Journalism

The choice that President Donald Trump asks America to make is a simple one and one that he’s demanded since he jumped into the presidential race. Who are you going to believe, he asks: An industry of people whose jobs depend on presenting factually accurate information about what’s happening in the world — or me? And from the outset, we’ve seen how his supporters answer that question. They believe him.

The most recent demonstration of that result comes from a poll released from Marist College. Poll respondents were asked whom they trusted more, their favorite news source or Trump. Most Americans said their favorite news source, including large majorities of independents and huge majorities of Democrats. But most Republicans said they trust President Trump more, including just shy of two-thirds of those who voted for Trump in 2016.

At a time when political misinformation is in ready supply, and in demand, “Facebook, Google, and Twitter function as a distribution mechanism, a platform for circulating false information and helping find receptive audiences,” said Brendan Nyhan, a professor of government at Dartmouth College. For starters, said Colleen Seifert, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, “People have a benevolent view of Facebook, for instance, as a curator, but in fact it does have a motive of its own. What it’s actually doing is keeping your eyes on the site. It’s curating news and information that will keep you watching.” That kind of curating acts as a fertile host for falsehoods by simultaneously engaging two predigital social-science standbys: the urban myth as “meme,” or viral idea; and individual biases, the automatic, subconscious presumptions that color belief.

Stopping to drill down and determine the true source of a foul-smelling story can be tricky, even for the motivated skeptic, and mentally it’s hard work. Ideological leanings and viewing choices are conscious, downstream factors that come into play only after automatic cognitive biases have already had their way, abetted by the algorithms and social nature of digital interactions.

[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s comments at George Mason were as disappointing as they were predictable. Last March, after President Donald Trump called CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC “the enemy of the American people,” Pai was asked by Sen Tom Udall (D-NM) at an oversight hearing if he agreed with the president. Chairman Pai took a pass, saying he didn’t want to “wade into the larger political debates.” But what about the FCC’s two Democrats, Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn? Surely, they came down hard on the Trump for trying to intimidate the media through the offices of the FCC. Nope.

Perhaps the problem is, they don’t have anybody on staff who writes tough. Allow me.
For Rosenworcel: I don’t have time or the inclination to educate that ignorant, two-bit real estate hustler on freedom of the press. But let me be clear: I will treat any Trump-inspired complaint against NBC with the same contempt I would Trump himself.
For Clyburn: As a former newspaper publisher, I will burn this place to ground before I let Trump or any other political hack use the FCC processes to intimidate or silence the news media in any fashion.

The fiery editorials of Sinclair Broadcast Group chief political analyst Boris Epshteyn will be beamed into seven in 10 American living rooms if the company is allowed to complete a merger that would transform it into a nationwide conservative TV juggernaut. But Sinclair’s proposed $3.9 billion purchase of Tribune Media Co. is encountering opposition from unlikely foes: media stalwarts of the right.

Newsmax Media, headed by friend-of-President Trump Chris Ruddy, One America News Network and TheBlaze, founded by former Fox News host Glenn Beck, are joining liberals in criticizing the merger. The Coalition to Save Local Media -- an alliance that includes One America, TheBlaze, the Common Cause policy group and Dish Network, which worries about Sinclair demanding higher fee -- said it was commencing an advertising campaign against the deal. Charles Herring, president of One America Network parent Herring Networks, said Sinclair will have leverage to force cable providers that most viewers rely upon to pay high fees for its TV stations’ signals, draining the pool of money available for independent programmers such as his news channel. “Small, large, left, right -- everybody has spoken out against this merger,” Herring said. “I’m unaware of anybody who isn’t directly or very closely associated with Sinclair speaking out in favor of the merger,” he added.

