What is news/journalism?
Brunetti, Aymo, and Beatrice Weder. “A Free Press Is Bad News for Corruption.” Journal of Public Economics 87.7-8 (2003): 1801-824. Web. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272701001864>
Deuze, M. “What Is Journalism?: Professional Identity and Ideology of Journalists Reconsidered.” Journalism 6.4 (2005): 442-64. Web. <http://jou.sagepub.com/content/6/4/442>.
Kwak, Haewoon, Changhyun Lee, Hosung Park, and Sue Moon. “What Is Twitter, a Social Network or a News Media?” Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on World Wide Web - WWW '10 (2010): n. pag. Web. <http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/~assefaw/CptS580-06/papers/2010-www-twitter.pdf>.
Lowrey, Wilson. “Mapping the Journalism-blogging Relationship.” Journalism 7.4 (2006): 477-500. Web. <http://jou.sagepub.com/content/7/4/477.abstract>.
Mullainathan, Sendhil, and Andrei Shleifer. “The Market for News.” The American Economic Review 95.4 (2005): 1031-053. JSTOR. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/4132704?ref=no-x-route:70c92fa024397beb802041e265324e38>.
Veeder, Van Vechten. “The History and Theory of the Law of Defamation. II.” Columbia Law Review 4.1 (1904): 33-56. JSTOR. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1110000?ref=no-x-route:144cd1bf6508c075876771b27f434d2c>.
Who should produce news?
Lutz, Ashley. “These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 14 June 2012. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6>.
“Who Owns the Media?” Freepress.net. Free Press Action Fund, n.d. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.freepress.net/Fownership/Fchart>.
The echo chamber effect
Brin, Sergey and Larry Page. “The Genesis of Google.” N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/sergey_brin_and_larry_page_on_google#t-1215487>.
Pariser, Eli. “Beware Online ‘Filter Bubbles’” TED Talks Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles/transcript?language=en>.
Downie, Leonard, Jr., and Michael Schudson. “The Reconstruction of American Journalism.” Columbia Journalism Review. Columbia Journalism Review, Nov.-Dec. 2009. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.cjr.org/reconstruction/the_reconstruction_of_american.php>
Kissel, Mary. “The Decline of Print Doesn't Mean the End of Journalism.” Australia News. The Guardian, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/29/decline-print-media-journalism-web>.
Silverman, Craig. Lies, Damn Lies, and Viral Content: How Websites Spread (and Debunk) Online Rumors, Unverified Claims, and Misinformation. Rep. New York: Tow Center for Digital Journalism, 2015. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://towcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/LiesDamnLies_Silverman_TowCenter.pdf>.
Steele, Jason. “6 Ways Digital Journalism Is Very Different From Print Journalism.” 6 Ways Digital Journalism Is Very Different From Print Journalism Comments. Contently, n.d. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://contently.net/2015/03/20/resources/6-ways-digital-journalism-different-print-journalism/>.
Brunetti, Aymo, and Beatrice Weder. “A Free Press Is Bad News for Corruption.” Journal of Public Economics 87.7-8 (2003): 1801-824. Web. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272701001864>
- News and information flow serve many purposes in our society. In this article, Brunetti and Weder provide a quantitative analysis on the correlation between between a free media and internationally accepted measures of corruption. Brunetti and Weder’s work lends itself to a possible line of thought that the definition of journalism and news should be determined by its utility to society. Is it enough to provide value and to whom? Whether the properties described by Brunetti and Weder will still apply to a modern, possibly social, media is a question we consider in our project.
Deuze, M. “What Is Journalism?: Professional Identity and Ideology of Journalists Reconsidered.” Journalism 6.4 (2005): 442-64. Web. <http://jou.sagepub.com/content/6/4/442>.
- This article discusses the field of professional journalism and its relation to society. Deuze examines ‘journalism’ through several frames and ideals, including those of public service, detached objectivity, autonomy/freedom and ethics. Many of the characteristics that Deuze describes presume a code of ethics within journalism itself, to inform with immediacy without ulterior motives. To what extent is this actually the case and to what extent should journalists, present and future, professional or ad hoc, exercise and be bound to such ethical obligations?
Kwak, Haewoon, Changhyun Lee, Hosung Park, and Sue Moon. “What Is Twitter, a Social Network or a News Media?” Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on World Wide Web - WWW '10 (2010): n. pag. Web. <http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/~assefaw/CptS580-06/papers/2010-www-twitter.pdf>.
