Data as remedy: 24h post-truth hackathon in Tartu

Tartu University Centre for the Information Society and UT IdeaLab invite you to join in a search for solutions to various post-truth problems during a 24h hacking session, focusing on data journalism and innovation of digital media infrastructure.

The outcomes of the hackathon are expected to be either 1) pieces of journalism making extensive use of data, facts and other evidence—doing it in a way that uses the possibilities offered by digital media in a clear and engaging manner or 2) innovative proofs-of-concept to improve the digital media infrastructure. Anything that falls somewhere between these two categories is welcome too and you are encouraged to pick up any of the controversial and hotly debated topics of immigration, gender gap or climate/environment issues, etc, which can be addressed and sorted out using more data and research.

Manipulation of public opinion in itself is not anything new, however, it has recently reached new heights by taking fast advantage of the diverse opportunities offered by the thriving digital media. In order to find solutions to post-truth problems, we need to learn from the history of propaganda and its effects on society.

The 24h event will be held at the Spark Centre, Tartu, starting with a kick-off for the teams on Friday, March 31, and closing with awards for the best solutions in the evening of April 1.

Details and registration: http://hack24.ut.ee/
Facebook event: https://facebook.com/events/637643813106104/

Some relevant links to :

* http://postfacthack.org/ (similar hackathon in Geneva)
* http://fakenewschallenge.org/ (AI to detect fake news)
* https://digitalnewsinitiative.com/ (funding from Google)

Some relevant events in Estonia:

* http://flfi.ut.ee/en/estonian-annual-philosophy-conference-2017 (on post-truth)
* http://semiosalong.blogspot.com.ee/ (seminars on post-truth)
* https://www.facebook.com/events/1327615800641323/ (another conference on post-truth)

Some food for thought:

* https://granta.com/why-were-post-fact/
* http://flavorwire.com/599732/the-value-of-art-in-a-post-fact-world
* http://datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/en/case_studies.html
* http://datadrivenjournalism.net/
* http://datasci.ee/ (data analysis/visualisation in Estonia)