Fake Journalists Are the Latest Disinformation Twist

Last week The Daily Beast broke some bizarre news. Several news outlets, including The Washington Examiner, RealClear Markets, and The National Interest, had been running op-eds of journalists that did not exist. AI generated photos attached to profiles and credentials that, once scrutinized, collapsed. It was a massive effort at digital propaganda and questions still remain about its provenance and purpose.

Here to explain just what is going on is Marc Owen Jones. Jones is an assistant professor in Middle East Studies and Digital Humanities at Hamad bin Khalifa University and an expert in social media disinformation who helped sound the alarm about this campaign.

• Recorded 7/13/20
• Fake journalists have joined the fray
• Tracking response of the dupe outlets
• The difference between misinformation and disinformation
• Media literacy in Estonia and Finland
• A website that generates people who don’t exist

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