Experts are evenly split on whether the coming decade will see a reduction in false and misleading narratives online. Those forecasting improvement place their hopes in technological fixes and in societal solutions. Others think the dark side of human nature is aided more than stifled by technology.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Oct 18 said he could not make a “blanket commitment” to not putting journalists in jail. During testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked AG Sessions if he could pledge to not place “reporters in jail for doing their jobs.” “Well, I don’t know that I can make a blanket commitment to that effect. But I will say this, we have not taken any aggressive action against the media at this point,” Sessions replied. “But we have matters that involve the most serious national security issues that put our country at risk and we will utilize the authorities that we have legally and constitutionally if we have to.” “We always try to find an alternative way, as you probably know, Sen. Klobuchar, to directly confronting media persons, but that’s not a total blanket protection,” Sessions said.

President Donald Trump has, if possible, ratcheted up his media attacks, making it crystal clear Oct 18 he thinks the mainstream media are indeed enemies of the people, bent on destroying him and willing to stop at nothing. That came in an e-mail circulating a new "Mainstream Media Accountability Survey" on the news media, one of several the Trump Pence campaign fundraising committee has conducted in concert with the Republican National Committee.

"I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the Mainstream Media is out to bring down my Administration," the President said in the e-mail. "It’s a 24/7 barrage of hit jobs, fake stories, and absolute hatred for everything we stand for as a movement. They don’t care about the truth. They don’t care about what’s right. They only care about propping up the liberal Democrats they worship and destroying anyone who wants to put America First. There is nothing they won’t do to stop us." The new survey focuses on four specific news outlets, CNN, NBC, co-owned MSNBC and Fox News, asking whether each can be trusted to report fairly on his presidency. The President has been highly critical of CNN and NBC News, and generally positive toward Fox.

According to a new Morning Consult/Politico Poll, 46 percent of respondents said they thought the news media fabricated stories about President Donald Trump or his administration, compared with 37 percent who said they did not. A majority (51%) said the government should not have the power to revoke broadcast licenses of major news organizations, versus 28% who said yes (the rest had no opinion). But more Republicans think it should (46%) than should not (33%). The online poll was conducted Oct. 12-16 among 1,991 registered voters.

A recent report from the Pew Research Center found that about one-in-six news stories about President Donald Trump or the administration (16%) during the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency included one of his tweets. Another element measured in the study was whether statements from the journalist or statements cited in a story gave an overall positive or negative evaluation of the Trump administration’s words or actions – or fell somewhere in between.

This deeper analysis reveals that the stories that included a direct tweet from Trump were more likely than others to have an overall negative assessment of him or his administration – that is, had at least twice as many negative as positive statements. Just over half of stories that had a tweet from Trump (54%) had a negative assessment, 12 percentage points higher than stories that did not contain any of his tweets (42%). (Overall, 44% of all stories studied during the time period studied gave a negative assessment.)

The headlines are eye-catching. Melania Trump is leaving the White House! Home renovation cable star Joanna Gaines has abandoned her HGTV show and husband Chip Gaines! Televangelist Joel Osteen is leaving his wife! None of the stories were true. Yet as recently as late last week, they were being promoted with prominent ads served by Google on PolitiFact and Snopes, fact-checking sites created precisely to dispel such falsehoods.

The enticing headlines served as bait to draw readers to fraudulent sites that masqueraded as mainstream news sites, such as People and Vogue. The fake news ads all worked the same way: They would display headlines at the top of the fact-checking sites that, once clicked, took readers to sites that mimicked the logos and page designs of legitimate publications. The fake stories began with headlines and large photos of the celebrities in question, but after a few sentences, they transitioned into an ad for an anti-aging skin cream. The fake publishers used Google’s AdWords system to place the advertisements on websites that fit their broad parameters, though it’s unclear if they specifically targeted the fact-checking sites. But that Google’s systems were able to place fake news ads on websites dedicated to truth-squadding reflects how the internet search giant continues to be used to spread misinformation. The issue has been in the spotlight for many internet companies, with Facebook, Twitter and Google all under scrutiny for how their automated ad systems may have been harnessed by Russians to spread divisive, false and inflammatory messages.