In the corporate world, due diligence is the act of researching and deeply analyzing an opportunity/company/proposal, taking into account all the risks and benefits it offers, both in the long and short term.
This practice is widely used by large organizations and managers who are concerned with in-depth and cautious analysis to dictate the direction of the company and its results.
But we cannot forget that these analyses are made by human netherlands whatsapp data beings, people who are living in an era in which information (not always true) circulates at an absurd speed and impacts us when we want it, or when we least expect it. The diversity of sources is both a gift and a risk for forming opinions.
Building a market analysis based on false information can be disastrous for business. The Brazilian Association of Business Communication (Aberje) conducted a survey of 52 national and international companies and found interesting data.
The study found that companies are concerned about fake news as a potential threat to their brand (around 91%), but only 40% are concerned about the economic impacts it can cause. The situation is made worse by the percentage of companies that stated that they do not treat fake news as a strategic issue: 67%.
More than just being careful, it is necessary to create a secure base of sources and treat fake news as a threat to survival and growth in the market. The fact-checking process has become an obligation to avoid it.
Saint Paul's academic coordinator, Professor Lilian Carvalho, points out that the best solution is to be suspicious and check:
“When faced with impactful information, decision-makers must always seek sources for the data and, most importantly, analyze whether the news makes sense within a context”
Checking the veracity of facts is not an easy task. However, some tips can help. Check them out:
Be wary of sources you don't know and search for information about them on Google;
When the information involves names, companies, cities, institutions, look for more information about them and try to analyze whether the information found fits into the context of the news;
Be wary of research and statistics without sources or that only present generic descriptions such as “English researchers”;
If a piece of information is very impactful, it has certainly been published by more than one outlet. Check the facts in different sources;
When downloading PDFs, documents and spreadsheets, always try to find the original source as the file can be altered by malicious people who share them as original data.
The fake news phenomenon has also brought some good news. Among them, fact-checking agencies stand out, companies that work as information consultancies and analyze websites, links shared on social networks and information that is disseminated in a variety of media.
It is worth checking out the work of these agencies. There is even an international network of journalistic fact-checking, created by the Poynter Institute (USA).
Checking information is essential to build a reliable and consistent data analysis that does not reflect a reality out of context.
Companies need to analyze the impacts of fake news beyond their reputation, looking at strategic decisions and the formation of opinion and the intellectual background of managers.
The work against fake news involves raising awareness, debates and encouraging a culture of Due Diligence and Fact-Checking, which are key procedures for making good decisions.