Who's To Blame For Fake News?

It is all too easy to blame trolls or malicious foreign powers for the emergence of fake news. In fact, most of us have played a part in creating a news ecosystem that corrodes trust: politicians who dissemble, communicators who sell doubt, gullible audiences, flawed journalists, researchers who deconstruct reality, social media platforms that profit from fake news. In the course of this panel discussion we place those responsible for fake news in the dock and ask what can be done to rebuild trust.

Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Alliance Française d’Adelaïde, The Embassy of France in Australia and The Conversation, as part of the French Australian Conversations series

Professor Arnaud Mercier

Arnaud Mercier has a PhD in Political Science, and is a Professor of Information and Political Communication at the University Paris II Panthéon-Assas. He is President and Chairman of the board for The Conversation France. He conducts research on journalism, social media in electoral context and political communication. He has recently published, in collaboration with Peter Lang, Political Campaigning on Twitter: the EU Elections 2014 in the digital public sphere (2016).

Twitter: @arnauddmercier
Arnaud Mercier at The Conversation

MISHA KETCHELL

Misha Ketchell is Managing Editor of The Conversation, a news and analysis site written by researchers and academics. He was previously editor of Crikey, founding editor of The Big Issue Australia, editor of The Melbourne Weekly and a reporter and feature writer on The Age. More recently he's worked as a researcher and producer on ABC TV's Media Watch, The 7:30 Report and online at The Drum.

Twitter: @mishaketch
Misha Ketchell at The Conversation

Tory Shepherd

Tory Shepherd is the State Editor of The Advertiser, and one of the paper’s senior columnists. After finishing Honours in Anthropology and a Masters in Communication, she ended up as a ‘mature-age’ cadet at the paper a decade ago. She covered state politics, police rounds and health before absconding to fill in as the editor of The Punch, a national opinion website. The Advertiser lured her back to cover federal politics. As State Editor she is shifting her focus more towards State issues. Tory is a humanist, a feminist, and a chilli fanatic.

Twitter: @toryshepherd
Tory Shepherd at The Advertiser