The Trusted Web Podcast

A lot has happened since 1994, when David Mikkelson founded the fact-checking website Snopes, formerly known as the Urban Legends Reference Pages. It was great speaking with David to learn more about how the sharing of questionable content has evolved into something very sophisticated today.

Snopes started with investigating urban legends, hoaxes, and folklore. Founder David Mikkelson, later joined by his wife, was publishing online before most people were connected to the internet. As demand for reliable fact checks grew, so did Snopes. Now it’s the oldest and largest fact-checking site online, widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and readers as an invaluable research companion.

Tune in as we discuss this evolution of misinformation, and what needs to be done to stop its repercussions. I enjoy hearing David’s optimistic outlook for the future, the role of middle men, and the future of fact-checking. 

Links Mentioned

• Snopes.com

Today’s guest comes with a really broad perspective. Costanza Sciubba Caniglia is currently a subject-matter expert at Wikimedia, and is a journalist and researcher in political analysis and communications for government and international organizations. I bring Constanza on the show to learn more about the cultural differences with disinformation.

Constanza is Director of Communications for data.org, a platform for partnerships to build the field of data science for social impact. Costanza is also affiliated with the Shorenstein Center for Media Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she co-founded the HKS Misinformation Review. Her research focuses on state-sponsored coordinated information operations and propaganda.

Listen to the conversation as we uncover the changes we expect to see this year from the EU’s new disinformation legislation, as well as tracking networks of information, studying misinformation (or ‘manipulation’) cycles, the role of anonymity – and some surprising lessons learned from her research so far. 

Links Mentioned

• The EU on disinformation 
• Wikimedia
• Constanza’s Twitter
• CostanzaSciubba.com

Ever find you can’t keep up with the news? In today’s world of 24/7 information – and misinformation – Arjun Moorthy, co-founder of The Factual, came up with a solution to deliver unbiased news and trending topics right to your inbox. I catch up with Arjun to find out how they are solving the problem of misinformation through this format.

Arjun has always been passionate about news from when he was a paperboy in middle school through becoming editor in chief of The Stanford Reporter. Prior to The Factual, Arjun was VP of Business Development at HubSpot. Arjun holds a BASc in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Stanford University. 

Found in 2016, The Factual is an algorithm that rates the credibility of 10,000+ news articles daily. They deliver this through a newsletter, a browser plugin, a website and an app. Join our discussion as we explore how their algorithm works, the computer-human partnership, the role of penalties – and why some people will always gravitate towards fake news and conspiracy theories. 

Links Mentioned

• The Factual Chrome Extension
• Episode 7: Misinformation Cycles with Alan Duke, Co-founder, Lead Stories
• TheFactual.com

Today’s guest is a real expert when it comes to communications. Tim Ward advises, trains and coaches environmental and development organisations to use effective communications to achieve their goals. In this interview we explore what we can learn from the Pro-Truth Pledge – an initiative that promotes truth seeking and rational thinking, particularly in politics.

Tim has teamed up with neuroscientist Dr. Gleb Tsipursky to help citizens learn to protect themselves from lies, and empower them to put truth back into politics. They co-authored the book ‘Pro Truth: A Practical Plan for Putting Truth Back Into Politics’, which we also unpack in this interview. Join us as we explore verification models, social media addiction and cognitive biases.

Links Mentioned

• ‘Pro Truth’ by Dr. Gleb Tsipursky and Tim Ward
• Dr. Gleb Tsipursky’s Twitter
• https://www.protruthpledge.org/
• Tim Ward’s blog
• Misinformation vs Disinformation with Pamposh Raina, Independent Journalist
• Changemakers Books 

Dan Gillmor is an internationally recognized leader in new media and digital media literacy. He's the author of Mediactive, which explores media literacy in the digital age from a journalist’s perspective. He launched The News Co/Lab in 2017, where their mission is to help ensure an informed citizenry – a fundamental building block of democracy.

