Spotting, Managing, and

Responding to Online
Misinformation

Damian Radcliffe
Carolyn S. Chambers Professor of Journalism
University of Oregon

21st November 2022

Today’s session
1. Spotlight on misinformation

2. Tips and Tools

3. Q&A
 I know it’s Week 9…
But hopefully that sounds good!
1. Spotlight on misinformation
What do we mean by
misinformation?
How it works
Motive matters
Emerged as a major source of
concern from 2016 onwards
Global
Issue

Multiple
topics
How confident are you?
Post in the chat:

1-3 = Not very confident

4-6 = Somewhat confident

7-9 = Very confident

10 = I should be giving this talk Damian!

Examples
False context
Footage shown of President
Zelensky “out there fighting for
his country,” was filmed in 2021.

(Screenshot via NewsGuard)

Game footage also used to depict
war in Ukraine… and Syria…
Poor journalism
Time, Trump + MLK
Fake websites
Conspiracy theories
Humor – Parody - Satire
Covered by:

- Quartz
- Elite Daily
- Cosmopolitan
- BuzzFeed
- Digg
- MTV
- And more!
Denial covered by Quartz, Washington Post + others.
What examples have you seen?
Why now? 8 x key factors
1. Fake news looks a lot like real news
2. Tech doesn’t discern fact from fiction
3. Algorithms show us more of what
we like, not what we need to know
4. Fewer Journalists
5. Trust in Journalism
Two-thirds (67%) of people globally* believe
that journalists and reporters purposely try
to mislead people by saying things they
know are false or grossly exaggerated.

An increase of 8% from 2021’s report.

* 28 countries, 36,000 respondents

6. Society + media
= more partisan
7. Discerning fact from fiction
becoming harder
 8. Found in
different forms
+ on different
platforms
Memes
Claims can be more powerful – and memorable
when there’s an image associated with it.
 Remember!

“False information spreads just

like accurate information.”
Farida Vis, Sheffield University research fellow
How do we fix this?

Q: Who should be
responsible for
addressing this?
3. Tips and Tools
9x recommendations
1. Consume widely…
+ develop a list of trust sources
2. Understand your source
3. Double check everything
4. Be skeptical
5. Learn how to reverse image search
6. Slow Down
Misinformation can have major consequences
7. Be mindful as stories break
And where…
8. Check your emotions
 9. Find
reliable fact
checking sites
Snopes,
PolitiFact etc.
Thanks for listening
Email: damianr@uoregon.edu
Twitter: @damianradcliffe
Web: www.damianradcliffe.com