We are all stakeholders in the urgent discussions about fake news.

Fake news is a concept that is defining the information, or misinformation, era. As different platforms emerge, offering unprecedented access to an audience previously available to only the traditional gatekeepers of media. The lines between fact, and fiction presented as such, are increasingly blurred.

So how can ideas, and specifically truth, be communicated effectively and responsibly? David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, took to the stage at Cannes Lions to discuss how publishers, brands and content creators can retain a trustworthy voice in the era of untruth.

Remnick, in his post since 1998, discussed the state of the world as it has been rendered by the information age, describing “the rising tide of bullshit.” Recalling Jon Stewart’s ‘bullshit mountain’ metaphor, he continued: “We’ve reached the summit of bullshit mountain... and you have to wonder if we’ll find our way down again.”

Remnick likened the spread of fake news to climate issues, one of the topics seemingly most subject to the whims of fake news producers: “We cannot and will not eliminate untruth entirely. Like pollution. But how can we reduce it, and breath a little better, and avoid the toxic cloud of our own making?”

While noting the rise of the problem of the spread of fake news being “powered by speed and ubiquity,” Remnick was quick to note that social media and new platforms, while exacerbating the spread, were by no means the originators of the problem: “No one should romanticise the old media landscape. The sins of even the best outlets are well documented.”

“If we find excuses to ignore the crisis, we will drown.” David Remnick

The spectre of the 2016 US election campaign loomed large over Remnick’s session, as he discussed the rhetoric espoused by Trump throughout his campaign and the early days of his presidency: “It’s no longer funny. The stakes are immense. His abuse of the truth is an emergency.”



The New Yorker editor quoted Barack Obama’s contention that in the new media landscape “everything is true and nothing is true.” It’s a situation that impacts everyone: “Whether you’re an executive at a social media company, or just use social media to press a point or further your business, an advertiser or pursuing advertising. All of us are citizens of the world and we all have a stake in the crucial discussion about information, fact and truth.”

There’s no quick solution, and the problems are myriad: “If we find excuses to ignore the crisis, we will drown.”

So how can the media best combat the situation?: “The battle has to be fought tirelessly... invest, support and keep faith in your journalism.”

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