Chennai, Aug 20: More than 15 editors and reporters, and around 150 journalism students participated in a conference “Countering Disinformation in South India,” conducted at the Asian College of Journalism on August 20. Organized by the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai and the Media Development Foundation (MDF), the conference examined tools and techniques to validate photos, video, and data across traditional and digital media. The conference is one of four events conducted by the Consulate and MDF in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kochi to bring regional language media together to examine the challenges posed by disinformation and misinformation.
Discussions were led by Pratik Sinha, Co-founder of Alt News; Krishna Prasad, Former Editor-in-Chief of Outlook; and Sashi Kumar, Chairman of the Media Development Foundation. Visiting U.S. media expert, Dan Shelley, presented on the rise of false narratives worldwide and how U.S. journalists were using emerging digital tools and best journalism practices to identify and debunk disinformation.
Lauren Lovelace, U.S. Consul for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in Chennai said, “Media serve a critical role in informing our citizenry. Editors and reporters are on the front lines of identifying and countering false information, especially information that is intentionally wrong and damaging to our respective democracies.”
Dan Shelley, Executive Director, the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in the United States said, “Every single citizen has a role in countering disinformation and it is the responsibility of the consumers of news to check multiple news outlets for accurate information.”
