Politicians have been accused of undermining democracy by using the phrase “fake news” to attack journalists.
Laura Garcia, from fact-checking organisation First Draft, says portraying the media as the enemy risks threatening its role in holding the powerful to account.
But she says journalists have also inadvertently added to the problem.
“By repeatedly using the term fake news we keep reinforcing this abstract concept that the problem is the news, the problem is the media, the problem are the journalists and it makes us the scapegoats and the enemy and therefore it’s very easy to weaponise by politicians,” she said.
Theodore Koulouris, an expert in politics and media at Brighton University, has proposed a radical solution to tackle the problem.
