Weekly News 5



Social media companies must respond to the sinister reality behind fake news 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/30/social-media-companies-fake-news-us-election

Image result for fake news

Key Data/ Statistical Info
  • Social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter have begun to share evidence of how their platforms are used and abused during elections.
  • Computational propaganda flourished during the 2016 US presidential election. 
  • US voters shared large volumes of polarising political news and information in the form of links to content from Russian, WikiLeaks and junk news sources. 
  • First, we found that nationally, Twitter users got more misinformation, polarising and conspiratorial content than professionally produced news.
The article talks about the way in which some users shared political news and information in the form of ''junk news sources'', most of which contained extremist/ sensationalist ideologies.  The article also mentins that due to this ''significant volume of misinformation'' on various social media sites, and in particular Twitter, voters in the US may not be well informed, in order to make good decisions. Furthermore, the article goes on to say that this may lead to fake news being produced in other areas of news such as 'science''- with the misinformation of climate change, smoking and cancer, being distributed online. 

This links to NDM as its shows how UGC and the freedom of speech on social media sites, paves the way for some users to produce their own news, which could be used as propaganda( for extremist/ sensationalist values). The increasingly large amount of fake news online, is one factor that is ruining the ability for users to participate in political discussion. In the new age of digital media, who's to say that anything posted on the interent is entirely true/ accurate. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

January assessment: Learner response

Feedback 37- B WWW: Really impressive...this is top level (just!) with the potential to go even higher. Excellent use of quotes  & theories.  EBI: Lack of an ending! Timing is a factor to consider. You could argue a little more positively (although I like the cynicism!) e.g citizen journalism as empowering & democratic.  2) Read through the  mark scheme  (go to the last two pages of the document - Section B New/digital media). Of the six different statements for each level (e.g. A sophisticated and comprehensive essay, showing very good critical autonomy.) write which level you think  YOU  are currently working at for each one. Explain  WHY  and, for any that are not Level 4, what you are going to do to  improve  in that area.  L3 - A good essay, showing good critical autonomy- I need to include more arguments that support the statement with reference to relevant examples. L3 - Proficient understanding ...
Read more

NDM Essay

The development of new/digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and p roduction . Discuss the arguments for and against this view.  Plan Pluralism- Citizen Journalism- audiences produce content, footage of attacks, London, Paris etc, content is then used by news institutions who broadcast that content, essentially influencing consumption of news. News values no longer apply, there are no gatekeepers# Marxism- Citizen Journalism- Eric Garner- person who filmed the incident was arrested- suggests that audiences are therefore not empowered. Institutions still have control. Marxism- Brexit - immigration as hegemonic ideology- reproduction of status quo- Brexit always prioritised over other news stories.  "illusion of empowerment" on social media and other opinion based platforms e.g blogs. Pluralism- Take a Knee campaign- Colin Kaepernick (NFL) audiences challenging major institutions. Marxism- Hyper reality (Baudrillard) and Alain de...
Read more

NDM Baseline assessment: Learner response

1) Look over your essay, read it back in full and examine any feedback given. Read the A  grade  exemplar essay  from a past A* student. What does the A* essay do well that you need to improve on? It includes both sides of the argument- it argues that audiences are empowered to an extent. Also, they included theories and examples from recent years, throughout her argument. She also used key media terminology, which was relevant to the topic. 2) Read the Examiners' Report for this exam as outlined above and write three bullet points that summarise the key comments that apply to your essay. Pro : Very wide ranging case study tended to just include descriptive lists of developments in new and digital media, rather than focusing on the question. Con : Higher level answers evaluated the extent ofempowerment and also discussed some of the downsides for audiences and the ways in whichaudiences had not been empowered. Con : Also debates about a digital underclass of peo...
Read more