Future Week 2022

MCB Hack is the conference for those who want to take a deep dive into the possibilities of data journalism.

About this event

After a successful conference last fall, we are happy to welcome you back to the MCB Hack for the second time this June.

MCB Hack is aimed at the data nerds in the newsroom, but open to everyone who wants to learn more. The conference focuses on the intersection between technology and journalism, where visualizing, coding, scraping, and sensors are all relevant keywords. We promise you a program with the industry's highest nerd factor!
Program (short version)
08:30-09:00: Registration

09:00: Welcome by Ketil Moland Olsen

Vegard Vaage (Netsecurity) – Using UK intelligence tools for fun and profit

Sergej Stoppel (Wolftech) – You don't need drugs to hallucinate, sometimes data is just enough

10:15-10:30: Break

Anders Grimsrud Eriksen & Lasse Lambrechts (Bergens Tidende): How not to fall on your face while working with data

Gaute Kokkvoll (Factiverse) & Ketil Moland Olsen (Media City Bergen): Stimulating Young People's News Consumption With Facts

Jenny Wiik (University of Gothenburg): Exploring the intersection of journalistic innovation, big data and collaborations – some current trends

11:45-12:45: Lunch

Anders Norås (Avanade): Marvels of Teenage Engineering

Maria Gargiulo (HRDAG): Missing data challenges in human rights research

Espen Andersen (Kommunal Rapport): Data supported journalism in practice

14:00-14:15: Break

Eirik Solheim (NRK Beta): This is how we verified videos from Ukraina

Sam Fulwood (American University School of Communication): Winning with Data: Tracking Insurrection to the Pulitzer Prize

Marco Maas (Datenfreunde / OpenDataCity): Sensor Residence - gathering data from Smart Homes

15:30 - Conference ends
Program (with description)
08:30 - 09:00 - Registration

09:00 - Welcome by Ketil Moland Olsen

Vegard Vaage (Netsecurity): Using UK intelligence tools for fun and profit

Tired of chaining yet another set of scripts to figure out some annoying data format? Need to convert from binary data to readable text but you don't know how to code? Have you found some data that _looks_ exciting but with no idea what it actually is? Do you need to base64-decode a dataset, ROT-13 decrypt and split the results by 希, with no time to hack together a tool? Get an introduction to an amazingly useful data analysis and processing tool from British Signals Intelligence (GCHQ).

Sergej Stoppel (Wolftech): You don't need drugs to hallucinate, sometimes data is just enough

Especially in recent years, we associate misinformation with fake news, but often misinformation arises from bad data communication. While data in itself appears to be objective and precise, its presentation, framing and comparisons can be used to spin different narratives, lead to different insights and thus decision making. Deliberately or not, even experts can fail when communicating their data. In this talk we will analyse historic examples of data miscommunication, identify some of the commonly made mistakes, and finally discuss a framework to help you avoid these mistakes.

10:15-10:30: Break

Anders Grimsrud Eriksen & Lasse Lambrechts (Bergens Tidende): How not to fall on your face while working with data

Do you really know how you ended up with those results after analyzing the data from a Public Source? How can you do the exact same analysis over and over again on different batches of data? How do you explain to curious readers and editors exactly how we ended up with those numbers or that graph? Anders and Lasse will teach you the way of keeping track of your data journalism using notebooks and project scaffolding.

Jenny Wiik (University of Gothenburg): Exploring the intersection of journalistic innovation, big data and collaborations – some current trends

The genres of data- and investigative journalism are constantly pushing the boundaries for what journalism can do and what it should be. While the core values seem to stay intact new methods arise, and new kinds of collaborations and tech solutions emerge. But will this development have an impact on news business in general, and in that case how? Taking off from her research on AI and journalism Jenny Wiik will pick up on some of the key tendencies in this area and discuss their relevance for the broader field of journalism.

11:45-12:45: Lunch

Anders Norås (Avanade): Marvels of Teenage Engineering

Since the dawn of the microcomputer era, kids have been wonderstruck by the amazing things computers can do. Some of these kids went on to write groundbreaking programs pushing their computers way beyond the limits of what their computers were designed for. In this talk Anders Norås tell the previously untold stories of these Marvels of Teenage Engineering. We’ll get to see vintage code on vintage computers using black magic programming tricks so advanced that they will amaze even the most seasoned developers.

