As our collective attention span wanes, people are consuming information faster than ever and flocking to content that only requires short bursts of undivided attention. Microblogs fit the bill: Short, bite-sized content posted on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Reddit, to name just a few.
Category Archive: Q & A
It takes exactly 109 days to become news literate, which is great because that is the exact length of Media 211.
Let’s start by breaking down that question. What is the media? That term is so broad, it includes news organizations, entertainment companies, and social media influencers.
You are absolutely correct. I am often amazed at how quickly an interesting story that impacts a huge number of people drops off the radar.
You are correct that the Espionage Act of 1917 has been used to punish whistleblowers but not journalists – yet. No member of the press has been prosecuted for publishing leaked classified information, but the 100-year-old law has been called a “loaded gun pointed at newspapers and reporters.”
This is one of the greatest challenges of our time. We are consuming an enormous amount of information on a daily basis but not necessarily more informed.
Wingnuts generate profits, but only if we watch them.
Your question alludes to a dire situation: local news is fast becoming the latest casualty of the covid-19 outbreak.
Social media effectively is the news now. So how do we make sense of this house of mirrors?
It may feel like a constant cascade of news, but the coverage is proportional to what could be the biggest global health crisis in more than a hundred years. And when you consider how much more globally connected we are now than during the flu pandemic of 1918, and how much the world economy relies on precisely that connection, it’s arguable that this crisis could prove to be even worse.
