Leave it to an expert journalism to lay down impactful wisdom on how to navigate today’s news cycle. Christiane Amanpour is a world-respected journalist who has spoken to world leaders, reported on devastating wars and has earned the trust of her viewers. She sat down with moderator Chris Anderson at the TEDxGlobal event in New York for a Ted Talk to discuss fake news. Fake news is a term embedded in today’s culture after false news reports surfaced online that attempted to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election. Since then, this term is still debated on when it comes to trusting news sources and finding accurate information.
Anderson picked Amanpour’s brain for her insights on how to deal with today’s chaotic news stream and ways to discover trusted and reliable sources. Here are some useful tips from “How to Seek Truth in the Era of Fake News.”
Research
The first tip she suggests is to understand the research. If you can understand the facts behind the story, you will have a better context. “It basically also boils down to understanding the truth and to be able to get to the truth of what we’re talking about in order to really be able to solve it,” Amanpour says, “so if 99.9 percent of the science on climate is empirical, scientific evidence, but it’s competing almost equally with a handful of deniers, that is not the truth; that is the epitome of fake news.” People are entitled to their opinions, but if you have a massive group of professionals supporting their research, consider it to be truthful.
Objectivity
One of the undeniable standards of journalism is objectivity. This means telling a story from every angle, not from a personal perspective. The issue is that objectivity is not that same as fair and balanced. In this TED Talk, Amanpour told a story about one of her first assignments reporting on the Balkan Wars. She was accused of not being objective because she reported more on the minority party that was under attack. Amanpour says this response taught her a valuable lesson. “I understood that objectivity means giving all sides an equal hearing and talking to all sides, but not treating all sides equally, not creating a forced moral equivalence or a factual equivalence.” Objectivity constantly hangs in the balance. This can be a challenging yet impactful way to seek truth.
Morality
Amanpour’s last useful tip from this TED Talk comes in the form of a call to action. Anderson asks her to comment on social media’s role in fake news. She simply asks for these developers to “filter out the crap.” While their intentions may be well, there is a potential to prevent fake news from spreading in the future. “They’re trying to do what they can now to prevent the rise of fake news, but, you know, it went pretty unrestricted for a long, long time. So I guess I would say, you know, you guys are brilliant at technology; let’s figure out another algorithm. Can we not?” Her message is timely in today’s world where every article must be viewing through a microscopic lens.
If you are struggling to find the truth in today’s fake news crisis, follow the advice of an experienced journalist. This TED Talk offers up inspiring and practical advice to promote a healthy way to understand news. Discover more presentation tips from TED Talks here on the blog:
Must-See TED Talks for Marketers
Impactful Speaking Skills: A TED Talk Review of “Courage is Contagious”
