JOUR 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: The Wall Street Journal, Kellyanne Conway, Alternative Facts
JRNL101.05
Fake News
- Fake news: disinformation and hoaxes published on websites for political purposes
or to rive web traffic, the incorrect information being passed along by social media
o Deliberately constructed to distort truth
o Generally, economically motivated
- We are going through this period of time right here where unfortunately some of
the people that are winning are the people that spend their time trying to get the
ost liks, ot tell the ost truth. Its killig peoples ids i a way.
o Tim Cook, Apple CEO
- This superabundance of information has made it imperative that citizens learn to
judge the reliability of news reports and other sources of information that is passed
along their social networks.
o The Learning Network
- More insidious is the notion that a report qualifies as fake news if it requires a
correction. Such an overly broad definition unfairly attaches malicious intent to the
kind of mistakes that inevitably appear in good-faith journalism.
o Washington Post, 9 February 2017
- 2016 US election
o Fake news spread across social
media and was more influential
than previously thought
o Buzzfeed stud: Top fake election
news stories generated more total
engagement on Facebook than top
election stories from 19 major news
outlets combined.
- Why is this all happening now?
- Ubiquity of Facebook
- About 1.8 billion people log on every
month
- Social networks feed off the various
permutations of interactions among
people, they become strikingly more powerful as they grow
- A quarter of the orlds population now on Facebook, the possibilities are
staggering. whe the tehology gets orig, thats whe the razy soial effets get
iterestig, Clay Shirky, NYU professor
- Thanks to the internet – now each person with once-maligned views can see that
hes ot aloe. Ad whe these people fid oe aother, they a do thigs – create
memes, publications and entire online world that bolster their worldview, and then
break into the mainstream.
- The groups become ready targets for political figures who recognise their energy
and enthusiasm and tap into it for real-world victories.
- What the media accepts as publishable has changed – alled a shift i the Oerto
theory
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Such an overly broad definition unfairly attaches malicious intent to the kind of mistakes that inevitably appear in good-faith journalism. (cid:863: washington post, 9 february 2017. About 1. 8 billion people log on every month. Social networks feed off the various permutations of interactions among people, they become strikingly more powerful as they grow. What the media accepts as publishable has changed (cid:272)alled a (cid:858)shift(cid:859) i(cid:374) the o(cid:448)erto(cid:374) theory. Changes to left and right of politics. More u(cid:374)foresee(cid:374) e(cid:448)e(cid:374)ts. (cid:862)we(cid:859)re a(cid:271)solutely goi(cid:374)g to get more of these insurgent candidates, and more crazy social effects. (cid:863) What can journalists do about it: watch out if known/ reputable news sites are not also reporting on the story. Wikipedia for more info about the source: bad (cid:449)e(cid:271) desig(cid:374) a(cid:374)d use of all (cid:272)aps (cid:272)a(cid:374) also (cid:271)e a sig(cid:374) the sour(cid:272)e (cid:455)ou(cid:859)re looking at should be verified and/or read in conjunction with other sources.
