Channel 4 is to run a week of programming on the topic of fake news next month, including regular debunks from its news team and a panel show mocking viral falsehoods. Reports, interviews and discussions on Channel 4 News through the week will explore the phenomenon of false stories purporting to be real news, with input from the programme’s FactCheck team.
The team, which was set up in 2005 to check statements by politicians and others in power, has expanded its coverage to include spurious claims circulating on social media.
Channel 4 will also broadcast The Fake News Show, hosted by Stephen Mangan, with a yet-to-be-confirmed set of panellists mocking the more outrageous false stories spreading on social media, as well as two documentaries looking at the wider world of fakery.
Britain’s Greatest Hoaxer follows Simon Brodkin, the comedian who showered former Fifa boss Sepp Blatter in banknotes and stormed Kanye West’s stage at Glastonbury while in character as Lee Nelson. The show’s makers followed Brodkin in 2016 as he prepared for new stunts including plans to target Simon Cowell, Philip Green and Donald Trump.
The other documentary tells the story of George Bamby and apprentice Bilko as they try to capture lucrative images of celebrities including Britney Spears, Little Mix, Wayne Rooney and Dawn French.
Confessions of a Paparazzo promises to reveal why some of the photographs of well-known faces in the press are “not what they seem”, and Bramby will also discuss his run-ins with stars such as Tom Hardy and Mary Berry in a series of shorts on digital service All4.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/19/channel-4-run-week-programmes-fake-news-lee-nelson