In science journalism, what’s a fact?

Rigorous methods help distinguish pseudoscience from trustworthy information Both scientists and journalists sometimes have the uncomfortable experience of seeing their research and conclusions challenged by startling new information. If you are a true scientist or journalist, you view the new information with an open mind. And then you test it. You attempt to prove it […]

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What’s new in local, AI, and junk news

How recent articles have affected my thinking about the future of journalism One of my favorite recent articles was a newsletter post by Dick Tofel, former general manager of the investigative news site ProPublica. He asked the question, Time for local newspapers to go all-local? In other words, should local newspapers stop filling their web […]

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Sustainable journalism: view from Latin America

At ISOJ, stories of collaboration on viability, fact-checking, free expression The International Symposium of Online Journalism (ISOJ) has been a showcase of media innovation since its launch in 1999 by Rosental Alves, director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas, Austin. I’ve attended and spoken at several of […]

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Reasons for optimism #7: The movement for trustworthy information

Fact checkers globally offer alternatives to the flood of lies and misinformation Why write about “reasons for optimism” when so much is going wrong in our politics, economy, and environment? Optimism gives us confidence that we can make things better. As I like to say, it’s another day of opportunity. Much of what I read […]

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Fact-checkers need a marketing mentality

Let your users tell you what they value and are willing to pay for The International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute held its Global Fact 8 conference this past week. I was on a panel that discussed the question, “Fact-checking as a product: Why can’t we sell it?”. The moderator was Gilberto Scofield Jr., […]

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What works in fighting disinformation

Like covid-19 campaigns, effective countermeasures build on trusted relationships A study of Russian disinformation campaigns in Central and Eastern Europe reveals some scary data. But it also suggests some effective countermeasures and the role journalists can play in the battle for hearts and minds. The study, Disinformation Resilience in Central and Eastern Europe, reminds us […]

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How the press is struggling against ‘toxic’ disinformation

Facts and science don’t matter in the new media ecosystem What follows is the abstract of my paper just published by Comunicación y Hombre, of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria. The emergence of search engines and social media networks in the past two decades created a new media ecosystem. It allowed the instantaneous creation, distribution, […]

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