Internet
Reuters partners with Facebook Journalism Project to help newsrooms around the world spot deepfakes and manipulated media
The spread of inaccurate and misleading information is a significant and growing global problem. It is a major challenge for journalists and a source of alarm for governments, institutions and individuals all over the world, as it has had an increasing impact on elections. Some of the most powerful and effective forms of misinformation are video and images, as they are highly shared on social media and can be understood by all. Staged events, recycled video, deceptive editing, tampering and the recent rise of AI-driven 'deepfakes' videos all pose a fundamental threat to an informed democracy.
This type of misinformation has become a major challenge for journalists who strive to determine facts surrounding complex and often emotionally-charged topics. Reuters has been at the forefront of addressing this growing threat, with a specialist team of editors dedicated to authentication of user generated content. The team frequently encounters media that has been taken out of context, mislabeled, edited, staged or manipulated with CGI, and has been leading the charge in raising awareness and educating journalists around the world.
Audiences, too, are aware of the growing risk: a recent Reuters Institute study found more than half (55%) of people around the world are concerned about their ability to separate what is real and fake on the internet. News organizations can play an important role in allaying their audiences' concerns by being able to identify manipulated or misleading media themselves.
"Organizations around the world are increasingly alarmed by the spread and impact of misinformation on society. It's become a major challenge for media organizations as they're bombarded with user-generated and other third-party content," said
Jess April , Director Strategic Partnerships & Program Management, Reuters. "It's a threat we at Reuters encounter every day, and this new course puts that expertise into practice to educate journalists and newsroom about identifying manipulated media to help stop the spread of misinformation. Providing trusted news and intelligence to the world is at the heart of what we do and sharing our knowledge of this growing threat is critical to that mission."
"We need to work across industries to better identify and address manipulated media. Partnering with Reuters to launch this free e-learning course is an important step to help journalists spot this type of content so we can stop the spread of misinformation online," said Julia Bain , Facebook Integrity Partnerships.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world's largest multimedia news provider. Founded in 1851, Reuters is committed to the Trust Principles of independence, integrity and freedom from bias. With unmatched coverage in over 16 languages, and reaching billions of people worldwide every day, it provides trusted intelligence that powers humans and machines to make smart decisions. Reuters supplies business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations and directly to consumers. Reuters: The Real World in Real Time.
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Heather Carpenter
Senior Director, Communications
Reuters
heather.carpenter@thomsonreuters.com
646-223-8551
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