The Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ΑΝΑ-MPA) and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Athens, in the context of the 88th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) where Germany is the honored country, organized an event on journalism and misinformation on Thursday.

The discussion featured Athens-Macedonian News Agency President Aimilios Perdikaris, Deutsche Welle Editor-in-Chief Manuela Kasper-Claridge and Professor at the Department of Journalism and Mass Media Communication at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Nikos Panagiotou. The discussion was moderated by ANA-MPA’s Editor-in-Chief in Northern Greece, Sofia Papadopoulou.

Among the topics discussed were the constant training of journalists and citizens in recognizing fake news as well as the responsibility of journalistic organizations to integrate fact-checking tools into news production processes, including the use of Artificial Intelligence.

Speakers underlined that misinformation is a common phenomenon, which today is prevalent mainly due to the technological capabilities available to anyone seeking to benefit from spreading false news. The rise of misinformation is further driven by the prominence of social media as a primary source of news to the public.

Panagiotou noted that misinformation is a widespread issue and journalists are required to respond to complex phenomena under challenging conditions. He stressed the need for the development of specialized technological tools to address this challenge. Kasper-Claridge highlighted that Deutsche Welle operates multiple TV channels, hundreds of programs and social media channels. She emphasized that misinformation is a daily concern for the organization, particularly regarding the verification of information before it becomes news. She also stressed the importance of credibility, ensuring that citizens can trust a source or a broadcaster.

She explained that this can only be achieved if the information being disseminated is also verified by the organization. “That’s why we have significantly expanded our fact-checking unit, acquired the necessary technical tools and continuously updated them,” she said. “Deutsche Welle is currently developing a large verification unit capable of quickly checking whether, for example, photos are real or fake”, she explained and stressed that journalists must be trained to use these technological tools. She believes that ultimately this will make a difference for media outlets, as people will end up relying on sources they trust.

On his part, Perdikaris emphasized that the freedom to disseminate information, bypassing fact-checking, “feeds” misinformation. “Information is freely available, everyone has free access and it spreads on the internet without necessarily coming from professional journalists, which is the most dangerous phenomenon,” he said. Perdikaris also highlighted the necessity of educating the public.

Regarding the media, he stressed the need for adaptation as well as the development of specific tools that will safeguard the credibility of their work. “Both journalists and the public need training to understand these challenges and to cope with both current and future issues. The pace at which data changes is rapid,” he emphasized.

Artificial Intelligence Refines and detects Fake News
The crucial issue for the credibility of journalism and media is the distinction between information and news online. “It is of utmost importance to separate information from news,” noted Panagiotou, who emphasized the need for a broader alliance between fact-checking organizations and journalists themselves. He also mentioned misinformation spread through social media posts, a problem that major tech companies often avoid taking responsibility for.

Kasper-Claridge added that “the problem is that fake news is becoming increasingly sophisticated,” making it harder to differentiate between false and true information. Deutsche Welle, she explained, requires its journalists to rely only on credible sources and supports their training in artificial intelligence tools to check data, evaluate documents, videos and photos, verify information credibility and detect misinformation.

Panagiotou expressed certainty that artificial intelligence will not dominate over reliable journalism and cannot replace journalists. He explained that AI lacks the physical presence and fieldwork that journalists provide globally, distinguishing human journalists from AI. AI selects data from existing sources and creates something that appears new.

“Artificial Intelligence will change the way we work, but it will not replace us. It will help us combat misinformation,” agreed Perdikaris, adding that the effectiveness of any technology depends on how it is used. “AI cannot replace a human, a journalist, or a war correspondent in the field or a photojournalist capturing real-time events. However, it can and should be a tool to enhance our work, provided we know how to use it effectively,” he concluded.

Training Citizens in Fact-Checking

Kasper-Claridge referred to a recent example involving a claim by Donald Trump during his recent debate with Kamala Harris, where he alleged that Haitian migrants in Ohio were kidnapping dogs and cats to eat them. She explained how Deutsche Welle quickly verified the claim. By showing step-by-step why the claim was false, Deutsche Welle aimed to educate the public on identifying fake news and the tools used for fact-checking.

Discussing the regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, Panagiotou noted that “AI is currently a field of geopolitical competition.” He added that any country that manages to dominate this area will gain a significant and powerful advantage. He emphasized that “if we want to restrict the development of AI, it must be done through a global initiative that follows agreements such as the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.” He acknowledged that the European Union is playing a leading role in this field and is the only one that has significantly attempted to define the necessary regulatory framework.

Perdikaris expressed concern about the “very fine line between regulation and self-regulation,” explaining that regulation can be perceived as an attempt to impose censorship or, in some cases, be used deceitfully to enforce censorship. He noted that “there are regimes that seek to impose rules through media regulation and the media landscape that amount to censorship.” He added that “self-regulation concerns us, our work, the ethical standards we have today, the code of conduct and how we operate, now including artificial intelligence in the broader picture.”

Kasper-Claridge emphasized the importance of combating misinformation and raising awareness about it for preserving democracy, citing examples where fake news was used to influence electoral campaigns. She stressed the importance of training journalists to quickly identify false information as well educating users in order to protect democracy.