The Lessons of Crypto Media
In late November, a work of art called Comedian, by Maurizio Cattelan, sold at auction for just over six million dollars. Comedian is better known by its description: a banana duct-taped to a wall. The buyer was Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and major investor in World Liberty Financial, Donald Trump’s digital-asset company. Two years ago, Sun had made headlines when he and his firm, Tron, which specializes in cryptocurrency- and blockchain-based entertainment, were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud and other crimes. (The case was recently put on hold by the SEC, the Trump administration having eased up on the government’s pursuit of corruption.) Back home in Hong Kong, upon receiving Comedian and its certificate of authenticity, Sun held a press event. Onstage, he compared the piece to crypto—“the real value is the concept itself,” he said—and proceeded to eat the banana.
Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity
In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug.
Fact-checking and its detractors
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As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies — they are deploying an array of editorial responses.
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Related Knowledge Center: Free speech and public protest
The First Amendment is facing challenging times: Crackdowns on campus protests prompted both-sides claims of intolerance. Attempts to head off dangerous health misinformation have been characterized as violations of free speech. Donald Trump is publicly punishing news outlets that deviate from his administration’s version of events while privately suing some outlets into submission.
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