Navigating and Verifying the Fog of War

October 31, 2023

In this presentation, TMU Journalism's Verification Expert in Residence Craig Silverman highlights the challenges of navigating misinformation and disinformation during times of conflict and how journalists can use digital tools and investigative thinking to help them figure out what's genuine and what's not.

This video and presentation reference violence and destruction taking place in Israel and Palestine and also discuss times of war in other contexts. Some images and topics may be distressing for some viewers.

A static slideshow of the presentation is available below.

Cover slide of Navigating and Verifying the Fog of War by Craig Silverman.

Two photos side by side of Gaza hospital blast.

Slide with a screenshot of The New York Times article and a tweet side by side.

Slide with two Twitter posts side by side.

Slide with a tweet.

Slide with two tweet screenshots.

Slide of screenshots of news articles.

Slide with a meme of a dog in a fire saying "This is fine."

Two posters with men on them side by side with taglines about rumours

"Agenda" is highlighted in yellow and below in bullet points reads "Verification mindset and fundamentals" "Dynamics of conflict mis/disinfo" "Tools/techniques for verification" "Best practices for reporting" "Questions/discussion"

Blue background with text highlighted in yellow in a white box. Text reads "Mindset & Fundamentals"

A quote on a pink background.

Quote on a pink background. Text reads "analysts should be self-conscious about their reasoning processes. They should think about how they make judgements and reach conclusions, not just about the judgments and conclusions themselves." - Psychology of Intelligence Analysis.

A quote on a pink background. Text reads "Our relationship to information is emotional." - First Draft

Two sides of misinformation text and disinformation text.

Screenshot of graphics depicting types of mis/disinformation.

"Successful Mis/Disinformation" title with bullet points below.

A title about digital verification with bullet points below.

Blue background with text highlighted in yellow in a white box. Text reads "Dynamics of Conflict Mis/Disinformation"

Title about conflict information with bullet points below.

Two screenshots about planes side by side.

A screenshot of a tweet next to a photo of a field.

Two screenshots side by side.

Three tweets side by side of fake videos from Twitter.

Two paragraphs of text.

Screenshot of a tweet and a quote side by side.

Title depicting three tweet screenshots below.

Two screenshots of tweets side by side.

Two tweet screenshots side by side.

A screenshot of a tweet from @AlJazeera

Slide about a fake Israeli Facebook page post.

A screenshot of a tweet

Two screenshots of tweets side by side.

Bullet point sections side by side.

Slide screenshot of a tweet.

Screenshot of clips for a slide on observational items of note.

Screenshot of different tweets.

Two tweets side by side.

Screenshot of a search bar results.

Slide of screenshots.

Screenshot of a news broadcast.

Screenshot of news footage with squares highlighting parts.

Screenshot of news broadcast showing cameras.

Screenshot of news broadcast report showing land.

Screenshot of news broadcast report.

Photo of tents next to bullet points.

Picture of tents with a red square highlighting a flag.

Slide with news article clippings.

Two blocks of text side by side.

Slide with screenshots of an article and a tweet.

Slide with a screenshot.

Slide with a graph.

Focus on the facts page.

Pink background with text that reads "Thanks! Questions?"