Report by Nico Fischer, German and Social Studies M.Ed. student
On Friday, November 15, 2024, many interested Q+ students gathered in the Kisselberg seminar room to explore the exciting and current subject of “Facts and Fake News - How to Preserve Truth in the Daily Information Flood?”. Under the direction and moderation of Dr. Lindner, the one-day workshop was divided into two units and enriched by the contributions of the guests.
These included Prof. Christian Schemer, who has held a professorship for General Communication Studies at the Institute of Journalism since 2014, and who gave those present a factual and insightful insight into the state of research into the emergence, spread and impact of fake news. According to Prof. Schmer, the current state of research comprises around 11,000 publications and experienced a particularly noticeable boost with Brexit and Donald Trump's first election victory in 2016. This point in time also marked a “boom for the term ‘fake news’”. In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Schemer placed particular emphasis on focusing on the comparatively small amount of fake news, e.g. in social media, and its effect on the self-perception and perception of those who come into contact with it.
In the second part of the seminar, after a convivial lunch break and a meal together, the Q+ students were given some astonishing impressions and the opportunity to experience and try out fact checks and the verification of fake news for themselves by Julia Maas (scientific documentalist) and Jörn Ratering (researcher) from the ZDF ‘Verification Team’. To this end, online and AI tools were first presented by the speakers and then tried out in the plenary session to see how easy or difficult it is to research and verify videos or posts, for example, that are distributed, shared and commented on social media in a very short space of time. All those present were amazed to discover that it often only takes a few “clicks” to access personal data, highly sensitive content or simply immediate impressions, which can sometimes be disturbing, but at the same time revealing and informative.
Finally, we would like to thank the speakers for their informative input and the numerous new ideas and food for thought, as well as all Q+ students who, as usual, made a significant contribution last Friday through their curiosity about the topic and the resulting contributions to a lively discussion!