真的假不了

日期︰2017年05月09日

香港报业公会主席甘焕腾

真的假不了，假的真不了。这句金句套用在全球各地近期刮起的打假新闻风，传媒中人自是别有一番滋味在心头。

其实自社交网络大行其道，网媒如雨后春笋般涌现，不少人的阅报及吸收新闻资讯的习惯逐步改变。由看收费报纸，到免费报纸，改为报纸网站，再到社交网络发放的新闻资讯。初期不少人都觉得这个转变是社会进步的必然发展历程，毋须唏嘘叹息。

然而，当大众舍弃传统获取新闻资讯之途，转而接收大量不经求证的免费资讯的时候，我们不禁要问：这些资讯会不会扭曲了我们的理性思考？我们会不会基于一些误导的资讯而作出了错误的决定？

其实由读报转为扫网来接收新闻和资讯，亦反映了受众对追求知识的不同态度。收费报章的读者，必然是主动和认真的希望从报章寻找想要的新闻和资讯，否则不会付钱买报纸；相反在社交网络，新闻就夹杂在凌乱的资讯和议论中，很多时受众都是被动的，亦不一定会思索这些新闻和资讯的真伪。此所以，社交网络往往成为假新闻的温床，同时亦助长了假新闻的泛滥成灾。

正所谓物极必反，一场美国总统选举令大家惊讶发现，假新闻泛滥原来不但会影响个人所接收的资讯，还会影响一个国家的命运。继捷克成立反假新闻的专责政府机构后，德国亦研究立法打击假新闻，以免今年将举行的大选结果受到操控。英国文化媒体体育议会（CMSC）已正式针对「假新闻」展开调查，以防民众接收到不实的宣传内容。在亚洲，新加坡和台湾亦正研究如何应对假新闻。

有意见担心打击假新闻可能侵害新闻和言论自由，但容许假新闻坐大，社会整体恐怕要付上沉重代价。虽然假新闻在香港还只是零星事件，却已然令大众开始意识到假新闻的祸害。毕竟我们往往通过新闻资讯来塑造我们对周遭事物的理解和是非判断，若然假新闻和虚构资讯无处不在，我们亦无从作出理性的分析。

社交网络面书和谷歌近日都说要严格阻截假新闻的散播，成效如何还要拭目以待，但我相信正本清源才是真正有效的治本方法。

从乐观的角度看，全球各地都开始警觉假新闻对社会的侵害，大众很可能会重新检视传统传媒的角色和重要性。或许正因如此，一些传统大报的销量和读者人数近期开始稍然回升。位居美国销量第四的《华盛顿邮报》去年新增订户数字大增75%。诚然，目前就论断纸媒回春仍言之尚早，但在国际局势动荡、社会环境纷扰的多事之秋，传统传媒严谨的求证守则和客观报导，还是有其不可替代的功能。希望大家可以珍之惜之。

What is true cannot be fake

"What is true cannot be fake; what is fake cannot be true." If we apply this saying to the recent battle against fake news around the globe, for those who work in the media industry must have a mixed feeling in their hearts.

Ever since social networks have become a mainstream trend, online media has mushroomed, people's habits of reading newspaper and absorbing news and information gradually changed, from reading paid newspapers to free newspapers, and visiting newspaper website to viewing news updates shared on social media. At first, people might think this change is only an inevitable stage of social progress with nothing to be moaned about.

Nevertheless, when the public is giving up the traditional way to acquire news and information, but receiving a huge amount of free unverified information, we have got to ask, “Will this information distort our rational thinking?” or “Will we make wrong decisions based on some misleading information?”

Receiving news and information from reading newspaper to scrolling the website actually reflected the change in attitude to pursue knowledge among the audience. Paid newspaper readers must be proactive and take news and information seriously, or else they will not be willing to pay for the newspapers. On the contrary, news is always mixed in scrambled information and arguments on social networks, in which the audience is passive in a way that they are just fed with news so they tend not to dwell on the authenticity of the news and information received. Hence, social networks are always the hotbeds of fake news which contribute to the flood of fake news.

"Things will develop in the opposite direction when they become extreme". The US presidential election made everyone astonished and realized that the overflow of fake news does not only affect the information that one received, but also the destiny of a country. Following the establishment of a special government organization to fight against fake news in Czech, Germany has plan to draw out legislation against fake news as well for fear that the election results of this year would be controlled. The Culture, Media & Sport Committee (CMSC) of the United Kingdom has officially launched an investigation on "fake news" to prevent the public from receiving false promotional content. In Asia, Singapore and Taiwan are also looking into the ways to cope with fake news.

There has been concern that the fight against fake news might infringe on the freedom of press and speech. Yet, if we turn a blind eye to the issue and allow fake news to grow, the society as a whole would pay a heavy price. Although fake news in Hong Kong still remains sporadic events, the public has already begun to realize the scourge of it. After all, we often shape our understanding of things around, as well as our right and wrong judgement through news and information. If fake news and false information are everywhere, we can no longer make a rational analysis.

Social networking platforms including Facebook and Google have recently stated that they would strictly block the spread of fake news. It still takes time to see the results but I believe tackling the problem at its root is the truly effective measure.  

From an optimistic point of view, every part of the world has started to stay alert to the harm that fake news could bring to the society, thus the public is likely to reexamine the role and importance of traditional media. Perhaps this is the reason why both the circulation and the readership of some traditional newspapers have begun to pick up recently. Ranked No.4 in circulation in the United States, "Washington Post" has a 75% increase in the number of subscribers last year. It is true that it is still too early for now to tell whether the print media has revived. However, in face of international turmoil and a social environment filled with troubles, practices of traditional media featuring rigorous verification and objective reports have an irreplaceable function. Hope everyone could cherish and acknowledge that.

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