The BBC sets up a taskforce to fight back against fake news
The uphill battle against fake news (and correctly using the term "fake news" in the first place) continues. The latest effort to debunk made-up information is British broadcaster BBC.
On Thursday, The Guardian reported the BBC was forming a debunking team to tackle false stories that often start on Facebook and other social media outlets.
This means segments such as the outlet's Reality Check will become more than an occasional feature, but a persistent effort with a team tackling incorrect stories, posts and information.
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BBC news chief James Harding told staff that “The BBC can’t edit the internet, but we won’t stand aside either," per the Guardian report.
The team will pull staff from across the BBC, build an "intelligence unit" within the international World Service and use more data journalism to find and debunk incorrect facts, according to the plan laid out at Thursday's discussion.
The debunking effort comes only a day after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called out CNN for being "fake news" at press conference after the cable news outlet alleged Trump had been briefed on Russia having sensitive information about him.
The BBC earlier Thursday carried a story titled "Things to think about before calling something 'fake news'" which went into Trump's labeling anything he dislikes as "fake news." It also distinguished between unverified and fake news, of which the internet saw plenty during the U.S. presidential election.
In an email to Mashable, the BBC explained how they are building a "slow news" plan, especially focusing on and working with Facebook. Harding in a statement said, “We also need to explain what’s driving the news. We need slow news, news with more depth – data, investigations, analysis, expertise - to help us explain the world we’re living in."
He added, "Slow news means weighing in on the battle over lies, distortions and exaggerations in the news."
Topics BBC
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
