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On 31st July I posted about the importance of reading news and understanding the context and why a news item was published as part of competitive intelligence. I mentioned the importance of looking out for bias. Of course printed news is not the only form of news (and my comments apply especially to social media too).What about news interviews? Do the same principles apply? The answer is yes but even more so. Does the interviewer pick up clear lies put out to misinform or disinform? Are the right questions asked? Are contradictions picked up - especially exaggerations or changes in what has been said? AND if the newscast then includes a counter-view is the opposite spokesperson treated in the same way or are they grilled differently.There was a masterclass in picking these differences up in this morning's UK BBC Radio interview with a Palestinian "medic" and an official spokesperson for Israel. (Palestinian side at about 1hr 16mins and the Israeli side at 2hr 12mins lnkd.in/er6bvSYu)I'm normally willing to defend the BBC as they have a hard time ensuring balance, so they have to include both sides. hashtag#BBCVerify also does a reasonable job in preventing disinformation. Not today on Today!There is not enough space to show why the Palestinian spokesperson was lying and what is shameful is that when the Israeli spokesperson tried to point out lies, he was prevented by his interviewer, so in this case there was no balance. The average listener is not skilled at picking up the nuances. So I'll highlight a few. The Palestinian interviewer correctly named the UK prime minister and foreign secretary. Ask yourself - who is the current UK foreign secretary. (Especially if you are a non-British citizen). Would you know the key politicians who were only elected to office 5 weeks ago of any country other than your own? (Who is the foreign minister of France - the last two weeks has had non-stop coverage of France because of the Olympics? If you are not an American, who is the current US Secretary of State?). Name 2 or 3 current Canadian top politicians.... or Chinese.... Or Russian (other than Putin). Yet this on-the-ground medic could namecheck UK politicians. So clearly he was not a random medic but a professional spokesperson but this was not how he tried to portray himself. He claims to have been at the hospital when casualties came in. He says most victims were elderly but later says many were children. None were fighters (and in Hamas statistics there are never fighters only women and children casualties). Further, he wasn't asked why photographs of the damage by Israel's bombs was minimal and highly targeted - 95% of the building was not damaged. (Any subsequent damage was from armaments kept in the building as Israel claims). In contrast, the Israeli spokesperson was constantly interrupted!More on the statistics. The director of the local Al-Ahli Arab Hospital said that at least 80 Palestinians were killed. According to Gaza Health Ministry, 47 were injured which is odd as usually more are injured than killed. 47 injured could match Israel's claims to have killed 20 Hamas operatives who were using the school - and no more. The Palestinian Civil Defence said that 11 children and six women were among the victims, and elderly civilians were also reported to be among the victims of the disaster. Depending on your source (these figures came from CNN, Reuters, Al Jazeera and the Washington Post) you get different figures - indicating that there is an attempt at disinformation that's not been properly crafted. Further to come up with exact figures so quickly also rings untrue. It's important to note that the medic interviewed, Dr. Khamis Elessi, is regularly interviewed on the situation in Gaza. Another Gaza medic, Dr. Ahmed Al Jamal and his journalist son, Abdallah Al Jamal, were both responsible for keeping Israeli Noa Argamani hostage, and as a slave. Dr Elessi and Dr Al Jamal may have medical qualifications. ... See MoreSee Less

3 months ago  ·  

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I was honoured to have featured in Ashutosh Garg's podcast The Brand Called You (tbcy.in) talking about AI. Watch the episode at ... See MoreSee Less

3 months ago  ·  

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Words matter. They provide a window into what people are really thinking and planning. Sometimes omitting a word can give a clue into what people really want and so when analysing information it's important to consider not just what is said, but what is omitted. There's a brilliant poster I saw on Twitter that gives an example of this - highlighting the missing word. I think it says it all about the real agenda of those protesting against Israel. ... See MoreSee Less

8 months ago  ·  

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Register / more information at www.institute-for-competitive-intelligence.com/programs/open-workshops/ici-4-workshop-advanced-we... ... See MoreSee Less

9 months ago  ·  

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"Not a day passes without someone asking me about the future of open source intelligence (#OSINT)... .OSINT truly is our INT of first resort....I can think of no more exciting time to be an expert — whether in government or private industry — working on open source intelligence. It’s a world of nearly limitless opportunity." says Jennifer Ewbank, CIA deputy director for digital innovation. buff.ly/3PvVZlq - also mentioned in multiple news articles, e.g. the WSJ - buff.ly/3WeaOLn. ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago  ·  

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Why you think you're right -- even if you're wrong! In this great TED talk, Julia Galef talks about why so many people are convinced they are right, even when they are wrong. The reason is that they lack what she calls the "scout mindset". Although she never mentions competitive / marketing intelligence she's talking about the sort of mindset great intelligence people have. They are curious, willing to be challenged, and defined by wanting to understand the world or the business or the industry rather than to continue along existing safe paths, defending them no-matter-what. She uses the example of the 19th century Dreyfus case in France that led to an innocent officer getting court-martialled and sentenced for espionage while the actual spy continued. Although prejudice was a key reason for the miscarriage of justice, it was also challenged by somebody willing to question - and that's key for anybody involved in CI/MI. ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago  ·  

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Do you seek power, or influence? Many leaders (national and business) focus on their power and believe that's what is important to get followed - but they fail to create new leaders. A few, focus on influencing others - and so create followers, some of who will also become leaders. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explained the difference: “Power works by division, influence by multiplication. Power, in other words, is a zero-sum game: the more you share, the less you have. Influence is a non-zero-sum game: the more you share, the more you have.”(With thanks @Andrew.Shaw for this). ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago  ·  

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