90 minute Live Simulation exercise.
Information disorder is now a permanent reality; whether the topic is climate change, vaccinations, elections or any breaking news event. 2020 is a critical year for journalists to work together and stay one step ahead of attempts to manipulate, dupe and undermine the media. In this high-intensity session, participants will be under pressure to make complex reporting decisions around a fabricated, escalating news story.
Prompts for group discussion and agreement will centre around whether it is possible to define a tipping point; are available metrics reliable indicators of reach and spread? Does a falsehood or misrepresentation only become newsworthy after it has been referenced and amplified by an influential figure? How can newsrooms balance the incentives of reporting early with the responsibility of limiting exposure?
Since First Draft was established in 2015, it has pioneered different methods for raising skills and awareness, and embedding best practices in newsrooms around the topic of information disorder. In 2019, it launched Live Simulations - fully immersive events normally conducted over a number of hours via a bespoke online platform. This Live Simulation session has been designed and adapted especially for the International Journalism Festival.
Organised in association with First Draft.