weekly news articles

Facebook to begin flagging fake news in response to mounting criticism (31)

This article discusses the new technology that Facebook has brought in to tackle the issue of fake news. According to the article Facebook is working with five fact-checking organizations – ABC News, AP, FactCheck.org, Politifact and Snopes to filter through fake news that make it onto Facebook. If enough of Facebook’s users report a story as fake, the social network will pass it onto these third parties to scrutinize. If a story fails the fact check, it will be publicly flagged as “disputed by 3rd party fact-checkers” whenever it appears on the social network. Users will now also be able to click on a link to understand why it’s disputed. If a Facebook user then still want to share the story, they’ll get another warning about its reliability.

I believe this is a really useful technique to tackle the issue of fake news, however this will also be limited to Facebook. The fact that it is limited to only Facebook highlights the fact that not much is being done on a larger scale, as fake news will continue to exist and only grow even more.

Here's the truth: 'fake news' is not social media's fault (32)

This article discusses the various instances in which we have come across fake news, and how individuals such as Mark Zuckerberg and the chiefs of Google have dismissed the impact of fake news and have brought about mediocore solutions such as removing advertising tools that enable sites to make money by spreading lies. The influence of politicians are also mentioned, who resemble fake news through their propaganda. The EU referendum is another example that is mentioned, as it was noted on its abundance of lies and false promises. There is also a brief mention of the impartiality method in the news, which no longer seems to be working. The article suggests that it is not the fault of social media as a platform, but it is a consequence of it, because lies can be passed on these platforms swiftly and indiscriminately

This news article has altered my views on fake news, as I previously believed that social media was the main problem in causing the influx of fake news. The article suggests that we are surrounded by fake news, and this highlights the lack of accountability there currently is in the media world. Nevertheless, I think more should be done to tackle the issue and that individuals in power should take it more seriously.

weekly news articles

Media Opinion In a world of fake news, real journalism must be paid for (29)

This article discusses the issue of fake news and the impact that it is having on the news industry. An example used to highlight the impact of fake news is the man who was arrested in Washington DC after firing a gun in a pizza restaurant. This has been linked to “Pizzagate” a conspiracy theory that holds that there is a subterranean child abuse conspiracy involving high-ups in the Democratic party. Cynical media outlets are also mentioned, fake news has been used to drive traffic and revenue and spark a controversy with also politicians such as Trump also taking part.. His recent untruthful claim that “millions of people” voted illegally in the election is just one of the more serious examples.The article suggests that real journalism is vital to our democracy, and it has to be paid for. If not, it will largely disappear and leave the field open for Pizzagate and politicians such as Trump to fuel hatred through fake news. 

I believe that fake news is a growing issue that needs to be tackled, as it is now having an impact on society. Many people are falling for fake news, and this can have an effect on serious matters such as elections and even lead to fatal shooting, 

Record number of journalists in jail globally after Turkey crackdown (30)

This article discusses the issue of journalists being sentenced simply for their jobs. More journalists have been imprisoned by governments around the world than at any time in nearly 30 years due to the crackdown in Turkey after the failed coup in July. All of the editors, writers, cartoonists and photographers detained in Turkey are facing anti-state charges. However, this is not surprising as in Turkey media freedom was already under siege in early 2016. Authorities have been arresting, harassing, and expelling journalists and shutting down or taking over news outlets. According to the article journalists are performing a public service through providing information to the public, and that their rights under international law is being violated by the government through the suppression of critical speech. 

• According to the annual survey compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), there were 259 journalists in jail as of 1 December, and at least 81 of those were in Turkish prisons.

I believe that the imprisonment of these journalists is a violation of freedom of speech and press, and this a form of oppression from the government. More should be done to value the work of journalists and to protect their work as the media world is already suffering from genuine journalism that brings matters to light. 

weekly articles

Fake news could affect next UK election, warns Channel 4 executive (27)

This article discusses whether fake news could affect the next UK election. The channel 4 executive urged the UK government to step in if Facebook and other internet firms do not do more to tackle the problem. The responsibility that comes with social media is also mentioned, social media sites which claim they are technology companies can be argued to be media companies, therefore the regulation of the content is vital. Google and Facebook have said they are working on ways to eliminate fake news and stop it spreading, and have already taken steps such as cutting off ad revenue to some sites identified as sources of completely made up stories. However, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly rejected the “crazy idea” that they affected the US election.

• A recent survey by BuzzFeed found that 75% of US adults believed fake news headlines they were shown

I believe that fake news can have a major impact on an individual and the population. Majority of these fake news articles fuel hate and manipulate the news while gaining revenue, which is unethical and wrong. More should be done to tackle this issue. 

