Should we trust the news we read online?

The phenomenon of ‘fake news’ has swept into political conversation, thanks to the role it played in both Brexit and the US general election. It’s more difficult than ever before to determine what’s true and what isn’t. But what is ‘fake news’ in a time when the Western world is more politically polarised than ever? What threat do untrue news stories have on our relationship with democratic institutions? And how can we stop the proliferation of fake news, both in the digital world, and the real one?

James Ball is a special projects correspondent at BuzzFeed News. His new book, Post–Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World is published by Biteback, and explores the cottage industry of fake news and its consequences for the future of democracy. He joins us at Theos to talk about all this and more.

James was previously a special projects editor at the Guardian, where he worked on a number of award–winning scoops, including the publication of the NSA files obtained by Edward Snowden, and Wikileaks’ Guantanamo Bay files. He is one of the UK’s fastest rising investigative journalists, having also worked with Channel 4’s Dispatches, Al Jazeera and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. 

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Theos office
77 Great Peter Street
London
SW1P 2EZ

6.30pm for 7pm start

Theos Students, Friends and Associates: Free

General admission: £7.00 + £0.89 administration fee

Concessions and Students: £5.00 + £0.80 administration fee

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Image from Pixabay available in the Public Domain