- Many people nowadays receive news through social media. This influential and highly cited paper describes social media content trends on Twitter and analyzes the social graph consisting of topics, tweets, and retweets. This article provides an interesting glimpse at micro-interactions such as liking or retweeting between people in a social web, and how these are used to convey thoughts and information. Twitter differs significantly from existing print or even web journalism in form, culture, and style, raising questions about the value and ethical purposes of such formalisms in past and contemporary media.
Lowrey, Wilson. “Mapping the Journalism-blogging Relationship.” Journalism 7.4 (2006): 477-500. Web. <http://jou.sagepub.com/content/7/4/477.abstract>.
- This article examines the conflict behind blogging and more traditional and centralized forms of news media. Lowrey dissects the motives and degree of control that journalists and bloggers exercise over their work. For instance, he argues that blogs can resurface old content, emphasize socially relevant news ignored by professional journalists, and provide a forum for denouncing factual flaws in actual reporting. Decentralized mediums such as blogs contrast with established mediums, which are more intricately tied to economic and political forces. At the same time however, governing blogs and other news/media outlets that have emerged as a result of the web present policy challenges which we will discuss in our final project.
Mullainathan, Sendhil, and Andrei Shleifer. “The Market for News.” The American Economic Review 95.4 (2005): 1031-053. JSTOR. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/4132704?ref=no-x-route:70c92fa024397beb802041e265324e38>.
- Mullainathan and Shleifer examine the economic forces and human biases driving news creation and consumption. Based on their study, the make several observations about the influence of competition and reader diversity on the accuracy of journalism. This paper brings out a key dichotomy in how we value news; the value of news can be seen as dependent upon the size and zeal of the reader base or on absolute factors such as truthfulness, authorial intent, etc. When these two definitions conflict, policy, grounded in ethics and economic theory, is necessary for desirable outcomes.
Veeder, Van Vechten. “The History and Theory of the Law of Defamation. II.” Columbia Law Review 4.1 (1904): 33-56. JSTOR. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1110000?ref=no-x-route:144cd1bf6508c075876771b27f434d2c>.
- Veeder provides a very fascinating and comprehensive history of defamation through history, outlining legal precedents and societal norms. As the media moves toward decentralized, democratic, sources the risk for such unethical behaviors in journalism grows. With this source, we examine and contemplate the differences between the threats, policies, and models extant in modern media against those that have existed and evolved in the past.
Who should produce news?
Lutz, Ashley. “These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 14 June 2012. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6>.
- An infographic from Business Insider exposing the oligopoly of news in America. As of 2011, 90% of media in the United States was owned by six companies: GE, NewsCorp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CVS. Interesting piece that demonstrates corporate control over the content and quality of news. Can then argue that emergence of digital news and journalism challenges this complete control and the ethical concerns of a media oligopoly.
“Who Owns the Media?” Freepress.net. Free Press Action Fund, n.d. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.freepress.net/Fownership/Fchart>.
- Effectively one giant compilation of information regarding exactly which companies own what in the world of American media. Breaks down the media into four categories: TV and Radio, Cable and Telecommunications, Print, and Internet. In each category, the major companies in the industry are identified and exactly what they own is explained. Will be useful for specific facts and figures.
- A good source that breaks down the fraction of millennials visiting new, up and coming online news sources (i.e. Vice, Buzzfeed, etc.) Indicates which are the most popular. Gives an insight into where the news may be headed as young people who were born with the internet begin to come of age. Provides an insight into where online news might be headed and the foundation for any ethical and policy questions that might be born out of this change.
- Source that identifies two examples in which “citizen journalism” (i.e. social media, bloggers, etc.) was an improvement on the conventional methods. First example is conflict in Ukraine being documented by an “investigative blogger” in England who compiles eyewitness photos and videos from the internet to track Russian activities in Ukraine. Second example is of a group of residents in a slum of Rio de Janeiro documenting police brutality with cell phones and uploading photos and video to social media. Can use this to argue that online journalism is able to reach places that are inaccessible to traditional journalism which is ethically a good thing.
- 2014 New York Times Innovation Report. Comprehensive report (~100 pages) addressing how the New York Times, one of the biggest and most successful traditional news sources is planning to deal with the rise of online journalism. Recognizes that sources like Buzzfeed and Huffington Post get more online traffic than they do and suggests several ideas and policies the company could implement going forward to combat these new threats to traffic. Could be used to examine the question of who should be producing the news through a policy lens.
The echo chamber effect
Brin, Sergey and Larry Page. “The Genesis of Google.” N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/sergey_brin_and_larry_page_on_google#t-1215487>.
- This TED talk features the founders of Google describing how Google Search works and how customized news will affect people who produce and consume content on the Internet. In particular this talk focuses on the future of Google, and how AI will be used more and more in the future to serve up more relevant material to users. This talk could be used to argue for the good intentions behind personalizing news and search results on the Internet.
