Graham Media Group and WPLG Strengthen Newsrooms in Fight Against Misinformation
February 26 2020 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Stations to show viewers, readers process
behind newsgathering, fact-checking
Graham Media Group and WPLG Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company,
announce the launch of Verified, a new initiative to combat
misinformation campaigns targeting local media.
“Nothing is more important than getting the story right,” said
Emily Barr, President and CEO of Graham Media Group. “We are
providing timely training and processes to our six newsrooms to
help in the fight against misinformation campaigns attacking local
news.”
Graham Media Group and WPLG are partnering with Fathm, a global
leader in the fight against misinformation. Fergus Bell, Fathm’s
founder and CEO, is working with newsroom leadership to evolve a
verification system and to train journalists to identify and stop
the spread of misinformation.
"It is fantastic to be working with organizations like Graham
Media Group and WPLG who are putting a high priority focus on such
an important initiative,” Bell said. “I am looking forward to
preparing all of their news teams to fight misinformation in a way
that is certain to benefit audiences and contribute to a healthier
media ecosystem in 2020."
Graham Media Group & WPLG’s Verified is designed to:
- Identify manipulated or out-of-context user-generated
content
- Detect fake stories generated for revenue or political
motives
- Expose political ads served algorithmically with little
oversight
- Support transparency in the newsroom
- Reinforce journalistic ethics
- Counteract misinformation with incisive reporting and social
posts
- Encourage viewers and users to share questionable content for
review by station journalists
Bell led the first round of training at WDIV in Detroit in
January and will soon complete newsroom training sessions for WPLG
and all Graham Media Group stations.
Misinformation and disinformation campaigns are not limited to
national politics. Increasingly, the industry is seeing coordinated
campaigns designed to trick local newsrooms into reporting false or
misleading stories. While GMG stations work to build defenses
for reporting on the 2020 elections, a strong verification system
will enhance the company’s newsrooms overall.
“Fact-checking is in the DNA of this company but advancements in
technology are disrupting truth. We are committed to providing our
communities information that they can trust,” Barr said.
Graham Media Group, a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company
(NYSE: GHC), operates seven local media hubs - each in a top-70
market and all recognized as news leaders: KPRC–Houston,
WDIV–Detroit and WSLS–Roanoke (NBC); KSAT–San
Antonio (ABC); WKMG–Orlando (CBS);
WJXT–Jacksonville (fully local), and
WCWJ–Jacksonville (CW). Based in Detroit, Graham
Digital is a digital media and technology development group
widely recognized as a leading industry innovator. Social News
Desk, headquartered in Atlanta, provides its 2500+ worldwide
newsroom-customers with a single dashboard to publish, measure,
curate and monetize local news content on social platforms.
Website: https://www.grahammedia.com/
WPLG Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway Company, operates WPLG-TV,
Local10.com, MeTV South Florida and H&I Television Network in
South Florida.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200226005198/en/
Graham Media Group, Inc. Catherine Badalamente 313.222.0488
cbadalamente@grahammedia.com
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