Learning fake news? Not so fast...

On September 1, 2016, an editorial called “All the fake news that’s fit to print” was printed in the Waterloo Region Record. The editorial focuses on the announcement of the Yes Men as Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus annual activist-in-residence.

The Yes Men use humour as a way to open minds, share ideas and hopefully change the world as a result. They are known for using creative means to draw media attention to important issues and helping to shape public opinion.

The author, Peter Shawn Taylor, uses the editorial as an opportunity to bash the Digital Media and Journalism department for partnering with “media pranksters from around the world who deal in fake news.” He also says that Laurier embracing the Yes Men makes as much sense as having a witch doctor-in-residence program at a medical school.

What is alarming is that Taylor, who is the editor-at-large for Maclean’s magazine, asks the oh-so-accurate question of “is the university turning out legitimate journalists, or covert operatives?”

Well, let’s take a moment and fact-check Taylor’s article:

“Wilfrid Laurier University’s journalism program is partnering with a group famous for faking news stories. Journalists and media hoaxers working together. What could go wrong?” writes Taylor in his article.

According to a Laurier press release from October 2015, the original purpose of the activist-in-residence program is to encourage students, faculty and the Brantford community to explore and engage with important, current issues.

The Brantford campus is unique due to its cross-faculty focus on social justice, change and equity. By having an activist-in-residence, the goal is to encourage important conversations on campus. Also, it is not limited to Digital Media and Journalism students – anyone on campus can be involved and participation is completely voluntary.

“What is troubling about Laurier’s embrace of the Yes Men is that it connects a journalism program with an organization that deliberately seeks to make journalists look like fools,” writes Taylor.

Laurier is not the first journalism school to collaborate with the Yes Men. In fact, several educational institutions have brought the Yes Men to their campuses to create Yes Labs, including Columbia College in Chicago and Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Taylor is unfairly shaming Laurier for hosting the Yes Men without knowing other schools did the exact same thing.

“It’s clear, however, that the purpose to the Yes Men residency is not to inoculate Laurier’s journalism students against fake pranksters, but to teach them how to emulate their techniques,” writes Taylor.

Actually, this is not “clear” because Taylor has no concrete evidence to support his claim.

The presence of the Yes Men on campus does not mean that students will be learning fake news. In fact, beginning in our first journalism class, Laurier’s journalists-in-training are taught bias, objectivity and fairness very thoroughly.

As hard working students, we can guarantee that we do not write fake stories nor practice fake news techniques. And it’s insulting to hear Taylor say that we are not being properly educated when that is furthest from the truth.

Overall, it seems that Taylor is concerned about Laurier producing non-conservative journalists. But when has journalism been free of political leanings? How can he criticise us for possibly promoting certain political viewpoints when his own company, Maclean’s, is a conservative magazine?

Also, Taylor spent this entire article calling out Laurier’s Digital Media and Journalism program for teaching fake news. Does Taylor really have the right to call us out when he failed to carry out some of the most basic journalistic principles, like fact-checking his article?

Next time Taylor, don’t forget to do your own fact-check before submitting your work. Laurier’s journalists-in-training won’t always have time to do it for you and many of your “concerns” would be resolved with additional research.

Also, if you think you need a fact-checking refresher, feel free to swing by Laurier’s Brantford campus. We’d be happy to show you how.

Click the video below to listen to Digital Media and Journalism students describe what they do in their program: