How Reporters Can Get Ahead of Misinformation
These are not ordinary times. The volume of misinformation, misleading claims and biased language entering the national conversation has reached a fever pitch. The problem is compounded by today’s rapid news cycle, in which accuracy and context can’t wait. To meet this challenge, journalists increasingly need to fact-check and contextualize claims in real time — whether during live hearings or breaking news events. In this webinar, we’ll share some practical strategies for anticipating misinformation and countering harmful tropes without slowing down your coverage. For instance, savvy reporters might develop a well of “publish ready” copy they can plug into their stories that follows a questionable claim with the best available evidence. Attendees will also learn how to recognize coded language and dehumanizing or racist tropes in the moment — and how to journalistically respond in a politically charged environment. We’ll share tools, workflows, and ethical considerations to help you deliver speed and rigor on crucial health equity coverage under pressure.
This webinar is free and made possible by The California Endowment.
Speaker
Kat Stafford is the global race and justice editor for Reuters, where she leads coverage of race, identity and social justice across the world. Prior to joining Reuters, Stafford was a national investigative race writer and global investigations correspondent at the Associated Press. She has received several awards for her work and was recently named the recipient of the National Press Club Journalism Institute's 2023 Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism. She was a 2022 University of Michigan Knight-Wallace fellow, where she published a five-part investigative, multimedia series examining how health inequities have impacted generations of Black Americans. She is a member of the advisory board at the USC Center for Health Journalism.