The following essay reports details from NYC Media Lab’s Machines + Media conference, which occurred on May 15, 2018.  To see the original event page, press highlights, and videos on YouTube, visit the event page.
The media industry is on the verge of disruption. While the basic tenets of journalism are to present a balanced view based in facts, every aspect of storytelling and distribution is affected by technology. Even though the industry has more tools than ever to write, report, produce, and distribute stories, fake news sometimes prevails because that’s what people want to believe. Journalism’s best defense against fake news is investments in technology and innovation.
“There’s a sense of opportunity and potential for innovation and also a sense of trepidation about what some of these developments mean,” said Justin Hendrix, executive director at NYC Media Lab. “Like any technology, we’re playing with fire – fire is an incredibly valuable resource for humanity, but it’s also very dangerous.”
At the Bloomberg-sponsored Machines + Media 2018 conference last week, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg at its Global Headquarters in New York City, industry executives, academics and politicians discussed the business, technology, and innovation in the media sector, along with privacy and ethical concerns.