A new report issued Wednesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists says the countries that censor journalists the most are Eritrea, North Korea, and Turkmenistan.
This is a great question, not least because each of us is part of the answer—simply by participating in this news literacy course.
The reason lies largely in the question itself: speed and accuracy are critical in the news business. Unfortunately, they are often in conflict with one another, and accuracy is sometimes sacrificed in the name of being first.
These are dangerous times to be a journalist.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 15 journalists have been killed so far this year while 56 were murdered last year. Even more disturbing, the number of journalists killed in retaliation for their work, known as reprisal murders, nearly doubled in 2018.
Telegram describes itself as a cloud-based messaging app with a focus on security and speed, but it’s also been called a platform for white nationalists, right-wing extremists and activists. So which is it?
There’s a false premise lurking in the second half of the question as worded. The suggestion that professional journalists are somehow knowingly, willingly cranking out misinformation, thereby “spreading fake news,” is a misuse of the term and truly “fake news”.
Yes and no. While the Yes Men have often faced the threat of legal consequences for the work they do, they have thus far emerged relatively unscathed…
It would be great if there were one news organization out there where you could find completely unbiased news every day. The truth is, there isn’t.
The answer lies in the failing business model of most newspapers and many media companies. More than one in five local newspapers has closed since 2004, according to a University of North Carolina study. This is largely because of a shift to digital formats.
These days, literacy cannot be overrated. In fact, we’d argue news literacy is a new core competency for the 21st century.
