The fact that "Fake News" is not a new phenomenon was shown by the emeritus professor of public relations / PR chair at the University of Leipzig, Günter Bentele, at the third PR Evening at Media University Berlin.
At the end of November, the third edition of the event series “PR Evening”, initiated by Prof. Dr. Evandro Oliveira, took place. Prof. em. Günter Bentele, Chairman of the German Council for Public Relations and former professor of public relations / PR for two decades at the University of Leipzig, talked about “Fake News, Propaganda, Hate Speech? Data and reflections on morality and ethics of organizations “. Prof. em. Bentele focused on PR ethics and PR codes in Germany as well as methods of propaganda.
Among other things, he explained the topic “Fake News” using the example of the Seefeld snowcat fake in 2016, which the media reported on. He explained: “Fake news are deliberately produced false reports with the purpose of manipulating people.” For some listeners in the audience, the following might have been surprising news, as you hear the term “fake news” more often only since about three years ago: Fake News are not a new phenomenon, the only new thing about it is “that they are used as a political campaign term against the media in the USA.”
After the presentation, Prof. em. Bentele discussed with the numerous listeners and answered their questions on this relevant topic, moderated by Media University students from the Journalism and Communication Department.
We thank our guest very much for his visit at Media University Berlin!
