York City. She has worked as a reporter, editor and producer for the AP in its Mexico City, Washington and New York offices. Mahabir also served as Managing Editor of News for The Huffington Post for two years and has spent many years working as a reporter and columnist at several newspapers in New York City and New Jersey.

In this episode, we discuss what a Misinformation Editor does, live fact-checking, viral questions, ‘explainer’ pieces, and the rise of citizen journalism. 

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/.

Amy Mitchell is director of journalism research at Pew Research Center. She is responsible for the Center’s research related to news and information, including how the public accesses, engages with and creates news, what news organizations are providing and how technology is changing all of these elements. Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.

In this conversation we explore the impact of people relying on social media as their primary news source. Tune in as we discuss private social media spaces, the rejection of major media outlets, and some key insights from the Pew Research Center’s latest research.

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/.

Matt Carmichael is the vice president of editorial and content strategy for Ipsos in North America where he edits the award-winning magazine, What the Future. In addition, he is an author and keynote speaker who reports on trends, futurism, demographics and their impacts on everything from marketing, to product development to urban planning and transit.

Matt shares on the show some powerful insights from his latest market research. We also talk about confirmation bias, synthetic media, the resources the media industry needs, why transparency isn’t the answer for everything – and what makes him cautiously optimistic.

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/.

Helen Havlak, Vice President of The Verge, shares how the organization has built trust through different forms of content over the years. The Verge is an ambitious multimedia effort founded in 2011 to examine how technology will change life in the future for a massive mainstream audience. The Verge reaches 55MM+ US readers and millions of subscribers across YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and email. Helen oversees strategy, operations, growth, product, editorial planning, analytics, and audience development.

In this conversation, we discuss public ethics policies, the power of podcasting and audio, The Verge’s ‘jobs to be done’ framework, and how “it’s never a dull moment to be a digital media company”.

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/. 

Henry Pickavet is the editorial director of TechCrunch, which he joined nine years ago as a copy editor. Prior to joining TechCrunch, Henry had a hand in a number of online and print publications, including InternetNews.com as chief copy editor and Government Technology Magazine as managing editor. Henry joins the show to explore what makes a trusted online brand.

Tune in to hear what’s changed across the media landscape over the past decade. We also discuss the future of content discovery, virtual events, the relationship between diversity and trust – and being an avid podcast fan.

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/.

Tonia Ries has more than 30 years of experience in marketing, research, strategy and media. She is Executive Director of Intellectual Property for the Edelman Trust Institute, Edelman’s center for the study of trust and a learning laboratory for trust building between companies, institutions, brands and people. Her role includes stewardship of the Edelman Trust Barometer, the largest global survey and foremost authority on trust in institutions and brands.

It was great having Tonia join me today to discuss the findings from their Trust Barometer research, and learning that the most trusted source for people is their employer. Tune in to this conversation as we discuss the impact of information distribution, dealing with the ‘infodemic’, how we can all build good information hygiene, and what leaders can do with their organisations to reconnect with their communities. 

For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/.

As managing editor, Scott Kraft oversees the Los Angeles Times newsroom, including Column One, enterprise, investigations and Sports. During more than three decades at The Times, Kraft has been a national and foreign correspondent as well as national editor and Deputy Managing Editor/News. He has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing, and wrote for the Associated Press before joining the Times. 

I really enjoyed learning more about how the LA Times have been handling accountability. Listen to find out more about the future of small newspapers, reporting on useful information, how the Times are personalising their journalists, and the mission to reflect the diversity of their community that speaks to them.