The personalization of news is a permanent feature of our information ecosystem that comes with some benefits and many challenges. News consumers are often overwhelmed by the amount of news they’re exposed to on a daily basis, and news personalization definitely helps by filtering that content. But algorithms that allow news outlets to curate information can lead to a filter bubble, polarization and extreme views.
Category Archive: Media 211
This is an excellent question and a tough one to answer. According to the Pew Research Center, newsrooms are 77 percent white, which seems disproportionate at first glance. But according to 2021 census data, the United States is, indeed, 76.3 percent “white alone.” But data is subjective, and newsrooms do not reflect the racial makeup of the country in less-quantifiable but equally important ways. Let’s break these down.
Not enough. Journalists around the world are targets of both real and online attacks, and impunity for these crimes is on the rise. Look no further than Ukraine to see journalists risking their lives to document Russia’s historic invasion of Europe’s second-largest country. According to Reporters Without Borders, more than 1,000 foreign correspondents have joined the Ukrainian press corps on the ground.
Public trust in facts has been on the decline for about two decades, and it’s taken a toll. Americans no longer agree on a common set of facts. Many can’t tell the difference between a fact and an opinion, and a growing number no longer trust experts or institutions that used to be the source of basic information. These trends together have led to an epistemic crisis known as truth decay.
Press freedom is under attack by a thousand cuts – and not just in the usual countries known for their media censorship.
Journalism Program Director Sissel McCarthy talks about her transition from the newsroom to the classroom, anonymous sources and why a career in journalism is still a worthy calling in this interview with ForeignPress.org.
A reporter who uses anonymous sources has a much heavier lift when it comes to establishing a story’s credibility.
Although transparency has long been a fundamental principle of journalism, the need for a more expansive interpretation of this practice has never been greater.
TikTok has quickly grown to become one of the most popular social media apps in the mobile industry. While it’s not officially supposed to be used by anyone under 13 (and under-18s technically need approval from a parent or guardian), nobody’s enforcing the age limits.
Only slightly more than half of Americans find that it is simple to determine if something is either news or opinion. The worst area of confusion is social media, where just 43 percent of people said they could easily sort news from opinion.
