Cynthia Hudson, Senior VP and General Manager of CNN en Español, was part of one of the most awaited panels in the Festival of Media LatAm (FOMLA): Media rules of engagement: brand safety and fake news, how does the industry come together to stop it?
During the conversation, they debated on the risks media and their partners face with the temptation to validate news that is appealing to the audience, which has huge viral potential, but turns out to be fake or manipulated with third-party interests.
“Fake news is going to be a key factor in advertising and when the time comes to hear opinions, we are bombarded by different media where the figure of the journalist doesn’t exist. The most dangerous thing is that it has been proven that this (fake news) works. Any foreign government or anybody can influence public opinion,” she stated.
She added that it is the responsibility of the media to encourage curation by their users, and for them to have the ability to identify this type of content, give their opinion on it, and counteract the negative effect it can have.
According to Hudson, a possible solution is for media sources and journalists to continue betting on rigor and fact-checking.