Unfounded information and legitimacy crisis at the new media period

08 March 2017 12h00-14h00

European Parliament

P5B001

Mass communications have been advancing an unprecedented flow of information in the last decades. Fact distortion has been widespread as a consequence of the multitude of actors involved, combined with an increased number of willing-to-believe consumers. False information, propaganda, distorted reality, targeted disinformation, “Fake News” as the term that has been gaining grounds, pose a real threat for democracy and the right to information.  A great explosion of “Fake News” followed the election of Trump in the United States and the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum, although the phenomenon cannot be exclusively circumscribed to these two episodes. Media experts, journalists and sociologists across Europe are offering their insights, analysis and criticisms on this debate.

In the political arena, the term is being used to target the credibility of opponents, while web giants, such as Google and Facebook, claim to be taking the necessary measures to counteract this phenomenon in order to escape the categorization of ‘the place of falsehood’. In this context, there are those who profit from the spread of incorrect news, those who enforce the distinction between “fake news” and “satire”, those who defend “old-fashioned” journalism, blaming the predominance of social media, and even those who question the entire system of information. At the same time, alternative media is trying to advance fact-checking mechanisms and related media education courses.

During our event “Fake News in Social Media as Reality Shapers-Unfounded information and legitimacy crisis at the new media period”, supported by an audience of media experts, media students and active readers, we will reflect on the unfolding of journalism in the so called era of “post truth”. We will additionally investigate the mechanisms that allow the creation and dissemination of “fake news”, analysing their impact on public opinion and, ultimately, reflect on measures and behaviours that would decrease its effects. For this purpose, our event panel will host an author of made-up news going viral, journalists and media experts who will address how manufactured doubt and biased information undermine democracy, while proposing concrete measures on how to educate responsible readers.

Fake News” in Social Media as Reality Shapers

Unfounded information and legitimacy crisis at the new media period

PROGRAM

12h00 - 12h05 Welcome address and introductory remarks, Curzio Maltese, MEP    

12h05 - 13h30 Discussion Panel

Moderator, Stelios Kouloglou, MEP

Lucia Annunziata, editor in chief of Huffpost Italia

Paul Horner, Internet satirical, United States

Michel Christophe, Independent Educator in Critical Thinking, Media Education, France                                                         

Julio Montes Moreno and Clara Jiménez, Maldito Bulo, Spain

Lidia Ucher, Journalist, Spain

Andreas Veglis, Professor at the School of Journalism & Mass Communications, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece 

13h30- 13h55 Q&A Session

13h55 - 14h00 Closing, Miguel Urban, MEP

Translation will be provided from/to EN, IT, ES, FR, GR