This TED Talk features a conversation with journalist Christian Amunpur, recorded live at TED Global NYC 2017.

Christian, great to have you here. So you've had this amazing viewpoint, and perhaps fair to say that in the last few years, there have been some alarming developments that you've seen. What's alarmed you most?

Well, do you know what? Just listening to the earlier speakers, I can frame it in what they've been

saying. Climate change, for instance, cities, the threat to our environment and our lives,

it basically also boils down to understanding the truth

and to be able to get to the truth of what we're talking about

in order to really be able to solve it.

So if 99.9% of the science on climate

is empirical scientific evidence,

but it's competing almost equally with a handful of deniers,

that is not the truth. That is the epitome of fake news.

And so for me, the last few years, certainly this last year,

has crystallized the notion of fake news in a way that's truly alarming

and not just some slogan to be thrown around. Because when you

can't distinguish between the truth and fake news, you have a very much more difficult time

trying to solve some of the great issues that we face. Well, you've been involved in this question

of, you know, what is balance, what is truth, what is impartiality

for a long time? You're on the front lines reporting the Balkan wars, 25 years ago, I guess.

And back then, you famously said, by calling out human right abuses, and you said, look,

there are some situations one simply cannot be neutral about

because when you're neutral you are an accomplice so do you feel that today's journalists

aren't heeding that advice about balance well look I think you know for journalist objectivity is the

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