What is counter-disinformation? What is information? What challenges face media professionals in the age of AI and threats to media freedom?

Counter-disinformation is a small, but burgeoning industry, and it is more important than ever. It can be approached from all angles and a multitude of pathways, and includes media monitoring, open-source intelligence, cyber security, strategic direction, narrative analysis, AI expertise, and building networks with governments, journalists, and civil society. For the political scientist or the media scholar it's an opportunity to grasp how information is constructed, who dictates what information is, and how wars of public opinion have a tangible impact on policy outcomes. It's a wonderful mixture of the academic and the operational.

This lecture will give a brief overview into the past, present, and future of disinformation and counter-disinformation methods and strategies, and outline pathways into a counter-disinformation career. The speaker will also give a little bit more information on his background and trajectory leading to this weird and wonderful field, and what he would have done as a student if he knew he wanted to go down this path. He will share his enthusiasm for this field, and maybe even convince a handful of Fribourg students to consider it as a possible career path.