Johnny Johnny
Yes Papa
Reading Clickbait?
No Papa.
Hello, everyone. I hope you had a great summer. I took the most extended summer break I’ve had since university (20 cough years ago), and am feeling both recharged and slightly intimidated by my return to the frontline.
With a little distance, it’s easy to see just how the internet has become a battleground for ideas and minds, as different groups wage InfoWars on each other (pun intended). Tracking and understanding that, and then figuring out what role journalism has to play in it is at the heart of where my research and work is right now - but everybody should be aware of it.
People are out to manipulate us in ways we’ve never experienced before, and we need a dose of health scepticism more than ever. In the end, the battle against “fake news” won’t be won in a tech company or a newsroom, but in homes and coffeeshops and educational institutions, as people learn to challenge what they read.
Congratulations on being amongst the noble few who are prepared to sit back, read deeply and enjoy some good old artisanal hand-crafted links.