It was standing room only at the Alice Peters Auditorium last Thursday for a lecture on the emergence and threat of “fake news.”

The Leon S. Peters Ethics lecture, a series sponsored by the Ethics Center, was a panel discussion, individual presentations and audience Q&A. The panel of four individuals consisted of both university professors and local news professionals.

Faith Sidlow and Jes Therkelsen represented the department of Media, Communications and Journalism (MCJ) where they serve as professors of broadcast journalism and multimedia. Local news professionals included Jim Boren, executive editor and senior vice president for the Fresno Bee, and Joe Moore, director of program content for Valley Public Radio.

Boren spoke about the importance of the legacy the Fresno Bee has had on reporting news for over 90 years. He spoke about reporting on issues that impact readers and the community. He shared the experience of when he was a reporter during the 1976 Chowchilla kidnapping when 26 children and their school bus driver were abducted.

“Real reporters gather information from the scene and don’t wait for something to pop up on the internet and then write about it,” Boren said. “Our reporters go out of the office, go to the scene of news events, [and] talk to people in person. These are not second-hand news sources.”

Boren said that stories that look out for readers create better relationships between the publication and the audience.

Moore, of Valley Public Radio, shifted the talk to audio news. He showcased different stories provided from National Public Radio news reporters. The stories were used to show the issues reporters faced when covering the 2016 election. Moore talked about the way readers consume news.

“We seek out outlets that have a particular slant to reinforce our existing thoughts, opinions, beliefs about whatever we have out there,” Moore said. “It’s our job as citizens to have an understanding of where these different sources come from, where these different outlets have their particular agenda and then objectively weigh them.”

Moore said that when reporting on complex issues, it’s best to speak with as many people to gain the best knowledge.

Sidlow, from the MCJ department, dove into the increase of “fake news” reports since the 2016 election. She offered ways to avoid it, and explained that these false reports gain attention that can lead to inaccurate information.

Sidlow said solutions to fake news include better training for journalists and their media organizations on how to obtain and cover real news stories. Sidlow said that media have a responsibility to cover the truth.

Therkelsen, of the MCJ department, was the final individual presenter before the audience could ask questions. He spoke on behalf of the importance of communication. He said that by the audience being there and taking action, the future of journalism will move forward. He explained the trust in journalism will grow by citizens becoming more engaged.

Therkelsen said that although fake news had existed prior to recent events, people have not always had an interest in learning about it.

“What is new is a renewed public interest in the state of journalism given our country’s current climate,” Therkelsen said.

During a Q&A, the audience asked questions that varied from how adults should teach their kids to how journalism students can produce quality news.

Jim Arthur, who attended the event, said the talk gave him better knowledge about fake news.

“It opened my eyes up a little bit more because up until fairly recently this whole concept of fake news was totally foreign to me,” Arthur said.

What he found most surprising was how Facebook has different feeds based on your political views. It was discussed that the site will automatically show posts that correlate with a user’s interests.

“I thought it was a good presentation, I’m glad they had all the different branches of media represented,” Arthur said. “We have to look at more than one source for our news.”

Maria Telesco, a former journalist, came to the event because she is glad that the issue is being discussed.

“I’m glad that the subject came up, and I’m disappointed that we are living under this condition,” Telesco said.

Telesco found it surprising that people have conformed to thinking fake news stories are true and have let that information influence their lives.

The talk was filmed by MCJ students and is available to view at cmac.tv.

Bineet Kaur contributed to this article.