Pointer: Pointer 2020

The global outbreak of the coronavirus ensures that our daily news consumption almost only exists with news about COVID-19. Not only through established media we are kept informed, also via social media, reports about the virus are sent and forwarded. And the question is how reliable those messages are. Nowadays, Fake News is hard to distinguish from real news. Pointer went looking for fake news and shows how you can really distinguish from NEP on the basis of journalistic and forensic treasure methods. For example, images on social media that was suggested that people commit suicide because of the virus. These shocking images were bleached. Why are these messages sent? It provides more unrest and fear. Who is behind spreading fake news? Why do they do that? And what can fake news bring about?

The Turkish President Erdogan suddenly throws open the border with Greece at the end of February. The pressure on Turkey, which would absorb the migrant current, is too large. Support from the EU remains, and therefore Erdogan throws open borders to let the EU experience the pressure. He sets buses to bring migrants to pazarkule, the border crossing between the Turkish Edirne and the Greek chestnuts. With skirmishes on the border between Greece and Turkey, it is getting out of hand. People are injured and there is also a dead person: the Pakistani refugee Mohammed Gulzar. He was hit and died on the spot. Turkey and Greece accuse each other over and over again, deny all allegations and manufacture fake news to make the other black. Greece denies that injuries have fallen and all that someone has been killed, and even puts into embassies to stop every news about the incidents.

A group of Dutch, shady real estate dealers, real estate agents and entrepreneurs earns considerably during the Second World War to trade in Jewish real estate. Millions were involved with the purchase and sale of real estate of led jews. The real estate was - often for amounts that were far below the applicable market prices - purchased from the German occupier that the houses had expropriated. The transactions were kept by the German occupiers in the so-called Verkaufsbücher. Almost all books have been preserved. They contain the addresses and the names of the original owners, the brokers involved and the war copies, plus selling prices. And so a penetrating image of a criminal real estate circuit creates that gold earned money from expropriated, Jewish real estate. Were municipalities informed? Are they aware of the transactions? And how is the relatives? Are they compensated for expropriating the houses of their family?

The Transatlantic Christian Council is one of the most influential American lobby clubs. They stand for a conservative Christian ideas: against abortion, against same-sex marriage and for Christian education. In the Netherlands, the battle of Trump may seem like a far-away-bed show for many, but right here has an active co-founded. Henk Jan van Schothorst - Former lobbyist of the SGP - With support from controversial American think tanks, Gouda cheese traders and American ambassador Pete Hoekstra part of this international lobby organization, which aims to stop laws and regulations that the rights related to LGBT people , abortion, euthanasia and equal rights for women. How far does the influence of this lobby club and what role does the American ambassador play in the Netherlands? Pointer dived in the network of this lobby club.

In the US and also in the Netherlands the elections are at the door. The battle for the voter is loose. And the key to the election victory? Your personal information. Data Driven Campaigning is the most modern way to win the voter's voice. With data techniques, presidential candidates and political parties try to find out as much as possible about you. That way they know how they can best reach you and how they can best take their message to you. Your voice as a voter and your dates are worth gold. But how are those private data collected and is that not very privacy sensitive? How is it deployed in campaigning? How are your own data used to influence your voting behavior?

The American elections are a good reason for Twitter trolls to stir on social media. Trolls spread online misinformation to polarize and disrupted. Dutch trolls also mix and try to influence the American elections. What purpose do they do this with? And who are behind these troll accounts? Pointer dives into the world of the Online Trolls and looking for who these are trolls and what their motives are.

"Doctors are emergency clock about corona measures," heads the AD at the beginning of July. "So continue damage," the newspaper quotes the doctors. A few days before the news item appears, a group of Medici has put a fire letter online in which they state that there is no evidence for the usefulness of the continuing halevers rule and calls to revoke politicians against the Corona Act. Internist Evelien Peeters and Infectiologist Hannah Visser are designated as the initiators. 'The reason for drawing up this letter is that in recent weeks we noticed that it is difficult to question the policy as a doctor in publicity. If you do that, you quickly get away as a conspiracy. That is certainly not the case, "they say. The two just want an open debate, they indicate. Pointer dived in the network of the letter writers. This shows that behind the action of apparently two concerned doctors arranged a coordinated campaign that is carried out worldwide.