Maria Gargiulo (HRDAG): Missing data challenges in human rights research

Collecting data on human rights violations in conflict settings is difficult and dangerous, and the data that results is often incomplete on multiple levels. Some victims’ stories are never recorded, and those whose stories are documented may still be missing critical information about the victim, the perpetrator, or other contextual details about the violation. Furthermore, the data that is documented may not be statistically representative of the victim population as a whole. Drawing population-level inferences from this data without correcting for the missingness risks incorrectly answering questions about patterns of violence. This talk will introduce three different families of statistical methods—record linkage, multiple imputation, and multiple systems estimation—which can be used to address the types of missing data commonly encountered in human rights research. When combined together, these methods can be used to draw population level inferences about patterns of violence that are statistically valid and include a measure of uncertainty.

Espen Andersen (Kommunal Rapport): Data supported journalism in practice

Who was the first person in history to use the computer to improve journalism? It happened earlier than you might think. In this presentation, we'll tour the history of data journalism and look closer at how computer programming enables us to create journalism that would otherwise have been impossible to do.

14:00 - Break

Eirik Solheim (NRK Beta): This is how we verified videos from Ukraina

Sam Fulwood III (American University School of Communication): Winning with Data: Tracking Insurrection to the Pulitzer Prize

Sam Fulwood III will share how a team of American University students created and maintained a data base to track the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol. Their efforts contributed to The Wash

Statsraad Lehmkuhl er nå halvveis ut i den 20 måneder lange jordomseilingen One Ocean Expedition, som vil ta skipet til 36 ulike byer over hele kloden. Det 108 år gamle seilskipet er utrustet med moderne høyteknologisk måleutstyr som kontinuerlig samler inn forskningsdata om bl.a. CO₂-nivå, mikroplast, temperatur, forsuring, lyder fra patterdyr og havstøy. Akkurat nå befinner skipet seg midt i Stillehavet med 90 studenter fra Universitet i Bergen om bord. Studentene har havet som klasserom når de gjennomfører et fire måneders kurs om bærekraft og klima, der de også skal besøke flere øyer i Stillehavet, som er særlig utsatt for klimaendringer.

Hva er det som gjør en 108 gammel seilskute spesielt egnet for havforskning? Og hvorfor sender UiB sine studenter til andre siden av kloden for å studere om bord på et skip i Stillehavet?

One Ocean Expedition seiler under FN-flagg og er en offisiell del av FNs Havtiår. Målet er å skape oppmerksomhet og dele kunnskap om hvor viktig havet er for en bærekraftig fremtid.

Del 1: Havforskning på Statsraad Lehmkuhl v/Geir Huse, forskningsdirektør, Havforskningsinstituttet
Del 2: Havet som klasserom v/Edvard Hviding, professor i sosialantropologi, Universitetet i Bergen

Sesjonen blir ledet av Haakon Vatle, direktør i Stiftelsen Seilskipet Statsraad Lehmkuhl og ekspedisjonsleder for One Ocean Expedition

Har forskere og journalister noe de kan lære hverandre? - Begge gruppene samler inn data med kvalitative og kvantitative metoder, med sikte på å publisere ny og sann kunnskap. Men profesjonsetikken og tradisjonene er ganske ulike. Paul og Tarjei Leer-Salvesen har skrevet en annerledes lærebok som behandler temaet i dialogform. Lesere i begge leire kan få seg noen overraskelser.

Sesjonen blir ledet av Per Christian Magnus, leder for Senter for undersøkende journalistikk

MCB Fact is a brand new conference aimed at fighting disinformation.  

The spread of an increasing amount of disinformation, influence operations, conspiracy theories and so called “fake news” online is becoming a significant problem. In a time where truth is more challenged than ever, we have dedicated this conference to learn from the brightest minds on the fight against disinformation. Speakers range from journalists, fact-checkers, researchers, politicians, technology companies, to media organizations.

Save the date, June 8, for a new conference and meeting place at Media City Bergen, dedicated to the work on fighting disinformation. Everyone with an interest in the field is welcome to attend!

NB: You will need a ticket for this conference! Get your ticket for MCB Fact here.

Program 
08:30 - 09:00 - Registration 

09:00 - Welcome by Shirish Kulkarni

Kristoffer Egeberg - Editor, Faktisk.no

Rebecca Skippage - Disinformation Editor, BBC News - Reaching the Unreached

Panel: Free speech in a age of disinformation - With Rebecca Skippage, Kristoffer Egeberg and TBA

10:20 - Break 

Mari Velsand - Director General, The Norwegian Media Authority - Media literacy – an antidote against disinformation

Eskil Grendahl Sivertsen - Special Adviser, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI)- Foreign influence operations – a threat to democracy

Bo Bergstedt -Technology Strategist, TV 2 Denmark - Can a deepfake trick a Danish politician?

