1. Truth, Trust and Technology:
strategic communication in the
misinformation age
Prof Charlie Beckett
LSE
NATO College, Rome
March, 2019
2. Goals of strategic communication for NATO
•Understanding
•Influence
•Change
•‘Environmental’
• external, internal, data, policy, role
• public, authorities, experts, media
• perception, elections, funding,
military, security, diplomatic
• Evidence, accountability, record,
objectivity
3. NATO strat comms problems
•Lack of political and public support
•Specific propaganda effects
•General undermining of support for values and
purpose
•Information abundance and diversity
•‘Post-truth’ relativism that hinders information
deliberation
27. Post-Truth?
1. Over abundance of information creates
confusion
2. Fact-checking is limited
3. Algorithms struggle to filter, platforms
incentivise for attention not accuracy
4. Learn to adapt to a multiple-truth information
ecology?
32. Fake news is good news for reality-based
news media
33. Trust
1. Transparency is vital, but just the start
2. Filter bubble or community?
3. Emotions as key drivers
4. Real problem is curation, connection,
personalisation
5. Learn to adapt to a low-trust, high-scepticism
information ecology
36. Getting worse before it gets better?
1. Governments, corporations, lobby groups now
investing in information manipulation
2. New channels, platforms and networks will
provide fresh distribution outlets for
misinformation
3. Failure to address systematic problem means
we treat symptoms not structural challenges:
remember the banking crisis?
37.
38.
39. LSE Commission recommendations
• A new institution, the Independent Platform Agency, to oversee the
technology companies’ networks and platforms
• A major programme of media literacy in and beyond the classrooms
• More support for public service news media innovation and adaption
40. Truth, Trust and Technology:
a new agenda for the crisis in public
information
@Charlie Beckett
c.h.beckett@lse.ac.uk
Editor's Notes
Apologies for change in lecture.
We are going to look at the LSE T3 Commission.
You may even want to get involved in our work next term.
It will help us address some of the issues that we have dealt with this term.
We will also have a look at some future news trends.
Apologies for change in lecture.
We are going to look at the LSE T3 Commission.
You may even want to get involved in our work next term.
It will help us address some of the issues that we have dealt with this term.
We will also have a look at some future news trends.