We. Are Back. This is part 2 of our deep dive into journalism and disinformation. The old news model has broken and new models are making it hard to verify the truth.

Objectivity is impossible, and really not the point of journalism. Rather, good journalists care about getting their facts right, being aware of their biases, and ensuring that their sources are crdible.

Canada’s Online News Act (Bill C-18) was supposed to help, but it removed news from Meta platforms, potentially increasing misinformation and pushing people toward AI summaries with unclear sourcing.

We close with four questions for evaluating news stories:

1. What was the process for accuracy and corrections?
2. Is the information sourced and verified?
3. Does the outlet employ professional journalists?
4. Is their mission to inform?

Read Nina and Diane's textbook for free.

Diane and Nina turn the tables! Alexa and Chris are both journalism school graduates and they try to answer questions about how journalism both fights and falls victim to disinformation.

Journalism and news have evolved over time, particularly in the context of the internet and social media. Changing business models and consumer expectations have put a strain on journalists while allowing people who make stuff up to just let the lies fly. This is part one of two conversations about the state of journalism in an age of misinformation overload.

Read Nina and Diane's textbook for free.

When you don't know anything, you're likely to think you know everything. Chris didn't know that this is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. So people who know nothing often make confident claims that are lies or at least incorrect.

So how do we make sure we know who is telling us what's true? It's all about critical thinking. The group discusses ways to verify or debunk information on your own.