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iCEE.fest 2017. Leon Emirali, co-founder at Crest Communications: Fake news will not be stopped

Fake news will not be stopped, even if Facebook or other social networks will bring along measures, but it is needed for the media to have a powerful ethic, and users should verify from where they read the news, according to Leon Emirali, co-founder of advertising and public relations agency Crest Communications.

He further added that newspapers and televisions will have to adapt to the new digital landscape and collaborate with the new institutions. Except that this poses the risk for a handful of companies to control the main means of disseminating the information.

Here are his main statements:

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  • Even if Facebook and Google are competing against traditional media for advertising revenue, traditional press is still valuable in the end. In its essence, marketing is attracting attention, and at the moment, consumers focus on Facebook, Google and social apps such as Snapchat or Instagram. There is still value in traditional media, but social media has the advantage that there are more interactions
  • ”I don’t think fake news can be stopped. We expect Facebook to come up with measures of fighting the fake news phenomenon, but to be honest, in reality we can’t do much about it. It is free media and we have to adapt, be aware of it and take it as an opportunity rather than a risk.”
  • Regarding the competition between the media and social media, newspapers will have to adapt, there will be challenges regarding the printing aspect. But I think that the two sides can work together, and Facebook may end up punishing authors of various news spread on its platform. We will have to adapt as technology evolves. The old industries have to collaborate with the new ones.
  • ”There is always the danger that only a handful of companies end up controlling the means of disseminating the information, but the good side is that tech giants don’t have a certain inclination because they use content that is generated by users. Whereas, in the case of newspapers and televisions, the content is generated by an editorial team, to there may be an agenda behind. I don’t know what form it will have, but I believe that in the future, the international community will reach a standard or a law regarding the Internet.”

Daniel Higgson

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