<div dir="ltr">Here's my two cents on this from a fact checker's perspective:<div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:12.8px;font-family:georgia,serif"><b><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"><br></span></b></div><div class="gmail_default"><b style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)">(a) What is the effect of Fake News to the mainstream media?</span><br></b>Fake news tends to distract audiences and divert their attention away from the truth. It often mimics real news and taps into our biases and prejudices. If you see a fake story that says something you have long suspected to be true, even if the evidence appears dodgy, you are more willing to share it than another story that says the opposite of what you believe. As a resuly<b style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><br></b><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><b><br></b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)"><b>(b) </b></span><b><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)">What is the role of the Kenyan media in combating Fake News?</span></b><b><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)"><br></span></b><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small">Kenyan media has the double role of debunking fake stories and propagating the truth. It is not enough to just point at a story and say that it is false, the burden is then on the media to point out the truth. They can do this by actively fact-checking the stories that are in the public domain, rather than just the stories they publish. Given the amount of trust that Kenyans have in mainstream media, one critical service that the media can do is to check what they write to make sure it is legitimate. They can also give members of the public an avenue to quickly check whether the stories they see on social media or receive via messaging apps are true before they share.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style=""><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, sans-serif" size="2"><br></font></span><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px;color:rgb(255,0,255)"><b>(c) </b></span><b style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)">Is the Kenyan media doing enough?</span></b><b style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)"><span style="color:rgb(166,77,121)"><br></span></span></b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small">I don't think so. A lot of times the fake stories that do get around tend to colour the narrative, so to speak, so in the end, you have a distracted media unwilling to invest resources into holding the things politicians and other public figures say, or what is published on social media for instance. Fact-checking is a continuous process, and it is essential in order to ensure that everyone is held accountable for what they say. So far, the media </span><b><br><span style="color:rgb(56,118,29)"><br></span></b></div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px;color:rgb(56,118,29)"><b>(d) </b><b>What should platforms such as Facebook and Google be doing to reduce the effect of Fake News? Is there a need for localised solutions?</b></span><b style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:12.8px"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)"></span></b></div><div>Facebook and Google are inherently neutral in this, in my opinion. This does not absolve them from the fact that their platforms are used to distribute fake news and other questionable stories. They have initiated methods to check verification, with Google adding a 'This story has been verified' tag on search results, and Facebook adding a banner on their site with information on how to verify if a story is legit, but these initiatives have a limited reach, given the fact that much of our news content falls outside their radar. <span style="color:rgb(56,118,29)"><b><br></b></span></div><div>As a result, we definitely need localized solutions. There are some like Nation's Newsplex that have taken on the task, along with the fact-checking segment on the Sunday news on NTV. However, seeing as these initiatives are part of the media establishment, they are unlikely to be critical of their own coverage. Truly independent initiatives such as <a href="http://pesacheck.org">PesaCheck</a> which I work on, and AfricaCheck, are able to navigate the space in a truly neutral way, and we are gaining some attention from the public. There is a need for more local initiatives because there are significant gaps in coverage, meaning that we can only do so much with the claims that we check.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">
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<br><div class="gmail_quote">On 17 August 2017 at 16:22, anyega jefferson via kictanet <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">I believe platforms must be held accountable. If a legal entity trades in information, then it should have a responsibility to protect its consumers. <div dir="auto">However, this may require a rethink of their role as non-publishers. </div><div dir="auto">If, Mark Zuckerberg runs for POTUS, as it remotely seems, he will have to contend with accusations of punishing alternative views and infringing on free speech.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="h5">On Aug 17, 2017 14:11, "kanini mutemi via kictanet" <<a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a><wbr>> wrote:<br type="attribution"></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="h5"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif">Good morning Listers. <br><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif">It's another great day to talk about Fake News! Day 1 we focused on the prevalence of Fake News and the role of different stakeholders in combating it. Now we move to <b>Platform Responsibility. </b><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif">For those who are just joining us, KICTANet is carrying out a three day online engagement with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) on how to deal with Fake News. Feel free to share your proposals on possible interventions.<br><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif">Here are some questions to guide our discussion today:<br><b><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"></span><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)"></span></b><br><b><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)">(a) What is the effect of Fake News to the mainstream media?</span><br><br></b><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><b><br></b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)"><b>(b)
</b></span><b><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)">What is the role of the Kenyan media in combating Fake News?</span></b><b><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)"><br><span style="color:rgb(166,77,121)"><br><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)"><br></span></span></span></b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)"><b>(c) </b></span><b><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)">Is the Kenyan media doing enough?<br></span></b><b><br><span style="color:rgb(56,118,29)"><br></span></b></div><span style="color:rgb(56,118,29)"><b>(d) </b><b>What should platforms such as Facebook and Google be doing to reduce the
effect of Fake News? Is there a need for localised solutions?</b></span><b><span style="color:rgb(255,0,255)"></span></b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br>Fire away. <br></div>-- <br><div class="m_-1395597404203061550m_8603989907237337244gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><b>Mercy Mutemi</b>. <br></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><b><i><br></i></b></span></div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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