There’s a real problem facing journalism today: the unprecedented assault in our democracies on the truth, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour shared during the last day of the United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking. Social media has only made it worse in what she described as a massively polarized world.
“Actual elected democracies are, in a way that we could never have imagined, backsliding their own political systems,” Amanpour said. “I think that’s very troubling for those of us who try to report the truth.”
Drawing on her decades of reporting experience, CNN’s chief international anchor shared her perspectives on truth and trust in journalism during an interview with Neil Brown, president of The Poynter Institute. The virtual conference, which kicked off Monday, brought together fact-checkers, journalists, health care professionals and technology leaders for discussions about the importance of facts in a free society...
Two researchers who have extensively studied misinformation and fact-checking brought United Facts of America attendees into their world during an interview with MediaWise senior multimedia reporter Alex Mahadevan.
Mahadevan began by asking Emily Thorson, an assistant professor of political science at Syracuse University, and Ethan Porter, an assistant professor at George Washington University, if fact-checking works.