To mark World Press Freedom Day (yesterday, 3 May), Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) launched a #FightFakeNews campaign, because it says this combats disinformation – now one of the biggest challenges for journalism’s defenders.
The campaign’s key element is a TV spot entitled FightFakeNews that wasproduced for RSF by BETC France.
It compares the harm to humans caused by counterfeit industrial or pharmaceutical products with the political harm resulting from counterfeit news and information. “Unlike the traditional type of fakes, whose impact on health or the environment is visible and measurable, ‘fake news’ undermines the foundations of democracy in a more insidious way,” says RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire.
“Content that is produced in a rigorous and honest manner is increasingly being subjected to unfair competition from sponsored content, propaganda and rumours,” he said.
“NZ is a signatory to Reporters Without Borders but it is not know at this stage who will screen it here.”
“As surveyshave shown, fake news circulates more easily than trustworthy news because of a cognitive bias in human beings. We cannot remain passive in the face of this threat to the honesty of the public debate and, by extension, to democracy.
“RSFis taking concrete steps to promote journalistic freedom, independence and pluralism.”
Its launch comes a week after the publication of RSF’s 2018 World Press Freedom Index and a month after the formal launch of the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI),a media self-regulatory initiative designed to promote real journalism in the new information ecoystem.
The JTI was launched jointly by RSF and its partnersAgence France-Presse (AFP), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and theGlobal Editors Network (GEN).
New Zealand is a signatory to the JTI (who shot and produced the spot – check out the website, below) but it is not know at this stage who or if it will screen it here.
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