Navigating the fake news era

2024 is a news year like no other. With half the world’s population going to the polls in elections worldwide, the importance of maintaining the integrity of news coverage has never been more critical.

However, there is a significant tension between upholding journalistic integrity and meeting the delivery demands of breaking news. There are plenty of examples of misinformation being inserted into the news pipeline and making it on air, and technological advances, particularly in the accelerating areas of AI and deepfakes, is making the issue more urgent.

The reputational damage of a breach in the news gathering process can be huge. But the proliferation of fake news means there is increasing complexity in identifying authentic sources. In a 24-hour news cycle, media organizations need to quickly verify stories and distribute them with confidence. From a news agency and broadcaster perspective there are two linked factors that need to be addressed here: video contribution and source verification.

Worldwide video contribution

Before you can think of verifying new content from contributors, first you need to be able to ensure it gets back to your organization efficiently. The industry transition to IP-based workflows has helped dramatically in this process, moving real-time contribution from restrictive satellite capacity that has to be booked well in advance, to the more flexible public internet.

Sophisticated software-defined video networks can now scale to multiple endpoint locations around the world, geolocating network resources for each origin and destination and scaling to multiple takers with a unique stream URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) for each destination. With the right technology, IP contribution and distribution is compatible with any SRT, RIST or RTMP-compliant encoder or decoder. GlobalM has also developed an integrated SRT mobile app for iOS, to support MoJo (Mobile Journalism) with advanced mobile capability for live contribution.

A software-defined video network needs to scale dynamically so that it can consistently meet the requirements of modern newscasts, with broadcast-quality and no lag or buffering. Advancements in secure video streaming now enable media organizations to deliver high-quality low-latency live or file-based video over the internet, sourcing content from freelancers and reporters worldwide. This is ideal for news agencies and newsrooms looking for a real-time, scalable IP based technology that meets the dynamic needs of planned and unplanned news events.

Source verification

The move away from SDI and satellite towards IP has reaped huge benefits for news organizations. But the resulting democratization of the technology has also enabled bad actors to insert themselves into the pipeline more easily. The increase in mobile phone use for contribution does mean there is a significant tension between upholding journalistic integrity and meeting the delivery demands of breaking news. While crowd-sourcing content from journalists is one increasingly popular way to support fast turnarounds, the question needs to be asked whether this crosses the line when ensuring media accountability.

This is where geolocation and source verification come in. Broadcasters and news agencies require a system that has been set up from the start to ensure only trusted correspondents are contacted and deployed in the field. Recent developments in technical management, return vision, and audio via SRT, now allows users to leverage geopositioning data to verify their correspondents’ identities.

Advertisement

But in a fast-paced environment these systems also need to be user friendly and respond in real-time. With GlobalM, locating freelance reporters on a map is simple, and viewing their profile and skillsets can help organizations easily choose the best freelance reporter for an assignment. These can be offered directly and geofenced notifications can even be created to see which reporters are available in a particular location. Newsrooms can establish relationships with correspondents around the world, and then be certain that these are the people they are working with when going live to air with a breaking news story.

Separating fact from fiction

Ensuring authentic news makes it to air, is a task that is becoming more challenging. As recent stories have shown, within moments of a major event taking place, social media channels are awash with claims and counterclaims that seek to spin an event and control its narrative. While it is a necessity for news organizations to gather content quickly, they also need to verify its source to maintain credibility and trust.

Remote reporters can now be held to rigorous standards, and verified in real-time. By being able to verify their external sources, newsrooms are able to extend the circle of trust beyond their own teams and reliably crowd-source coverage. This ensures they can get on air with breaking stories fast and first, while maintaining their hard-won reputations for truth and veracity at the same time. As the demand for live-streamed content grows, the right network technology is an important ally for navigating the fake news era.

Paul Calleja, GlobalMPaul Calleja graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology with a diploma of Audiovisual systems in 2003. Upon graduation, he worked in outside broadcast and at Sky Channel Australia as an engineer. In 2005, Paul relocated to the UK and after briefly working on contracts with Ascent Media and Technicolor Network Services in systems engineering roles. Paul joined the BBC in 2006 working as a senior broadcast systems engineer at BBC Television Center London. In 2008, he joined the EBU, designing and project managing many different technical projects, for both sports and news applications. In 2019, he took the role as CTO of GlobalM and became CEO in September 2023.