Facebook advertises for a head of news after US election concerns (28)

This article discusses Facebooks search for a new media executive to reassure the press and their relationship with the media after a rise of fake news stories brought negative attention to the social media site. The applicant is expected to have over 20 years of experience and to be the “public-facing voice of Facebook and its role in the news ecosystem” and “a strong voice within Facebook on the goals and priorities of news publishers”. This suggests that the company is looking for someone to address concerns raised by media organisations, politicians and others about the social network’s wider impact.

I believe this is a necessary action that needs to be taken to ensure that this issue is prevented and under control. Maybe, executive could possibly have a role that replicates one of a gatekeeper.

NDM News: end of unit index

NDM News index

1) Institution: the impact of Google on the newspaper industry
2) Ofcom report: how news consumption has changed
3) The future of newspapers: Build The Wall analysis
4) The decline of newspapers: the effect of online technology
5) The future of journalism: John Oliver and Clay Shirky
6) The decline of newspapers: Media Magazine case studies
7) Citizen journalism and hyper-reality: Media Magazine article and questions
8) News Values: theory and updating them for digital media landscape
9) Marxism & Pluralism: Media Magazine article and questions
10) Alain de Botton on the News: lecture and questions
11) Full NDM essay including paragraphs on Marxism and Pluralism
12) Globalisation and news: cultural imperialism
13) Globalisation: taking it further (Google Glass case study and capitalism)
14) Fake news and globalisation - Guardian and New York Times articles
15) News on the Tweet


NDM Story Index

1. 13/09/16 - Are mobiles changing how we shop? - Telegraph
2. 13/09/16 - Culture secretary will raise issue of hate crime with newspaper editors - The Guardian
3. 20/09/16 - Why Facebook is public enemy number one for newspapers, and journalism - The Guardian
4. 20/09/16 - Senior News of the World staff 'misled' Parliament over phone-hacking, committee finds - The Independent
5. 27/09/16 - BBC iPlayer users will have to use personal logins from early 2017 - The Independent
6. 27/09/16 - TV industry could face 'harder diversity targets', says Ofcom chief - The Guardian
7. 4/10/16 - Daily Mail owner to cut more than 400 jobs amid print advertising decline  - The Independent
8. 4/10/16 - Ad-blockers: are publishers tempted to feed the hand that bites them? - The Guardian 
9. 11/10/16 - An economist makes the case for saving investigative journalism - Poytner
10. 11/10/16 - I'm with you on the digital revolution, it's the lack of journalism I can't face - The Guardian
11. 17/10/16 - The Sun and Daily Mail accused of 'fuelling prejudice' in report on rising racist violence and hate speech in UK - The Independent 
12. 17/10/16- Donald Trump as president 'would be a threat to press freedom' - The Guardian
13. 31/10/16 - Politics has gone wrong: Is digital technology to blame? - The Guardian
14. 31/10/16 - Why do we still accept that governments collect and snoop on our data?  - The Guardian
15. 1/11/16 - Netflix's glittering Crown could leave BBC looking a little dull  - The Guardian 
16. 1/11/16 - Back to the future: were newspaper publishers wrong to go digital?  - The Guardian
17. 7/11/16 - Telegraph paywall initiative is an interesting strategic shift  - The Guardian
18. 7/11/16 - Attorney general defends judges criticised over Brexit ruling - The Guardian
19. 14/11/16 - Donald Trump: How the media created the president - BBC News
20. 14/11/16 - Campaigners claim victory after Lego stops Daily Mail promotions - The Guardian
21. 21/11/16 - City University students vote for campus ban on Sun, Mail and Express - The Guardian
22. 22/11/16 - When bias is patently clear - Spectator
23. 29/11/16 - Index on Censorship: journalists now under 'unprecedented' attack - The Guardian
24. 29/11/16 -  What the latest sales figures tell us about the state of newsprint - The Guardian
25. 6/12/16 - The Sun Was One Of The Biggest Spenders Among Brexit Campaigners, Electoral Commission Shows - Huffington Post
26. 6/12/16 - How to solve Facebook's fake news problem: experts pitch their ideas - The Guardian 

NDM News: Globalisation and fake news

1) What similarities do you notice between the different countries outlined in the article and their problems with fake news?

The majority of fake news within countries are not for revenue purposes, but instead to create some form of distortion and fuel hate through the manipulation of news. The influx of fake news stories take place during important time periods such as elections, to undermine candidates and discredit them and their parties. This can have a major influence on elections, such as those in the US, and polarise political opinion. Some of the fake news articles also fuel religious hate, such as in Myanmar  and Australia against muslims. This fake news is also more often found on social networking sites such as Facebook, which makes it much more easier to distribute and go viral. 

