Jaipur, 21 September 2019
We often get trapped into the vicious web of misinformation which when spread out in the society can cause more harm than good. Google took an initiative to create awareness to fight against fake newspaper clippings, photoshopped pictures and videos which when goes viral, scandalizes the mob. Thus “Numbers are not important, the impact it has is”, was the sole motto of the media trainer expert Surbhi Malik at the 6th Talk Journalism event-2019.
She talked about realising the importance of fact-checking and data verification because, in today’s era where technology is accessible to almost everyone, it has become a platform where if fake news goes out, it can create chaos and havoc at all scales. She even spoke why it is necessary to fight against misinformation and how it is important in objective journalism. Despite being an after-lunch session, the topic was so interestingly covered that it kept the audience engrossed throughout the session. They actively participated in an interactive play session which was an online quiz competition available at kahoot.in to check for the credibility of new beats used in web journalism.
Google network has seven more partners who operate in seven boot camps, including seven languages and 241 trainers. In addition to this, the training programme holds anchor for training college students. Ms Malik talked about how technology was designed to inform but ironically it’s becoming the platform for misinformation, thanks to unethical web journalism. The session ended with Ms Malik sharing tips on how to be a smart searcher. She recommended the use of apps like InVID, YouTube DataViewer and various other applications that could help one detect if the picture or video is either fake or real?
Text: Sapna Isswani and Priyamvada Joshi | Copy Edit: Niharika Raina | Photo: Sapna Isswani | Photo Desk: Sagar Samuel | Editorial Coordination: Rupali Soni and Niharika Raina