Fake news and challenges in the communications profession

Media, crisis and environmental analysts are increasingly confronted with fake news. There was also a lot of disinformation around the news that dominated our country in recent weeks, disguised as news. As a Government Communications Advisor at Babbage, Lior Sela made weekly environmental images for her last client (Veiligheidsregio Zaanstreek Waterland.). Using two current examples, she shows in this blog what challenges fake news poses for analysts and communications advisors and why correct analyses are therefore so important for effective communication. 

The flood disaster in Limburg and the attack on Peter R. de Vries… Two examples of news that caused a lot of commotion in our society this summer and resulted in a lot of media coverage. And as is usually the case with 'breaking news', many media started live blogs and there were extra broadcasts by, for example, NOS News and RTL News. Many messages about the flood disaster and the attack also circulated on social media. 

Fake news 

After the attack on Peter R. de Vries, there appeared to be a lot of fake news, as police spokesperson Jean Fransman said: “That gave us a lot of extra work, because everything had to be checked” (including Parool). Fake news is, as we know, sometimes difficult to distinguish and it gives analysts a lot of extra work. The emergency services in Limburg also seem to have been bothered recently by fake news that is being spread about the consequences of the high water. The chairman of the Limburg-Noord Safety Region warned residents of Limburg about fake news and stated that this 'harms the control of the crisis' (including nu.nl).

For communication advisors and media, crisis and environmental analysts there are many challenges here. How can you still see the forest for the trees of fake news? To what extent is public opinion influenced by this incorrect reporting? To what extent are the police and emergency services burdened extra by this and to what extent does this affect the state of the crisis or disaster? How do you, as an advisor or analyst, deal with challenges such as fake news but also with the privacy of citizens and residents?

Analysis is indispensable

Good analysis is essential for intercepting fake news and mapping the extent to which it is circulating. In this way, communication advisors and spokespersons can intervene in time. For example, in the case of the floods in Limburg, to prevent confusion and panic. From analyses, we as communication professionals also conclude what the importance of good information provision is. The fake messages that circulated immediately after the attack on Peter R. de Vries could be seen as a lack of information provision at that time. People were looking for answers. 

I also saw this clearly in my own social media bubble. Many questions were still unanswered at that time: What would be the perpetrator's motive? Why Peter R. de Vries? In which hospital is he? How is he doing? People will try to provide the answers to these questions themselves. Timely and good analysis then helps to prevent fake news and in my opinion, communication responded well to this in this case. The press conference of the Amsterdam Triangle, that same evening on July 6, did not provide answers to all those questions, simply because most of the answers were not yet available. But that is also an answer and it can remove uncertainty and doubt from people.

Growing demand for analysts

At Babbage we notice that there is a growing demand for communication professionals who can make or deploy analyses based on available data. Think of media monitoring, media analyses, crisis analyses and environmental analyses. We notice that with the growing demand for media, crisis and environmental analysts, the demand for training in this field is also growing. That is why we have developed a new, broad Environmental Analysis course together with SRM and a number of experts. Good to know: do you need narrower knowledge for your work? You can also train certain subjects separately!

SRM & Babbage course

The course is intended for communications advisors who want to know more about what environmental analysis is, what sources and methods are available and what you can use, when and how.
But above all: what is the difference between media monitoring, crisis analysis, media analysis and environmental analysis, how do you frame a question for the client/do a good intake, what input you can expect and how can you translate this into good advice for your stakeholders and client. The course is also interesting when you want to gather all the knowledge yourself to get started as an environmental analyst.

Preview? During C-week21, Babbage & SRM jointly organised the inspiring session 'Effective Communication is not possible without analysis'. You can watch it here: