On Tuesday 11 June 2024, the Department of Communication and Media Studies held a workshop entitled “Investigative Journalism, Innovation and Disinformation: New perspectives in the media field”, in the framework of the European project ANALYSIS. The event discussions focused on combating disinformation and utilizing advanced digital tools in this effort. During the workshop, Constantinos Mourlas, project coordinator, and Professor at the Department of Communication and Media Studies (UoA), presented the activities and objectives of the ANALYSIS project.
Then, Aimilios Perdikaris chairman and general manager of the Athens Macedonian News Agency (AMNA), and also partner of the project ANALYSIS, addressed the global issue of the spread of fake news, stressing the need to reskill journalists with the technological tools needed to effectively combat disinformation.
Nikos Sarris, a senior researcher at EKETA and Athens Technology Center presented the activities of European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) and its regional branch, the Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory (MedDMO), which covers Greece, Cyprus, and Malta. He showcased the fact-checking services and the technological tools available for news verification.
A panel discussion on “Fact-Checking and the New Faces of Disinformation” followed the next session of the workshop. The panel was moderated by Christos Gavalas, Fact Checking Manager (ATC) and speakers were Nikos Sarris (EKETA, ATC), Aimilios Perdikaris (AMNA), Niki Papazoglou (Journalist – Insider.gr), and Ilias Anastasiadis (Content Director – Reader.gr). The discussion focused on the challenges of combating fake news on social media, the lack of professional fact-checkers and the spread of falsified information, which is often unintentional and due to human error.
The workshop concluded with an interesting presentation titled “New York Times v. OpenAI & Microsoft: a battle between copyright and innovation?” Lawyers Nikos Grigoriadis and George Pantazis from the “NGLaw” law firm discussed the dispute regarding the use of copyrighted material from the New York Times by technology companies for training their artificial intelligence models. They also provided clarification on copyright law, underscoring its wider implications and the need to adapt the law to address the upcoming realities of new technologies.
The above publication is Co-funded by the European Union under the programme “trAiNing mediA professionals on appLYing advanced, high-impact digital technologieS to combat dISinformation” -”ANALYSIS” with AGREEMENT NUMBER no. 2022-1-EL01-KA220-VET-000086883
Disclaimer: “The European Union support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”
