As part of our ‘In Conversation With…’ series, Megan Price and Rachel Louise Gibson were joined by journalist Marianna Spring on Monday 21st December.
Empoword Journalism’s very own Megan Price and Rachel Louise Gibson hosted a zoom workshop with BBC reporter and journalist Marianna Spring on Monday 21st December.
Marianna is a BBC News Specialist Disinformation and Social Media reporter. Her role during the pandemic has been more crucial than ever; reporting on a number of important topics. Throughout the year, she has spent her time investigating and covering the impact of viral disinformation and conspiracies surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and US election. More recently, her attention has been focused on reporting about the brand new Covid-19 vaccines and the conspiracy theories and disinformation surrounding this.
Throughout the year, there has been a huge emphasis on the differences between true sources and fake news. Tackling these conspiracy theories starts with fact checking; analysing how something has gone viral and most importantly finding where it originated from. For Marianna, the best way of covering these kinds of stories is to weaponize what allows conspiracy theories to spread online, with reporters and journalists being transparent.
Over the festive period a number of us will be the family fact checkers. Here is how you can stop the spread of fake news:
- Read trusted and objective sources.
- Make sure you check information with legitimate sources like ITV or BBC. These are the sources which are held accountable and will have run their information through fact checkers.
- Ask yourself where has the source come from and does it make sense?
- Understand your responsibility of what you are sharing online – could you be contributing to the latest conspiracy theory or newest disinformation story?
Reporting on such sensitive topics has left Marianna facing a number of online bullying and abuse. She has recently spoken out about some of the threats she has received which have required security involvement. Although our role as a journalist is to bring people information and share others’ stories, online abuse is not normal and is definitely something we should speak out about.
This year has been like no other and for young journalists it’s been increasingly harder to get into the media industry. Even as an experienced journalist, Marianna understands how difficult yet unique it has been as we have found ourselves not only living the story but reporting on it. Her advice for young journalists at this time is to reach out to other journalists, even some of the most famous journalists you look up to may reply. Putting yourself out there means you can gain some brilliant advice from people already in the industry who can share their lived experiences.
Marianna’s Reading Recommendations:
- This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality by Peter Pomerantsev
- How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict by Nina Jankowicz
- Escaping The Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic and Respect by Mick West
- The Skills: From First Job to Dream Job – What Every Woman Needs to Know by Mishal Husain
- Airhead by Emily Maitlis
It was a pleasure to speak to Marianna about her role within the industry and what we can be doing as young journalists especially in the fight of disinformation.
If you missed our workshop you can catch up below:
Neve GF