2) Is fake news an inevitable consequence of the "culture of freedom and innovation" that the internet has brought with it? Is there a way to stop it?

I believe that fake news is to some extent a consequence of the culture of freedom and innovation. There aren't necessarily any laws that prevent from fake news stories being published, and as more people are now having access to the internet and new forms of technology it is much more easier to fabricate false stories and create realistic looking news sites to post them up on. The accessibility of social networking sites such as Facebook allow more views to be generated from the consumers of these news articles, and this inevitably funds the producers and allows this cycle to continue. 

1) Which fake news stories were particularly successful for Beqa Latsabidze, the 22-year-old student in Tbilisi, Georgia, who tried to make money from web articles on Trump?

The fake news stories that were particularly successful for Latsabidze were those that were pro-Trump and those which are based on the US General election. Most of his articles serve pro-Trump supporters, as they were a greater success over articles that were pro-Clinton, as they were more radical and eager to read outrageous articles that degraded others, including Trumps opponents.

2) How much can Facebook and Google be blamed for this global rise in fake news?

I believe that Facebook and Google can be blamed for this global rise in fake news to some extent. Facebook and Google provide a platform for fake news to be distributed without any form of restrictions or control, while also allowing the creators of these articles such as Latsabidze to create revenue through advertisements. Nevertheless, Facebook has declared it is already considering some of the options it has to prevent the circulation of fake news stories, including simpler ways for users to flag suspicious content. But whether this is effective or enough to put a stop to fake news is debatable. Google also stated it would ban websites that host fake news from using its online advertising service. Although this will make it harder for fake news to be accessed or to generate revenue, it does not make them entirely non-existent, and audiences can access them freely on social media sites and so on.

NDM News: Globalisation

1) Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? Give some examples arguing for or against this perspective.

I believe that our news is to some extent influenced by American cultural imperialism. This is clearly evident through the affairs and news of America that are broadcasted in our channels, which are often given a greater importance over affairs and events that take elsewhere i.e. Asia . The majority of products we consume are also US produced. Shows and films created in the US are broadcasted by channels such as E4, and platforms such as Facebook, Netflix and Twitter which are all American are the most used apps in the UK. Our day-to-day lives and the products we use from our phones and laptops highlight how much America has an influence world wide, as what we watch, use, read and tweet are almost always in some form products of America. 

2) Has the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience? How? Why?

The increased globalisation of news has indeed improved the audience experience. Now that media organisations have the resources to expand their news globally, national and international cultural traditions can merge into a global culture. As a result audiences become exposed to different experiences and information from across the world, which will increase their knowledge on the state of other societies. 

3) Has globalisation benefited or damaged major news institutions? How? Why?

Globalisation could be argued to have benefited the major news institutions as it has allowed them to have a greater audience and reach the global audience. Globalisation has also allowed technology to evolve and communications to improve. However, globalisation has its negatives, it has led to institutions having to invest more into maintaining their position and popularity against competition which can be quite expensive.

Globalisation case study

1) Why was Google Glass controversial?

Google glass was perceived as controversial due to its potential privacy breaches as a product. The privacy concerns associated with Google glass, such as the ability to capture footage of what the user is looking at, highlighted the potential for google glass to violate the privacy of others. 

2) What are the positive elements to Globalisation that the article highlights?

There are some positive elements concerning Globalisation that are highlighted in this article. For example, with globalisation new audiences can form in which they can have access to the internet leading to people becoming more enriched and aware of the internet. Furthermore, there will be an increase in choice and opportunities which will empower people, and access to information can enhance the ability to make informed decisions and even a democratic process.

3) What are potential negatives to Globalisation?

Some of the potential negatives in association to globalisation is the fact that a small number of organisations control the majority of the global market, in which they then distribute the majority of the worlds wealth amongst themselves. This prevents from there being a wide range of choice through the position of smaller companies in the global market, and also hinders the chances of smaller companies having opportunities as businesses to give themselves a name in the market due to the dominance of large conglomerates such as Google. 

4) What is a techno-panic? How does it link to moral panics?

A techno-panic is a moral panic that is based on fears of new contemporary technology, technological activity or specific technology. This is linked back to the theory of moral panics by Cohen as the techno-panic theory also highlighting concerns stirred up by the media in regards to an event, or in this case an invention within society. This concern is then viewed as a threat to the rest of us as a whole, hence the subject matter of this article. 

5) What is your opinion on the privacy debate and major corporations being able to access large quantities of personal data?

