Column: Misinformed citizens are a peril to democracy

THE term “fake news” has been a trending expression since the new US president was elected.

Former Agence France-Presse editor-in-chief Eric Wishart, who now works on special projects for the agency’s global news management, was in Macau last month to attend a conference organized by the Macau Portuguese and English Press Association. He tried to answer a pertinent question: Why is fake news such a big issue now?

Wishart, who is also a scholar based in Hong Kong, defined fake news as “fabricated content presented as legitimate news with an intent to deceive” and noted that social media has been the driving force behind the phenomenon.

[By PB, read more here]