1. #fakenews and the always-on news cycle
Jason Boxt and Mike Fernandez
June 2017

2. Communications world is changing

3. Trust in media historically low

4. Republicans share DEEP mistrust

5. Trust problem not going to get better

6. #fakenews is not a new phenomenon…
Salem Witch Trials of the Gave Puritans a way to address non-conformity.
Paul Revere and Israel Bissell
Bissell traveled many more miles – all the way to Philadelphia in fact
Warning thousands more than Revere ever did
But perhaps Longfellow found 86 years later it was much easier to rhyme words with Revere than Bissell
Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Revere’s Ride – 1861)
1884 Presidential campaign
James Blaine and Grover Cleveland
Blaine: “Ma, Ma where’s my pa…Going to the white house ha, ha.”
Cleveland supporters responded with tales of kick-backs to Blaine for his support of continental railroad interests and retorted: “Blaine, Blaine the Continental liar from the State of Maine.”
1898 – Teddy Roosevelt and others used the explosion of the USS Maine to enter into the Spanish-American War to oust Spain from Cuba and the Caribbean
1950s – US Senator Joe McCarthy from Wisconsin used fear of the Soviet Union and Communism to drive a wedge into American politics…bringing people before Congressional hearings to ask: “Are you or have you ever been associated with the Communist Party.”
– Weapons of Mass Destruction

7. #fakenews is everywhere
MIT scientists say Trump misused their climate change research to defend leaving Paris accord
       President Donald Trump announces his decision Thursday to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord. –Doug Mills/The New York Times
MARKAZ
The $110 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia is fake news
Bruce RiedelMonday, June 5, 2017
                                                                                                                                                                   
Getty Images/iStockphoto
13.7: cosmos and culture
Is Do-It-Yourself Fact Checking The Future?

8. How fake news goes viral – a case study
November 20, 2016
After 53 Hours…16,000 shares on Twitter… and more than 350,000 shares on Facebook, the author admits that the busses did not actually carry any protestors.

9. #fakenews is political fodder

10. Some have come out on top…

11. …others have been harmed

12. #fakenews is confusing

13. #fakenews is exhausting

14. (Of those who recall) Perception of accuracy
#fakenews is working
Recall of fake stories
(Of those who recall) Perception of accuracy
Ipsos/Buzzfeed News – December 2016

15. #fakenews is working

16. Principles for navigating our new world of fake news and the always-on news cycle
Conduct risk assessment to understand vulnerabilities/opportunities
Establish narrative/proof points
If you know something is coming, potential to turn it into an advantage
Prepare
Gather intelligence about advisors/stakeholders influencing key political leaders, find ways to reach them
Reinforce you are part of the solution, not part of the problem
Get Ahead of the Curve
Often better to set the agenda than to be the agenda
A tepid response can lead to criticism
Be true to who you are and what you stand for – authenticity
Engage

18. jboxt@ps-b.com mike.fernandez@bm.com
Jason Boxt and Mike Fernandez
June 2017