In today’s episode we speak with Emily Hund, author of The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media, about the evolution of social media influencers and how disparate events like rapid advances in technology and the decline of traditional news outlets have boosted their prevalence and impact since their emergence during the Great Recession.

These authentic-seeming people whose lives unfold online provide advice many social media users have come to follow as closely as they would that of a trusted friend. And yet, many of them aren't credentialed or especially qualified to provide even the most basic of recommendations.

"Their expertise is their authenticity," said Hund. "So that's what this all really comes down to. It's the thing that keeps this industry growing and thriving and changing. These people are able to construct their public personas as someone who's credible, someone who's believable because they're authentic."

Hund is also a research affiliate at the center on Digital Culture at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. Tune in to hear her insights about how influencers came to dominate our social media feeds and how much we can trust the authenticity they’ve staked their livelihoods on.

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

You know the routine. You develop a physical symptom you’ve never had before and what do you do? You grab your phone and furiously Google symptoms and related medical conditions.

If you land on reputable medical sources, it’s not a problem — except it might provoke some unwarranted anxiety. But when online searches and social media spout quackery, the information you consume, and maybe act on, can put your health in danger.

In this episode, we discussed the hidden dangers of health and wellness mis- and disinformation with Derek Beres, co-author of Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat and co-host of the podcast Conspirituality.

Algorithms can take consumers looking for health and wellness advice down rabbit holes of misinformation, leading some of us to believe conspiracy theories that fuel distrust in proven medical methods and treatments. 

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

Things have been heating up — literally — since Sabrina Shankman, our latest podcast guest, began covering climate change a decade ago. The scientific community has presented indisputable evidence that climate change is the result of carbon emissions from human activity. News organizations have committed more resources to covering the complex topic. And climate deniers and the misinformation they spread have evolved along with the conversation.

Shankman, who covers climate change at The Boston Globe, addresses these topics and more in this podcast episode.

The science proving climate change is real has been around for decades, but it’s taken society and the news media a while to catch up. But with wildfires, flooding, and other extreme weather events on the rise, the climate crisis has come knocking on our doors.

“When I was first a climate change reporter, I was covering the Arctic because it was a way to tell the story of climate change in the place where it was happening. Now, I can tell the story in Boston because it's happening in Boston, it's happening everywhere."

But as with any global issue that impacts economies, governments and society, misinformation and disinformation are part of the story. Getting reliable information from credible sources is key.

“You need to be interrogating the information that you're receiving. You have to say, ‘Okay, well maybe this information seems valid, but it's coming with a perspective. What are some other perspectives?’”

Listen in to find out why climate change isn’t just a big story, it’s the story.

Additional reading:

• ‘Nothing like this has ever happened before’: The world’s oceans are at record-high temps, The Boston Globe, Sabrina Shankman
• Mass Die-Off of Puffins Raises More Fears About Arctic’s Warming Climate, Inside Climate News, Sabrina Shankman
• Fumes in South Portland, Inside Climate News, Sabrina Shankman

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

Libel laws and the First Amendment in the United States are meant to hit a sweet spot — protecting reputations and facts while also affording journalists the freedom to publish unflattering information about powerful people that the public needs to know. But disinformation is increasingly threatening that balance.

In this episode, law professor RonNell Andersen Jones explains what could be at risk. “If it's too easy for somebody to sue for defamation over a falsehood, then powerful people will hold that over everybody's head and threaten to sue their critics and will silence a lot of conversation that we ought to be having," she said.

Jones is a Distinguished Professor and Teitelbaum Chair in Law at the University of Utah and an Affiliated Fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project. A former newspaper reporter and editor, Jones is a First Amendment scholar who now teaches, researches and writes on legal issues affecting the press and on the intersection between media and the courts.

Listen to the conversation to learn more.

Additional Reading:

• The "Actual Malice" Standard Explained, Protect Democracy
• Supreme Court Puts First Amendment Limits on Laws Banning Online Threats, The New York Times
• The Multibillion Dollar Defamation Lawsuits Against Fox News, Explained, Vox
• Dominion CEO Predicts 'Business Ultimately Goes to Zero' Because of 2020 Election Lies, TIME.com

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

Have you ever scratched your head when reading an article or watching the news and wondered if you were getting facts or opinion? If so, you’re not alone. News organizations have not made it easy for consumers to differentiate between news and the views of an individual or media outlet.
 
Tom Rosenstiel, professor at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism and co-author of The Elements of Journalism, explained why there is confusion in today’s podcast episode. “The purpose of news is to inspire conversation, to inspire people to consider public life, to consider their community. Editorials are there to further inspire public consideration. Here's what we think. We've read many stories, we've talked to our reporters, we've considered this.”

Rosenstiel also explained how the rise of 24-hour cable TV has tilted the media world off it’s “just the facts” axis, particularly after 1996, when Fox and MSNBC entered the fray. To compete with CNN, which had a larger reporting staff, they filled their time slots with talk shows that provided a slanted view of the news.

