Two workshops were held at the Ahlen Art Museum to accompany the exhibition "Reality Check. When things are not what they seem", two workshops were held that focussed on the topic of fake news. In view of an increasingly computer-generated and AI-influenced world of images, the question of the limits and reliability of our perception has become more pressing than ever. Although the manipulative nature of images is well known, a great deal of trust continues to be placed in the medium.
Lars Klostermann, a communication scientist from Düsseldorf, was invited to take part in the workshops. Since 2012, he has been a lecturer for ‘visualmedia, crossmedia’ and ‘communication management at the European Media Academy Düsseldorf’ as well as a media consultant for the State Media Authority and the Grimme Institute. He specialises in digital media and offers in-depth workshops on the topic of fake news.
There was one workshop specifically for young people and another for adults. In the workshops, the participants learnt how to deal with fake news in greater depth. They were able to try out for themselves how easy it is to publish false information on the internet and how deceptively real certain reports can look. In this way, they were actively sensitised to a changing world. They were taught how fake news works, how to recognise it and what to do about it. Deepfakes and how AI makes it more difficult to see through them were also discussed. After all, the ability to develop critical media skills and recognise disinformation is crucial for a functioning democracy.
