U-T radio presents variety of subjects

I wonder how many readers know this: The Union-Tribune produces multiple live Internet radio shows each week, and has for more than 10 years.

They can be found at https:/wsradio.com/ut-san-diegoCQ.

They’re hosted by longtime U-T representative Drew Schlosberg.

The shows are:

• “U-T Community Spotlight Show,” which began in 2007. It can be heard from 9 to 11 a.m. every Friday. The show focuses on “organizations and individuals whose mission is to improve how we work, live and play in our county,” Schlosberg said. He might interview such guests as high-level executives from companies and nonprofits, or the U.S poet laureate. He estimates he has conducted more than 2,000 interviews since the show started.
• “Supporting Our San Diego Military With SDMAC,” which began in 2008. It can be heard from noon to 12:27 p.m. every Tuesday. SDMAC stands for the San Diego Military Advisory Council. Schlosberg is joined by the council’s executive director, Randy Bogle. Guests include military and civilian leaders.
• “U-T Prep Sports” Report, which also began in 2008. It can be heard from 12:30 to 12:54 p.m. every Tuesday. Schlosberg is joined by U-T prep sports editor Jess Kearney and former U-T staffer and now contributor Steve Brand. Listeners might hear from high school coaches, the CIF San Diego Section commissioner, high school officials and referees.

Also, for three years, Schlosberg has hosted a cybersecurity show called “eCity CyberTalk.” The show has been on hiatus since June, but is expected to return. Guests have included cybersecurity experts, such as representatives from the FBI and a retired major general who was in charge of the Air Force’s Cyber Command.

The U-T’s partner in the broadcasts is wsRadio. Schlosberg said data from downloads and streaming show listener numbers have varied from 5,000 monthly to 20,000.

More from Brooke Binkowski

Last week, I said I would publish more thoughts from Brooke Binkowski on the subject of of fake news. Binkowski is a journalist and former managing editor at Snopes.com, a myth-debunking website. She spoke during the Festival of Books last month at a U-T-sponsored panel discussion, “Fake News, Real Problems.”

I asked her if she could offer advice to readers on how they can prevent being fooled by phony news stories.

“I think readers should be aware and skeptical of sources, and if they can, they should make an effort to read at least three versions of the same story from established outlets so they can get a fuller sense of the context around it.

“However, that’s sometimes not doable. ... So what I really like to tell people is this: If you are reading a headline or a story and feel a strong emotion — especially if it’s just a meme or a picture with a paragraph or two — then check your sources, because you’re being emotionally manipulated, and when you are emotional it bypasses the rational parts of your brain and then you end up saying things to yourself like, ‘This might not be true, but I want to share it just in case.’

“That’s how disinformation spreads, like a virus, which is also why I’ve never liked ‘viral marketing’ either as a term or a practice.

“So! If you read a story and you are really scared or really angry or are feeling a lot of schadenfreude, especially if it’s someone public or famous ‘DESTROYING’ someone with politics others might find noxious or something like that, check your sources and go with a more established news organization.”

An example of terrible fake news

“One story that has stuck out over the past year or two was a really high-profile one just after four soldiers were killed in an attack in Niger and Donald Trump picked a public fight with his widow,” Binkowski recalled. “A particularly nasty story, which billed itself in extremely tiny letters at the bottom as ‘satire,’ was going around saying that ‘the black soldier’ was ‘a deserter.’

“We were horrified by this at Snopes and ended up getting them to take that story down, but not before it was getting passed around all over the place as fact. That one was pretty easy, because we just pointed out the ‘satire’ disclaimer, and then spent a lot of time discussing how that is a perfect example of how corrosive disinformation can actively harm lives.”