News Front
Jessica Macfarlane (February 1, 2020)
The Underground network of kiwis who fight anti-vaxx propaganda
Where: stuff.co.nz
Who: Michelle Duff
When: 7/09/2019
Skeptic summary: The kiwis who are taking a stand against vaccination misinformation. We salute you.
Samoa clamps down on anti-vax movement with prosecution of prominent campaigner
Where: stuff.co.nz
Who: source—ONE News
When: 10/12/2019
Skeptic summary: Vocal anti-vaxxer Edwin Tamasese, who was treating measles with vitamins funded by wealthy foreign anti-vaxxers, is charged with incitement against a government order (to shutdown the country for two days to allow for a mass-vaccination campaign).
Former White House officials say they feared Putin influenced the president's views on Ukraine, 2016 campaign
Where: nzherald.co.nz
Who: C/O Washington Post
When: 20/12/2019
Skeptic summary: This article lays out the testimony of Dr. Fiona Hill among others. In her opening statement to congress she points out why Russia was involved in a disinformation campaign. Their aim was to weaken the US by increasing divisions to make them lose trust in democracy. Dr. Hill made it clear it was Russia's operatives who were behind political interference in the 2016 US election campaign, not Ukraine.
St James theatre: Steel, concrete, a tight deadline and a ghost called Yuri
Where: stuff.co.nz
Who: Mandy Te
When: 26/12/2019
Skeptic summary: How to turn a story about a theatre reconstruction into a clickbait story? Add a ghost! Never mind that the story clearly says construction workers were having fun pretending there was a ghost. Looking up wiki I found the ghost was of a Russian performer who may have been pushed or fell from a height and died in the theatre. I couldn't find anything to suggest he was a real person. Apparently he likes to play with the lights. Geez, the afterlife must be boring if that's all he can think of to do.
Fake videos of White Island eruption go viral
Where: newshub.co.nz
Who: Scott Palmer
When: 31/12/2019
Skeptic summary: People on social media wanting to generate “likes” stoop to faking the Whakaari White Island eruption.
Why do we fall for fake news?
Where: newsroom.co.nz
Who: Marc Daalder
When: 06/11/2019
Skeptic summary: A must read. In this article we learn about NZ government efforts to counter misinformation around two referendums. We learn the term ‘pre-bunking' which is where you get in early and make people aware of the fake news that is out there before they come across it.
Digital literacy, a correlation between youth and scepticism, and a worry that fake news will undermine confidence in our elections. This article mentions a paper about misinformation in New Zealand which you can find here: https://internetnz.nz/publications/paper-platforms-and-misinformation
Australia's Bushfires are the worst ever. So is the Disinformation Campaign.
Where: vice.com
Who: Connor Macdonald
When: 18/01/2020
Skeptic summary: Conspiracy theories involving arson, or the Australian Green Party's part in blocking risk-mitigation measures have been thoroughly debunked (see article for sources), but that didn't stop those ideas spreading quickly across social media and the world.
The pattern of (climate change denying) right-wing politicians and pundits blaming environmentalists for wildfires is pointed out with several examples. Rupert Murdoch's publications come under fire for printing the misinformation, for not reporting on the scale of the fires, and for ignoring the links between fossil fuels and the climate emergency.