DPWH PIOs combat fake news

By BON JOSEPH N. ASTILLA
June 11, 2018

CALBAYOG CITY – In response to the proliferation of fake news, DPWH Public Information Officers (PIOs) from all over Region VIII tackle countermeasures and new media during their 2nd quarterly meeting cum workshop in Borongan City, Eastern Samar on June 7-8, 2018.

Besides from the usual news prints and radio broadcasts, there’s a new media that is changing the way people across the world are entertained and consume information. These are blogs, virtual reality, online newspapers, digital games and the most popular, social media.

With more than 4 billion people using the internet for an average of 6 hours per day, going digital has become an essential part of everyday life for most. Unfortunately, this is also how fake news easily spreads.

Two years ago, “fake news” was not a term many people used but as of today, is seen as a threat. “Fake news is actually disinformation wherein the information is false and the person who is disseminating it knows it is false” said Mr. Randy Columbres, PIO staff of DPWH-Regional Office. It is an intentional lie.

As part of the strategy, PIOs are tasked to curate content in the dissemination of information. Curated content is searchable, reader-friendly, and potentially engaging because it showcases variety of thoughts and ideas melded into a central platform.