Pariser, Eli. “Beware Online ‘Filter Bubbles’” TED Talks Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles/transcript?language=en>.
- In this TED talk Eli Pariser explains the echo effect created by personalized news feed algorithms such as those employed by Yahoo news, facebook, and Google Search. The echo effect is essentially that people only see news that reflects their current beliefs. He illustrates how different two people’s Google searches can be radically different, to the point that seriously important events won’t even appear in one of them. After going over the negative effects of the echo effect, by pointing out that contrary news is essential to a working democracy. This talk will be useful for explaining the echo effect and its negative implications.
- This article is essentially Facebook’s response to criticism that its news-feed creates an echo chamber effect for users who should really be seeing content from a variety of conflicting viewpoints. Facebook was accused of showing users only content from their personal bubble of political and social beliefs. However, the article argues that FB’s algorithm was not to blame but rather the users themselves, claiming that which articles users clicked had more effect on the news-feed than anything else. This article could be used to form a counter argument to the points in Eli Pariser’s TED talk.
Downie, Leonard, Jr., and Michael Schudson. “The Reconstruction of American Journalism.” Columbia Journalism Review. Columbia Journalism Review, Nov.-Dec. 2009. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.cjr.org/reconstruction/the_reconstruction_of_american.php>
- In a report published in the Columbia Journalism Review, Leonard Downie, Jr. and Michael Schudson first give a brief history of the rise of “accountability journalism” during the mid-20th century before arguing that digital journalism does not show any signs of being less accountable than its print predecessors. Digital journalism may even be more accountable than print journalism by fostering journalistic collaboration and allowing for independent news sources to find a greater audience. Downie and Schudson also support a laissez-faire policy in dealing with the transition from print to digital news. They argue that attempts to strengthen print journalism, like the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970, are often futile. Instead, the authors “believe the marketplace will determine whether any of the many experiments [in digital journalism] will ultimately be successful.”
Kissel, Mary. “The Decline of Print Doesn't Mean the End of Journalism.” Australia News. The Guardian, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/29/decline-print-media-journalism-web>.
- In an editorial from The Guardian, Mary Kissel argues that “The decline of print doesn’t mean the end of journalism.” Kissel writes that “quality journalism, of the kind that informs the public, enriches democracy, and tempts readers to buy it” will not diminish with the rise of digital news sources. Either established organizations, with reputations for quality journalism, will make the successful transition to the online market, or the void will be filled by newer organizations that will build reputations for real journalism. In fact, Kissel even argues that the increased competition will increase journalistic quality. With so many options, readers can easily move away from a news source that consistently reports incorrect information.
- In his media column, David Carr of The New York Times describes how an important part of Vice News’ competitive strategy is to deliver better quality journalism that “is deadly serious about doing real news that people, yes, even young people, will actually watch.” Carr writes how one of Vice’s founders bragged that “while he and his colleagues were reporting serious stories detailing human waste on a beach and cannibalism in Liberia, The New York Times had busied itself writing about surfing in the same region.” Vice is one example of how quality journalism may even be an asset in the online sphere.
Silverman, Craig. Lies, Damn Lies, and Viral Content: How Websites Spread (and Debunk) Online Rumors, Unverified Claims, and Misinformation. Rep. New York: Tow Center for Digital Journalism, 2015. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://towcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/LiesDamnLies_Silverman_TowCenter.pdf>.
- In a report from The Tow Foundation and Columbia Journalism School, Craig Silverman writes that there is no evidence that online sources contain more misinformation than print sources. What makes online sources different is that misinformation spread more quickly - they can “go viral.” Silverman goes on to argue that news organizations should do a better job at debunking misinformation, especially after it has gone viral. He also points out that just as misinformation is more easily spread online, factual corrections are also more easily disseminated than a correction to an error that appeared in print.
Steele, Jason. “6 Ways Digital Journalism Is Very Different From Print Journalism.” 6 Ways Digital Journalism Is Very Different From Print Journalism Comments. Contently, n.d. Web. 26 May 2015. <http://contently.net/2015/03/20/resources/6-ways-digital-journalism-different-print-journalism/>.
- In a blog post, online freelance journalist Jason Steele points out that online communities offer a form of accountability for digital journalism. He writes, “while digital writers are expected to be their own authority, their readers will take note of any errors in real time. Make a specious claim in print, and your editor will publish a reader’s letter rebutting it or print a retraction in the next edition. Try that online and, within minutes, you will be barraged in the comments sections by knowledgeable readers and trolls alike.” Online communities may have a self-correcting quality that also serves to ensure journalistic integrity.