On April 19th, 2019, YSU Ijevan Branch hosted a seminar-discussion entitled “Trends and Challenges of Contemporary Journalism Development (Fake, Internet)”, conducted by Tigran Simonyan, journalist, Head of “Pastark” Club.
The seminar was attended by representatives of YSU Ijevan Branch administrative and professorial staff and students.
Firstly, Mr. Simonyan touched upon the issue of the fake, secondly, the tendencies of journalism development.
First, the speaker introduced the essence of fake internet, the controversial opinions on it, and its types.
Particularly, it was mentioned that fake (fake – false), formerly known as ““газетная утка”, “слив” (leakage), was an indispensable part of the 21st century: has been rooted in the last 15 years: “Fakes have come to our life for a long time. Like a mouse on the butter and the fake on the web, feels good. We will live next to the Fake, finding ways to neutralize them”, T. Simonyan underlined.
Fakes appear in 3 ways: a visual (a photo that has been subjected to a modified Photoshop or other toolkit), anonymous (no photos, no personal data) and text. There are three factors causing misunderstanding: first, the title, then the addition of some word or phrase (for example,… and not only) and the presumption of innocence (whether publishers are fully aware of the content of their material).
In terms of content, there are some fakes that are explicit or partial, propagandistic, as a result of the misleading speech of the user and so on.
It was stressed that there was no law prohibiting fake in Armenia yet and it was necessary to create preventive mechanisms.
Then Mr. Simonyan touched upon the current state of Armenian journalism, its mission: “Our journalism is quite politicized. I think the Armenian journalism is not called for it. By overcoming each stage, it must reach another level. “
Speaking about the journalist’s activities, the speaker particularly mentioned: “Journalism (great contacts, thematic diversity, the ability to recognize your own country, opportunities to solve others’ problems, etc.) is a profession that provides wider horizons. The journalist lives and takes care of himself and others. Everything is interesting for a journalist; his glance is curious and attentive…”
Touching upon the students’ observation on the passivity of journalism in the region, Mr. Simonyan expressed his readiness to support the students who want to take the path of journalism. He advised students to start their career from photojournalism or its writing types.
The seminar was held in an engaging and interactive atmosphere.
