ADS & AMDS Webinar | COVID-19 and the Media

Amsterdam Data Science (ADS) and Amsterdam Medical Data Science (AMDS) are co-hosting a new lecture series in collaboration with Elsevier and Google to explore The Power and Weakness of Data Modelling in COVID-19.  

Aims of this series:

  • Showcase the power and limitations of data centred approaches
  • Jointly understand and learn from the different COVID approaches and views
  • Shape the time for Data Science research/education after the lock-down

Lecture 7: COVID-19 and the Media

Programme
After recent critics on science support for policy making, e.g. in sustainability, COVID-19 shows how society relies on scientific experts and doctors with all its challenges to translate scientific knowledge into public perception and policy making.

12:00 Introduction & Welcome
12:05 Talk #1: Truth in Science, Politics and Media. Triangle or Trinity?
12:20 Q&A
12:30 Talk #2: Consensus and misinformation in the process of COVID-19 sensemaking.
12:50 Q&A
13:00 End!

Moderators
Marc Salomon (ABS UvA, ADS)

Speakers

Talk #1 by Marcel Becker

Dr. Marcel Becker, studied history and philosophy at Radboud University Nijmegen. He finished his dissertation about ethics of war and peace in 1997. Since then he is associate professor applied ethics at the Radboud University. He has written books on the ethics of public administration and digital ethics, and is working on a book on judicial ethics.

Title: Truth in Science, Politics and Media. Triangle or Trinity?

Scientists are convinced that their expertise should play an important role in policy, and this is indeed often the case. But politicians and other lay-people sometimes seem to live in a different world, where other considerations than ‘truth-seeking’ play a role. This tension is aggravated by social media that contribute to the ‘blurring of boundaries’. Is it necessary for scientists to require extra communication skills and work more carefully on their presentation in the media? Does the scientist have any responsibility in the rebuttal of fake news?

Talk #2 by Emillie V de Keulenaar

Emillie V de Keulenaar, a PhD researcher at UvA’s Open Intelligence and SFU’s Digital Democracies groups. She has previously researched with the UN’s Innovation Cell, the Dutch digital humanities cluster CLARIAH, the European Time Machine consortium and the Clingendael Institute. Her interests lie in the effects of online conflicts in users’ understanding of politically contrary information, as well as the history of online hate and counter-speech.

Title: Consensus and misinformation in the process of COVID-19 sensemaking.

Emillie’s presentation discusses the relation between poor public consensus and COVID-19 misinformation, as well as the role of governments, public health organisations and social media platforms in moderating users’ access to COVID-19 misinformation.

Date: 9 September 2020
Time: 12:00-13:00

Zoom details: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82410526334