I really enjoyed this thoughtful conversation as we explored the role of journalists within communities, the key challenges with moderation and why media literacy shouldn’t stop after we finish school.

Links Mentioned

• ‘We the Media: Grassroots Journalism By the People, For the People’ by Dan Gillmor
• NewsCoLab.org
• Dan’s talk ‘Journalism in an Age of Misinformation and Centralization’
• DanGillmor.com 

There’s no doubt that the state of fake news today is strong, and today’s guest Richard Zack, CEO & CTO of Our.News, shares how “the Internet is a super spreader event for fake news”. I found today’s conversation empowering as we discussed how the solution to this issue will come from working together.

Our.News is on a mission to fight misinformation with interactive Nutrition Labels for news content. Attached to all news and content online, the labels make it easier for anyone to make a quick determination between real and junk news and content. 

Tune in as we discuss the challenges of freedom of speech vs freedom of reach, the role of open source, the Our.News publisher verification process, and why Richard believes we’re only at the beginning of the fake news problem.

Let’s build the trusted web together!

Links Mentioned

Newstrition App

Twitter: @ourdotnews

Twitter: @richardkzack

Our.News

www.TheTrustedWeb.org/Podcast 

It’s been a remarkable 15 years for the news industry. Today’s guest, Dwayne Desaulniers from Associated Press, joins the show to run through their amazing use case with blockchain – calling the election on blockchain. The timing couldn’t be any better with the 2020 US elections. 

Dwayne started his career in journalism. His fascination with the intersection of news and technology, and how they work together, has led him to his current role as Director of Corporate News, Blockchain & Data Licensing at Associated Press. As a not-for-profit, AP sits right in the middle as an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.

In this conversation we explore the use cases for news on blockchain, the role of NFTs and making outcomes of news into collectables, AP’s use of automation and AI for research, and timestamping their news stories. I look forward to following their journey as they continue to share what they learn! 

Links Mentioned

• AP Elections
• Everipedia
• Twitter: Theodor Forselius
• AP.org/Insights
• Twitter: The Associated Press

Today’s guest is an expert in identifying real vs fake content that’s circulating across Facebook and Twitter – on a daily basis. Paul is the director of the Center for Social Media Responsibility, University of Michigan, and Paul and his team have developed a way to measure the progress of media platforms at meeting their public responsibilities. 

They use the term “Iffy” to describe sites that frequently publish misinformation. It is a light-hearted way to acknowledge that their categorization of the sites is based on imprecise criteria and fallible human judgments. They are publishing a web-based dashboard that charts the Iffy Quotient since early 2016. The dashboard enables comparisons over time and between platforms. 

Join my conversation with Paul as we discuss his definition of “Iffy” sites, the operational problems involved with solving fake news, and his idea on verifying content before it goes live.

Links Mentioned

NewsWhip

NewsGuard

The Center for Social Media Responsibility

Iffy Quotient 

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

Based in New Delhi, Pamposh Raina is an independent journalist. Her recent work has focussed on analysing misinformation and disinformation on social media and closed messaging apps in India. She led a research project commissioned by WhatsApp that analysed the misinformation trends natively on the messaging app during the 2019 Indian parliamentary election. For full show notes visit https://thetrustedweb.org/podcast/.

Pamposh has written for international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, News Deeply, and Women in the World. She has been a reporter with The New York Times and was the deputy editor for India Ink – NYT’s first-ever county-specific blog. She is also part of Google News Initiative’s network of trainers in India. 

I was so excited to speak with Pamposh and learn more about the media landscape in India. In this conversation we delve into the country’s biggest challenges, which includes operating in different languages and dealing with illiteracy. Tune in to learn more about The Google News Initiative, the difference between misinformation and disinformation, and how misinformation is costing lives in India.

Links mentioned:

The Google News Initiative

Pamposh’s Twitter

Fathm.co