WATCH | Everything you need to know about fake news

Wavering from the truth probably starts innocuously enough with a small lie here, a little change there ... tiny things designed to create a better version of our truths that we’d like others to believe. Whether it’s actual surgical enhancement, or Photoshop, we’ve all spotted a bit of fakery in our time.

For the most part fake is easy to spot, quite harmless.

But fake has evolved and morphed. Fake has moved from cosmetic and frivolous, to pervasive and often harmful. We only have to look at our own tech devices to know how easy it is to distort the truth, to add filters to our photos, Photoshop our lives, erase what we don’t like, and copy-and-paste what we do. And then we post.

When technology and software are as good and accessible as they are nowadays, the ability to elevate a false narrative with a veneer of credibility is within everyone’s reach. Now, people can distort the truth and create a completely new version of events, even if they’re not based on fact. Photo-editing. Deep-fake videos. Bots. They’re done so well we don’t even second-guess them ... though we should.

While the internet, social media and technology may have given democracy a global voice, they’ve also given bad players an opportunity to create fake news to sow mistrust, drum up fear, create confusion, plant lies and encourage anarchy. It’s all so Orwellian.

The media plays a central role in shaping our understanding of the news and circumstances around us. With the increased use of mobile devices and high-speed internet, social media has become a pervasive influence in our lives.

But how do we discern fact from fiction? Who do we trust?

Join the Future of Media in partnership with Vodacom and EziAds, as we look at the current media space and debate everything you need to know about the dark world of fake news.

Panellists in the discussion, moderated by Lisa MacLeod (vice-president of World Association of News Publishers) include:

• Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy — strategic media partnership lead: Sub-Saharan Africa, Facebook
• Pule Molebeledi — MD: news and media, Arena Holdings
• Tshepo Sefotlhelo — CEO, Vuma Reputation Management
• William Bird — director, Media Monitoring Africa

Date: August 4 2020
Time: 10am

Partners of the Future of Media digitised series include Everlytic, Proudly SA, The MediaShop and WAN-IFRA.