Listen and find out more.

Additional Reading:

• The New Ethics of Journalism, edited by Kelly McBride and Tom Rosenstiel
• Blur: How to know what's true in the age of information overload, by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
• We interrupt this newscast: How to improve local news and win ratings, too,  by Todd L. Dante Chinni, Walter Dean, Belt, Marion Just, Atiba Pertilla

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

In today’s episode of our podcast Is that a fact?,  guest LaSharah Bunting, CEO and executive director of the Online News Association, discusses how digital innovation has allowed newsrooms to create deeper connections with their audiences so they  can better understand the needs of the communities they serve. For Bunting, there is no newsroom innovation without employing digital tools to create pathways for two-way conversations between those reporting the news and those consuming it.

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

In today’s episode of our podcast Is that a fact?,  guest host Jake Lloyd digs into how misinformation manifests in the sports world with author and journalist Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for The Atlantic and host of the Spotify podcast Jemele Hill is Unbothered. Hill discusses not only how sports falsehoods spread, but also how the nature of sports reporting makes it more resistant to manipulation than news coverage.

Additional reading and listening:

• What does Kyrie Irving see in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories? Jemele Hill, The Atlantic
• The story behind the most notorious fake news outlet in sports, Ben Pickman, Sports Illustrated
• Jamele Hill is disappointed in a lack of courage in journalists today, Dessi Gomez, The Wrap
• ESPN posted manipulated image of Joe Burrow after AFC Championship loss, RumorGuard (The News Literacy Project)
• Hamlin's collapse spurs new wave of vaccine misinformation, Ali Swenso, David Klepper and Sophia Tulp, AP News
• Uphill: A Memoir, Jemele Hill
• An NBA all-star missed more than a month, and reporters had no answers, Ben Strauss, The Washington Post

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

Our guest on this episode is Madhumita Murgia, the first artificial intelligence editor at the Financial Times, based in London. We talked about how generative AI is changing journalism. Our interview was recorded in late March.

Additional reading:

• Meet the first-ever artificial intelligence editor at the Financial Times
• Chatbots are supercharging search: Are we ready?

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

Our guest on this episode is Will Knight, senior writer about artificial intelligence at Wired magazine. We discuss how ChatGPT is being applied to search and what some of the potential and pitfalls are of this new class of technology known as "generative AI."

Additional reading:

• Now that ChatGPT is plugged in, things could get weird
• Google rolls out its Bard chatbot to battle ChatGPT
• GPT-4 will make ChatGPT smarter but won't fix its flaws
• What chatbot bloopers reveal about the future of AI

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

This episode of “Is that a Fact?” is part two of a two-part episode marking the 10th anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman murdered 20 first graders and six adults. If you haven’t listened to part one, in which we interview New York Times feature writer and author of the book, Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth, we highly recommend that you do that first. 

In part two, we speak with Lenny Pozner, father of Noah, the youngest victim at Sandy Hook. Pozner knew early on that the hoaxers’ movement would be widespread, lasting and harmful. So, he chose to fight back on behalf of his child and other victims. “Noah’s story will always need to be told because there’ll always be someone misusing it,” he said. “I knew that I needed to do everything that I’m able to do to help debunk, to help clarify, to tell my story as best as I can, which really is just telling Noah’s story.” 

Over the two episodes we explore the aftermath of Sandy Hook and how what seemed an aberration of untruths would instead be a bellwether for a shift in the country’s public discourse, where conspiracy theories are a common element of tragic events. We also discuss how victims’ families have fought back against the lies and harassment and brought about lasting change.

Additional Reading:

• HONR Network

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.

This episode of “Is that a Fact?” is part one of a two-part episode marking the 10th anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman murdered 20 first graders and six adults. Soon after, conspiracy theories calling the massacre a hoax emerged. And they have persisted for a decade, thanks to amplification and profiteering by alt-Right media figure Alex Jones.

 Over the two episodes we explore the aftermath of Sandy Hook and how what seemed an aberration of untruths would instead be a bellwether for a shift in the country’s public discourse, where conspiracy theories are a common element of tragic events. We also discuss how victims’ families have fought back against the lies and harassment and brought about lasting change.

In part one, Elizabeth Williamson, New York Times feature writer and author of the book, Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth, explains the incomprehensible need to deny reality and the lucrative market that exploits people’s vulnerability. “He is a sort of Typhoid Mary of the Sandy Hook hoax,” Williamson said of Jones, noting he “has been there at every stop along our descent as a nation down the rabbit hole.”

Additional Reading: 

• Elizabeth Williamson author page on NYTimes.com
• Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth
• Elizabeth Williamson on Twitter

Is that a fact? is a production of the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America. Our host is Darragh Worland, our producer is Mike Webb, our editor is Timothy Kramer, and our theme music is by Eryn Busch.