How to spot fake news, and what to do when you recognise it – Stuff

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Ed Coper is an Australian author and digital communications expert.

James Belfield reviews a guidebook to the Age of Disinformation and discovers a war for our hearts and minds.

In whats probably the pivotal line of the 1997 movie Wag the Dog, Dustin Hoffmans sleazy Hollywood producer gazes out over a manufactured military funeral for a manufactured hero from a manufactured war and, starry eyed, tells Robert De Niros Machiavellian political spin doctor, Its the best work Ive ever done in my life because its so honest.

Because that was 1997 there was a slight wry grimace to the humour of a movie about concocted news stories designed to dupe an American electorate.

But fast forward 25 years and we now inhabit a world where CNN reporter Matthew Chance could last week describe Russia as criminalising the truth after the country banned the broadcast of an interview by Russian reporters of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Ed Coper has felt the need to write whats effectively a media handbook for spotting and responding to mis- and disinformation.

READ MORE:* 'It's a hellscape': The age of misinformation is here - can government close the rabbit hole?* The Backstory: How we fight the fire of misinformation

Facts and Other Lies (Welcome to the Disinformation Age) wears its Leftie heart on its Leftie sleeve and Coper is savage about Rupert Murdochs Right-wing media empire, Trumps rise to the US presidency, and Australias PM Scott Morrison. Its worth mentioning here, too, that Coper is a policy wonk from the Lucky Country.

But hes also a historical nerd, has a good grip of the neuroscience behind our emotional response to disinformation and a genuine master of the modern social media landscape. Copers attractive writing means the narrative rockets along nicely and the reader is as likely to come across a quote from Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure or The Daily Shows Jon Stewart as we are Plato, Dr Anthony Fauci or 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.

Which is all designed to add a pop culture digestibility to the books overall message.

The Disinformation Age is threatening to undo many of the last few centuries greatest achievements. It places on all of us a supreme responsibility to recognise and counter the forces of disinformation when we see them which is probably every time we open our phones to look at social media. This book is a tool to do just that.

As Copers training requires, the book sets up the challenges and creates a strategy to combat them. These are even neatly set out in cheat sheets with handy titles such as Defeating Disinformation or didactic chapter headings such as What to do when you see Fake News?

The advice is well researched and offers practical ideas not just for story-tellers and journalists, but also anyone else whos ever likely to share a post or tweet

If theres any gap in Copers narrative then its perhaps the growth and promise of peer-to-peer encrypted communication (the next stage of social media that bypasses the Facebooks of this world to allow communities to grow around like-minded groups or individuals). These communities will still require editors, journalists and the ability to spot lies when they appear but, most importantly, theyre likely to bypass the monetisation of disinformation that has driven megabucks media companies predilection for spreading fake news.

Whats then left to combat is our own psychological predisposition to accepting and spreading these lies and thats possibly where the battle really exists: Fake news triggers our emotions, which then clouds our judgment.

As long as characters such as Dustin Hoffmans Hollywood producer can look with pride at their fictional creations and praise their honesty, humanity is in for a rocky ride in the war between power and truth. What Coper has produced is a guidebook to recognising this battle, its down to us if we want to take up arms.

Facts and Other Lies, by Ed Coper (Allen & Unwin, $36.99)

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How to spot fake news, and what to do when you recognise it - Stuff