Facebook and Twitter just became the latest partner in the growing coalition of international media organizations committed to addressing fake news reporting and hoaxes online.
The partnership called First Draft brings together specialists representing the media, social media as well as stakeholders in the academe and human rights groups to help filter information and correct false data that often get undue attention in the web.
"We live in a time when trust and truth are issues that all newsrooms, and increasingly the social platforms themselves, are facing," Jenni Sargent, First Draft's managing director, said. "Each partner is committed to sharing knowledge, developing policies and devising training in how journalists use the social web to find and report news."
Facebook and Twitter's involvement is seen as critical given the number of their user base and the potency of their respective platforms in disseminating information. Facebook alone has 1.7 billion monthly visits and these users are constantly exposed to a barrage of content shared in their personal feeds. Just recently, for instance, Facebook drew a lot of flak for promoting an article that is nothing more than a conspiracy theory about the 9/11 attacks.
"The network will help Facebook showcase the products, tools and services we have built for journalists but also ensure we are constantly learning about how to improve them based on feedback from newsrooms," Áine Kerr, Facebook's journalism partnership manager said. "We want to ensure we are building opportunities to learn from the industry and to ensure we continually hear their questions and feedback."
Twitter expressed the same sentiment in an interview with CNET where it underscored an opportunity to share best practices while discovering and verifying eyewitness media.
Indeed, First Draft is keen on establishing a system that will work for partners in their collective and individual works. For example, there are the initiatives to develop standards and ethical guidelines. There is also the case of the First Draft News platform, which aims to foster some form of checklist for reporters who publish their stories in the social media. It also provides tools to partners such as training programs for employees as well as content in the drive to educate social media users.
First Draft also touts its feedback loop, which is a streamlined system where media reporters can verify and improve reports drawn from eyewitness coverage.
The First Draft partner network was initiated by Google and it includes traditional news organizations such as Channel 4 News, the Telegraph, the New York Times, Washington Post, and Agence France-Presse. Social media organizations include YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and BuzzFeed.
Photo: Marcus Quigmire | Flickr
