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NPR investigation of a Chinese celebrity dissident leads news orgs to retract stories

NPR · Frank Langfitt · last updated
AMSTERDAM – In recent years, dozens of news organizations around the world have quoted or covered a young Chinese man named Wang Jingyu, who portrayed himself as a brave dissident standing up to Communist Party repression.

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State of Play

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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