March 10, 2017
How to stamp out fake news? Innovate the attention economy
Sareeta Amrute, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UW
Vikram Jandhyala, UW VP of Innovation Strategy and Executive Director of CoMotion
A website, falsely identifying itself as ‘BBC News’ with links connecting it to the real ‘BBC News,’ reports the death of pop singer Britney Spears June 13, 2001 in London, England. (Photo by Sion Touhig/Getty Images)
The topic of “fakenews” is of course in the news (real or fake!). Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department, Sareeta Amrute, is interested in understanding the fake news problem from a sociological viewpoint. It appears that the top technology companies are, in their own image, looking for primarily technology solutions to a social and societal challenge.
We teamed up to write this article as an example of a challenge that can be best addressed by inclusive innovation which crosses multiple disciplines, organizations, and boundaries. One important question is the incentives for change in a market system and whether a fear of regulation is sufficient. Read the article published recently in BigThink here.