I believe that major corporations being able to access large quantities of personal data is a breach of privacy, as much of this takes place without the users acknowledgement. It could be argued that google glass is just another opportunity to take advantage of this as a useful marketing tool which will only continue to bring in wealth to the major corporations that take up most of the market. However, this data is still useful for certain marketers,companies and organisations; and although it is a breach of privacy it can also allow for tailor made advertising to take place, which can be seen in both a positive or negative light.

Media Factsheet: Globalisation and capitalism

1) Who coined the phrase 'a global village' and what multinational companies illustrate this?

The phrase "global village" was coined by McLuhan to describe the phenomena of countries becoming interconnected or more interdependent, especially in economic terms. A multinational company that portrays this is Coco-Cola, which has subsidiaries in many countries, this portrays the interconnection taking place in countries across the globe. 

2) What role does Slavoj Zizek suggest the media plays in global capitalism? How can you link this to our previous work on Marxism and Hegemony? 

Zizek suggests that the media plays as a mask in hiding the way in which western institutions do business. Zizek argues that the media reinforces and naturalises the ideology that making money is the right way of conducting businesses, but at the same time allows people to feel less guilty about how certain goods are produced. This is done through the changes in methods of marketing by multinational industries to portray themselves as ethical. 

3) What does 'capitalism with a conscience' mean? 

"Capitalism with a conscience" is a term used to describe the western capitalists attempt to sustain their dominance as ethical organisations worth investing their products in through the marketing campaigns they have constructed. The example used to portray this is Starbucks campaign, in which they claim that it’s not just what you’re buying, it’s what you’re buying into. "When you buy Starbucks, you are buying into something bigger than a cup of coffee: you are buying into coffee ethics!"

4) What is the (PRODUCT) RED campaign?

The RED campaign was an attempt to to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. RED would partner up with well known brands and business such as Nike and Starbucks in which they would then create a product with the RED logo. In return for the opportunity to increase its own revenue through the RED branding, a percentage of the company’s profit would be given to the Global Fund. Since RED is a private company, a portion of the contributions received from the third party brands would also be taken as profit. The incorporation of humanitarian aid and for-profit businesses represents the ethical consumerism taking place in business industries which Zizek was talking about.

5) Based on what you've read in the Factsheet, what is YOUR opinion of the (PRODUCT) RED brand? Is it a positive force helping to fight AIDS in Africa or a cynical attempt to make multinational companies look more ethical than they actually are?

I believe that although the RED campaign is helping in a positive manner, it still is a marketing technique which is making multinational companies look more ethical to bring in consumers. 

Weekly news articles

The Sun Was One Of The Biggest Spenders Among Brexit Campaigners, Electoral Commission Shows

According to this article The Sun was one of the biggest spenders among pro-Brexit campaigners. The paper’s publisher, News Group Newspapers, is recorded as having spent £96,898 on a pull-out poster calling for readers to vote to leave, published in the paper days before the referendum. The spending by Remain campaigners however, declared on Tuesday, is far greater than spent by Leave campaigners.

• The Sun spent more than Economists For Brexit (£54,000) 
• Remainers spent £2,917,667 
• Leave campaigners spent £1,901,815.

I am not surprised by these statistics as the Sun is known to be a left wing tabloid, hence the reason they have gone this far to fund their campaign. However, it does go to show that no matter how much you spend (remainers), it all depends on the newspapers that consumers are most likely to read, which is the cheaper newspapers such as the Sun.

How to solve Facebook's fake news problem: experts pitch their ideas

This article discusses the issue of "fake news" that is constantly being circulated around Facebook, and how this issue should be tackled. Most of the solutions fall into three general categories of either the hiring of human editors; crowdsourcing, and technological or algorithmic solutions. One solution could be human editors acting as gatekeepers of the news on Facebook where they will have to assess a news article before it enters the news stream. However, hiring people – especially the number needed to deal with Facebook’s volume of content – is expensive, and it may be hard for them to act quickly and humans are also partial to subjectivity. Another approach could be improving the algorithmic or machine learning currently favored by Facebook, which led to the firing of their human trending news team earlier in 2016. But the current systems are failing to identify and downgrade hoax news or distinguish satire from real stories. Another solution could be verification, similar to Twitter’s “blue tick” system. verification would mean that a news organization would have to apply to be verified and be proved to be a credible news source so that stories would be published with a “verified” flag.

• Facebook has been slow to admit it has a problem with misinformation on its news feed, which is seen by 1.18 billion people every day.

I personally believe that the fake news problem is getting out of hand, and that there are many possible solutions but they need to be tailored to fit the expenses needed of Facebook and also the quality desired to satisfy consumers.