Virtual BSC RS/Life Sessions: "They are fake, but not (just) news. Understanding the multiple forms of disinformation"

Date: 04/Mar/2021 Time: 12:15

Place:

Virtual seminar via Zoom, with required registration

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Objectives

You can watch the seminar in this link.

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has multiplied false content in the public sphere, in a phenomenon that the World Health Organization has described as a global 'infodemic'. The dynamics of public disinformation already existed long before the arrival of the internet and the pandemic, but the conjunction of these two elements has led to an exponential growth of falsehoods. In this context, the term "fake news" has become widespread to label all forms of modern misinformation. However, the typology of hoaxes and disinformation procedures are much more complex than it seems. Based on the findings of the RRSSalud research project, where the team of Prof. Salaverría at the University of Navarra is working  together with researchers of Barcelona Supercomputing Center, this presentation will analyze the origin, multiple forms and mechanisms of disinformation in the sphere of social networks.

Short BIO: Ramón Salaverría (1970) is Full Professor of Journalism and Associate Dean of Research at the School of Communication, University of Navarra. His research focuses on digital journalism and new media. Among other national and European research projects, he is now leading RRSSalud, a joint project together with Barcelona Supercomputing Center, which is exploring the dynamics of disinformation on health news in social media.

 He has been a visiting researcher at the Digital Media Research Program in the University of Texas at Austin (USA), as well as visiting professor at a dozen universities in several countries. At international level, he has been chair of the Journalism Studies Section of ECREA (European Communication Research and Education Association) and a member of the World Journalism Education Council. He has been invited to deliver courses, seminars and conferences in more than 30 countries.

 Author of more than 250 scholarly publications, he has published, among others, the books 'Journalism, Data and Technology in Latin America' (2021), 'Ciberperiodismo en Iberoamérica' (2016), 'Periodismo integrado' (2008). He has published research in top-ranked international scientific journals on communication and journalism.

 As a specialist in digital media, the United Nations (UN) included him in its Global Experts directory. Likewise, the newspaper 'El Mundo' has highlighted him on several occasions in the ranking of ‘The 500 most influential Spaniards’, as an Internet expert.

Speakers

Ramón Salaverría, Full Professor of Journalism at the University of Navarra and Associate Dean of Research at the School of Communication