The Fake News Broadcast
KBP and BBDO Guerrero airs fake news to debunk them
The Philippines has long been ‘ground zero’ for fake news. Social media users have a high tendency to believe misleading headlines without verifying their sources, fact-checking, or reading entire articles. What’s worse, most have begun to shift and rely on bloggers, online group chats, and unverified profiles on social channels rather than established, traditional news mediums.
Trusting fake news can even be harmful to one’s health. As seen in the proliferation of vaccination hoaxes and anti-mask content during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the 2022 National Elections brought a rise in fake endorsements and hearsay quotes circulated en masse. The consequences of believing in misinformation undermines the trust and credibility from news outlets who fight for the truth.
To even the playing field, the National Broadcasters Association of the Philippines or Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) partnered with BBDO Guerrero to fight fake news by using one of the country’s oldest and most reliable medium, the radio, with an estimate of 45% of older Filipinos – most susceptible to fake news – listening to the radio daily.
The initiative began as a series of different radio scripts, made from trending fake news posts. This was turned into scripts made to be read on air, word for word, including all the emojis, excessive punctuation marks, hashtags, spelling nuances and other red flags that make them ridiculous in the first place.
The materials were distributed to all 1,200 KBP radio stations nationwide, with a guide on how stations can create their own Fake News Broadcast. This effort led different radio stations to create and experiment to make The Fake News Broadcast more current and local for their communities.
Atom Henares, KBP’s VP said, “Misinformation has been a plague in our country and more people are starting to fall victim to the malicious intent behind these untrustworthy sources. This is why we have to come up with a unique and creative way to combat the problem and earn back the trust of the public in the broadcast medium.”
Fran Palines, Creative Director at BBDO Guerrero said: “By turning what people are reading into something they can hear, we help give them a sense of how ridiculous it all sounds. Red flags don’t lie. If it sounds wrong, it probably is.”
The Fake News Broadcast campaign has garnered attention for its use of Audio medium, bagging a Silver award in the local 15th Kidlat Awards and a Silver Lotus in the 2023 ADFEST Lotus Awards based in Thailand.