A new meetup of ‘hacker-journalists’ is taking on fake news

In the realm of #dctech, there are groups hacking everything from gerrymandering to diversity in tech industries, to neighborhood safety.

Fake news is next.

Hacks/Hackers DC is set to hold its first meetup on the topic next week, with a mix of journalists and technologists in the conversation.

Hacks/Hackers DC explains the partnership between media and tech in its group description, which reads, “Journalists call themselves “hacks,” someone who can churn out words in any situation. Hackers use the digital equivalent of duct tape to whip out code. Hacker-journalists try and bridge the two worlds.”

New meetup announced 🔊: Come hear from our stellar panelists how they are tracking and debunking #fakenews https://t.co/NfijfYtchF

— Hacks/Hackers DC (@HacksHackersDC) October 4, 2017

Join the group on October 18 for a panel discussion on how journalists and techies can work together to hack the media and reduce fake news.

The event will be held at Capital News Service’s D.C. Bureau near the White House, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Attendance is free.

Next week’s panelists are:

• Philip Bump, National Correspondent for the Washington Post, former senior designer at Adobe, and creator of that Chrome plugin which provides real time fact checking of the President’s tweets.
• Melissa Ryan, Editor of the weekly newsletter about the alt-right, Control Alt Right Delete, and Founder of the Factual Democracy Project
• Josh Strupp, Marketing Coordinator in D.C. at full service digital agency ISL which made that Fake News game.