Universities must lead fight against fake news, writes MRU leader

“For all of us who value academically rigorous and peer-reviewed information, we are staring down a rising tide of troubling developments—the scourge described by many people as fake news,” writes Michael Quinn, Mount Royal University’s associate vice-president of research, scholarship and community engagement. Quinn notes that fake news is as significant a problem for Canada as it is for its neighbours to the south, yet adds that there is hope in research showing how universities can “inoculate” people against the misinformation they encounter. This effort is greatly enhanced, Quinn adds, when universities create more opportunities for professors to engage with the public and for undergraduates to perform independent research. Calgary Herald