ONA Student Newsroom
  • These ONA attendees tested their knowledge of pop culture
    • September 30, 2019
  • ONA19 staff strives for an inclusive conference environment
    • September 29, 2019
  • Natural hair
    • September 24, 2019
  • Chloe Jones of the Arizona State University Cronkite School of Journalism accepts the The David Teeuwen Student Journalism Award/Large Newsroom for the project "A Different Border Crisis." Photo by Caitlin Lee
    Scenes from the 2019 Online Journalism Awards
    • September 14, 2019
  • Sisi Wei, Julia B. Chan and Lam Thuy Vo make a selfie in the red carpet area after their team, Journalists of Color Slack Administrators, won the ONA Community Award at the 2019 Online Journalism Awards. Photo by Daja Henry
    ProPublica, NYTimes repeat dominance at 2019 Online Journalism Awards
    • September 14, 2019
Twitter 681
Instagram 189
  • Home
  • Online Journalism Awards
  • Student Newsroom
  • ONA Ethics
  • ONA Info
  • ONA Insights
  • ONA20 Conference
  • Login
  • Members
ONA Student Newsroom
  • Conference
  • Hallway Track
  • Industry
  • Innovation
  • Local Spotlight
  • Awards
  • Voices
  • Diversity
  • Industry

Mexican elections: Seeking truth in an era of disinformation

  • Rafa Farihah
  • September 14, 2018
  • 2 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0

The rise of intentionally inaccurate reporting has made headlines in the United States, but one Mexico City-based reporter says it’s nothing new in her country. 

Verification programs there are struggling to keep up, Global Press reporter Mayela Sanchez told an ONA18 panel onThursday. 

Misinformation has become so prevalent in Mexico that large digital companies outside of Mexico partnered to create a fact-checking organization.

Facebook, Google and AJ+ Espanol funded Mexico’s first independent fact-checking organization, Verificado 2018, in March. The organization aimed to push back against false claims during the Mexican election in July, similar to Electionland from ProPublica.

The organization has been involved in debunking hundreds of Facebook posts, and for each one, it writes an article disproving the story, according to The Verge.

Sanchez says Mexico’s national news media mainly consists of two television networks and a handful of newspapers, all funded by the government. The only stories to get published represented the government in a positive light, she said, while politicians  often pay off journalists to write positive stories.

Politicians even contract public relations agencies that specialize in manipulating content on social media. They are paid in cash to create fake social media profiles to promote politicians or be critical of opposition parties, according to The New York Times. The reason this works is that the employees are given quick cash, and they are often from a low-wage labor pool.

A prime example of the spread of disinformation outside the U.S., is during the Mexican elections in July 2018.

While Andrés Manuel López Obrador was running for president of Mexico, he denied having any formal ties to Venezuela. But journalist Jorge Roberto Avilés shared a video from a Venezuelan station called Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) that went viral after demonstrating a connection between Obrador and Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

However, the logos weren’t from VTV, and the timestamps read 7:58 p.m., a slot when VTV doesn’t broadcast news, according to The Verge.

The Verificado 18 team reached out to experts and Venezuelan journalists to help fact-check it, and published a video declaring it as false.  Avilés has since then removed the video.

Twitter @ajplusespanol

Whatsapp is a popular source of passing along news in Mexico, and chain messages with viral inaccurate news stories have a way of infiltrating the personal space of civilians.

“The information that comes from Whatsapp is not at the same level as that comes from the newspaper or television,” said Sanchez.

“The other problem is that information that comes from Whatsapp groups comes from people close to you so you trust that information.”

In the United States, Facebook and Twitter have been taking steps in reducing disinformation since Trump’s election.

However, Twitter will only take down an account that meets the exact requirements that make an account eligible for removal, and Facebook’s artificial intelligence systems that sends articles to fact-checking organizations, can be improved.

It’s not perfect. Facebook’s US program only reduces false news stories by 80 percent. but usually after three days of the story being published, by which most people have already seen them, according to Poynter.

 

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Rafa Farihah

Previous Article
  • Conference

Inclusive, accessible conferences like ONA go well beyond just ADA accommodations

  • Justina Brown
  • September 14, 2018
Read More
Next Article
  • Industry

Engagement ‘in 280 words or less’

  • Bailey LeFever
  • September 14, 2018
Read More
Instagram
onanewsroom
189 Followers
@amywebbfuturist shares her latest vision for the future with #ona19 and surprises the room with announcement that this is her last presentation and she’s passing the torch. (Photos by @daja.henry)
Authentic #NewOrleans #Voodoo is actually a religion that won’t be found in a Bourbon Street souvenir shop, but in spiritual temples and in Voodoo specific shops and museums around the city. (Photo by Caitlin Lee) #ONA19
The Canal Street Streetcar stops to pick up travelers on #CanalStreet on Thursday. (Photo by Caitlin Lee) #ONA19
Shadi Rahimi smiling at her daughter Safia at #ONA19. We talked to three mothers about juggling life in and out of the newsroom during a break from conference activities -- find that story on our website (link in bio)
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

ONA Student Newsroom
Daily conference coverage from ONA's student newsroom

Input your search keywords and press Enter.