Thread by @caj

Our #Misinfo101 series today invites @ReporterTeresa to talk about how to identify and report on misinformation. Join us now on Zoom!
caj.ca/misinfo101#PEI

@ReporterTeresa is a freelance journalist and journalism instructor at @hollandcollege in P.E.I. She has been a working journalist for 15 years who formerly worked at @CdnPressNews Parliament bureau and @PEIGuardian

Just a reminder, here are the things you need to have for this session:
- Have access to a computer with internet and the latest Google Chrome browser.
Chrome extension
- RevEye Reverse Image Search
- Fake news debunker by InVID & WeVerify
- CrowdTangle Link Checker

Didn't register for the workshop in time? No worries! You can still participate via Facebook Livestream here: fb.watch/bewcM-VRnU/

"There are all kinds of stuff on the internet that's just not real, and even sometimes academic papers, research papers and really good sources can get things wrong," says @ReporterTeresa

We are now learning about the difference between these three terms: MISINFORMATION, DISINFORMATION and MALINFORMATION

Misinformation is false information that does not deliberately created to cause harm

Disinformation, on the other hand, is information that's false, and it's deliberately created to harm a person, a social group, an organization or a country

Last but not least, malinformation is created with the intent to cause harm when shared out of context

Wright gives an example of malinformation, which is a video of Priminister Justin Trudeau making a joke at the Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner in 2019.
Read more: cbc.ca/news/science/t…

"I think that people have a much clearer idea of how dangerous the spread of false information can be and the harms that it can really cause," says
@ReporterTeresa

"Misinformation can kill people," says
@ReporterTeresa, adding that although this is a very strong phrase, there are real consequences and harm caused by misinformation.
Read more: cbc.ca/news/canada/br…

The pandemic is not the only scenario where misinformation thrives, topics such as climate change, and immigration also contribute to misinformation

Misinformation often spreads through emotionally-charged stories, people could truly believe that what they heard is true and the denial of facts could tie to their belief system, says @ReporterTeresa

@ReporterTeresa Here are some statistics on misinformation in Canada: www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0…

@ReporterTeresa Verifying politicians during elections is a huge part of a political journalist's job, says @ReporterTeresa. "It's important for us to... give people information to make informed decisions about their votes.
Read more: cbc.ca/news/politics/…

@ReporterTeresa We are now moving on to covering ethics when reporting on misinformation/ disinformation

"One of the biggest victories for people who are currently spreading disinformation is for journalists to fall for it," says @ReporterTeresa. "All the credibility that you built up as a journalist.. is then given the weight to that piece of false information."

Here is a to-do list for reporting on misinformation:

We are now going through verification tools! The first one is RevEye Reverse Image Search that could be downloaded as a Chrom extension

Here is a video tutorial on how to use another tool—
Fake news debunker by InVID & WeVerify:

Reverse image search tools seem like a very basic function, but it gives journalists the ability to not just debunk, but also just check a photo really quick, says @ReporterTeresa

It is also very useful to analyze social media profiles to see if the account is legit

CrowdTangle is another useful tool for verifying webpage and gaining significant search results

This tool could be used to see how many times a link has been shared and observe the trend, which could potentially be a story idea. @ReporterTeresa

@ReporterTeresa Last but not least, we have the Wayback Machine. It is useful to see how contents have changed over time and view archived articles/ images while doing investigations.

Domain Searches: could be used to search IP addresses and the background information of a website— a great tool for journalists to identify the people involved in spreading false information.

As we are wrapping up, @ReporterTeresa is encouraging participants to practice with verification tools. Feel free to reach out to us (CAJ) if you have any questions! Thank you for joining us tonight!