256 GQ.COM.AU SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
FAKE NEWS, CONT. FROM P199“The most important element
is transparency,” explains Qiu
of her fact-checking methods.
“Showing your process by
using publicly available data
and on-the-record quotes helps
readers understand the logic.
I also always attempt to reach
out to the original speaker to ask
them for evidence backing up
the claim. The burden of proof
is on the speaker, and if they can’t
provide a good source, that’s
a red flag.”
Following her electoral loss,
Hillary Clinton singled out
Facebook, in particular,
claiming ‘fake news’ stories on
the social network had affected
the information voters relied on.
After the election, Mark
Zuckerberg said it was “crazy”
to conclude that ‘fake news’ on
the platform had influenced
the outcome. Nevertheless,
Facebook responded to
accusations that it facilitates the
spread of misinformation.
“We’re building, testing, and
iterating new products to limit
the spread of false news and help
people find a more diverse range
of topics, news stories and
viewpoints on Facebook,” says
a Facebook representative.
“Our most recent measures
include updating News Feed to
reduce stories from sources
that post ‘click bait’ headlines.
We’ve also recently announced
an additional update to the
News Feed aimed at reducing
the number of links to low-
quality content such as
sensationalism and
m isi nfor mat ion.”
Earlier this year, Facebook
also helped establish the News
Integrity Initiative, “a global
consortium focused on helping
people make informed
judgments about the news they
read and share online.” AFacebook representative tells GQ
it has also funded news literacy
research in Australia.
When it comes to refuting
misinformation, Qiu says her
fact-checking articles tend to
follow a pattern that makes it
easy for readers to digest.
“I first state the claim with
a brief description of accuracy –
‘this person falsely said this’ or
‘the claim was this, but this
needs more context’ – usually
bolded or as a subhead,” she says.
“In the body of the fact check, I
try to provide context for when
and to whom the statement was
made or at least link to a
transcript or video. Then I
devote a few paragraphs
explaining why it’s false or
m islead i ng.”
Qiu points out this can also
often include using information
that is technically accurate,
but misleading – outliers on
a data set, for instance. Those
who disagree with climate
change often use this technique
to cherry-pick data that fits their
view that the planet is not
getting warmer.
Since it’s so difficult to change
people’s belief in misinformation
once they have been exposed
to it, Prof Lewandowsky is part
of a group of researchers
attempting to discover a fake
news ‘vaccine’ that can inoculate
people against misinformation
before they receive it.
“The basic idea is that you tell
people ahead of time that they
might be misled or exposed to
false information,” he says.
“We’ve found that it nullifies
misleading information or, at
least, reduces it dramatically.”
One of his studies focused on
the tobacco industry’s previous
attempts to cloud scientific
consensus on smoking and
cancer. “We gave [participants]
a story about how this happened
in the ’50s and the techniques by
which people were misled,”
he says. “Then we presented
them with similarly misleading
information about climate
change and we found that it no
longer worked – that misleading
information was basicallySarah Silverman and Jonah
Hill took turns tearing strips off
him. Hill came on stage and
brought up the fact that a lot of
movie stars have a ‘one for them,
one for me’ approach – wear a
commercial job so they can work
on one they care about. “But not
my guy James. He has his own
philosophy,” Hill told the
audience. “One for them, five
for nobody.”
It’s a good line. And Franco
agrees that Hill had a point.
“I was adapting William
Faulkner novels and really dark
Cormac McCarthy necrophilia
novels,” he says. “I would do a
studio movie and then sometimes
I would even pay for movies I
wanted to do.
“There’s this idea that
producers are not about the art,
they’re just about the bottom
line. There’s some truth to that,”
he adds. “But if you have a
project that nobody will finance,
especially someone like me who’s
been in the business for 20 years- that might be saying something.”
Dave is seven years younger,
but James credits him as a
positive influence. “He’s a lot
wiser and more discerning, more
practically minded,” he says.
“He’s the perfect antidote for my
artistic recklessness. One of the
things he’s taught me is to work
on projects that are right for us
and are meaningful. By doing
that, we will do our best work.”
Work has always been Franco’s
drug. He hasn’t touched pot
since high school. But it’s easy to
imagine that without enough
projects to keep him distracted,
that shy teenager might come
back. The one who parties, gets
into trouble. After all, they say
you never kill an addiction – you
just replace it with something else.
“There you go, dude, that’s
exactly what people do,” he says.
“It is so hard to wake up
to [addiction]. It’s so hard to see
it. I thought I was living the life
I always wanted to live. When I
finally did wake up, I was
completely isolated, emotionally,
from everyone around me.
“Whatever your religion or
non-religion is, I truly believe
we’re all looking for the same
thing. We all just want to be
happy or feel like we’ve
contributed. And I’ve found that
is synonymous with being
present. That’s what I didn’t have
before – when I was doing five
billion projects at once, I was
everywhere but present.
“The curse of that is that
I actually couldn’t enjoy my
success. I was nominated for an
Oscar, I was working with all my
heroes. All the dreams I’d had as
a young man had come true. And
I still couldn’t enjoy it. It was
never going to be enough.”
For the first time in as long as
he can remember, Franco is
finding time for himself.
“It’s really weird but this year
had been the self-care year,” he
says. “I was playing tennis today
and if you looked at my life six
months ago, you would never
have seen me doing anything
like that. What I love about
things like playing tennis or
learning to surf is I don’t need to
be a professional at them. I can
just do it because I enjoy it.
Wow. What a concept!
“I’m sure everybody has shit
like this to learn,” he adds. “And
it seems to me like I’m learning
lessons a lot of people learned
when they were 18. But
whatever. Better late than never.”
We might never really know
who the real James Franco is.
And it might not even matter.
But like all of us, he’s just trying
to find his way in life, feel
comfortable being alone with
himself. He’s not there yet, but
he’s working on it.
“I’m feeling a lot better, dude,”
he says, almost to himself. “I can
honestly say I’m really happy.”
And, for now at least, maybe
that’s enough. n
The Deuce airs on Showcase and
Foxtel Now from September 11JAMES FRANCO, CONT. FROM P190