12:00 - Lunch

Irina Anisimova - Postdoctoral Fellow in Russian Studies at the University of Bergen

Ghazaal Sheikhi - Postdoctoral Fellow, MediaFutures - Where we stand in pursuit of automated fact-checking: the promise and pitfalls of AI-based solutions

Maria Amelie - CEO/Cofounder, Factiverse - Three steps to stop echo chambers and prevent polarization

Olav Hjertaker - Founder & CEO, Web 64 - Media Monitoring tools for fact-checkers

13:50 - Break 

Melanie Burford - Award-winning filmmaker, photographer, and producer - The vulnerability of truth within the age of misinformation: Authenticating the journalistic image

Øystein Bogen - Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Author, TV 2 - Russia’s Secret War Against the West

Panel: How Russia is working to spread its narrative, and what can be done to stop it - With Øystein Bogen, Johanne Kalsaas, Eskil Grendahl Sivertsen and Maria Amelie


Presentation of the Anne Jacobsen Memorial Award.

There are no tickets left for this workshop, but you can sign up for the waitlist.

In this workshop, you will learn from MediaFutures' like-minded researchers in five work packages how new media technologies for media user engagement, media content production, media content interaction and accessibility, and audience understanding are developed and advanced to the next level. No matter if you are a journalist, a media practitioner, a developer, a researcher, or a curious individual, this will open a new horizon before you on responsible media technology and innovation.

The topics we'll touch upon during the workshop are:

• Understanding media experience
• User Modeling, Personalization & Engagement
• Media Content Analysis and Production
• Media Content Interaction & Accessibility
• Norwegian Language Technologies

Program:

Christoph Trattner (Center Director): Opening and welcome speech

Mehdi Elahi (Associate Prof./WP Leader, WP2): "Research on Responsible Recommendation"

Jonathan Geffen (PhD Candidate, WP4): "Playing the News – Newsgames 101"

Ana Milojevic (Postdoc Fellow, WP1): "Connecting Media and Users – Analytics and Metrics"

Coffee Break

Sohail Ahmed Khan (PhD Candidate, WP3): "Visual Content Verification in Era of Deepfakes"

Huiling You (PhD Candidate, WP5): "Event Extraction from News Articles"

Round table discussion

Wrap-up

UiB AI is a platform to coordinate, promote and make visible research, education and innovation initiatives in artificial intelligence at the University of Bergen, and to facilitate for collaboration and contact both between faculties of UiB and with partners and collaborators outside of UiB. For the session today we have two speakers that are representative of some of our activities.

Clemens Stachl is a visiting researcher from the University of St.Gallen. He combines psychology and AI in his research and will give you a taste of what that research looks like.

Truls Pedersen is a lecturer in the UiB's bachelor program in AI. This program started last semester and is the first AI bachelour in Norway. In his talk Truls will give you a taste of what the AI students get to learn at UiB.

The session will be introduced by Pinar Heggernes, the chair of the UiB AI steering group. Pinar is a professor in Informatics at UiB and the deputy rector of UiB for education and digitalisation. She will give an overview of the UiB AI activities and directions fot more AI knowledge at UiB.

Clemens Stachl: Traces of Ourselves - Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Behavioral Data for Research and Society
The progressing digitization of our society profoundly transforms how we as human beings communicate, interact with media, and make decisions. This transformation also gives rise to fundamentally new opportunities for research in the behavioral and social sciences. In the past, researchers were limited to study human behavior in laboratories and throw self-report questionnaires. Now it is possible to collect data on human behavior and contexts with consumer electronics in the real world. Machine learning provides the possibility to represent and model patterns of human life at unseen granularity and depth. In this talk I will present some of my own work on digital behavior and personality traits and discuss the unique possibilities and challenges of these developments for academia and industry alike.


Truls Pedersen: How to program a robot
Artificial agents and robots are concepts that make us think about a fantasy future. But you can build one in your living room for little. Getting the robot to do what you want or behave intelligently, that is the tricky part. The students in UiB’s AI bachelor program have been learning how to do it this semester. The talk will give a glimpse of this experience to the MCB Media Future attendants on how to do it. Robots not welcome, testing for humans will be done upon entry.