[Air-L] Fake News

[Joshua Braun]

Also, there's the Nature voting study, which—while not on news
specifically—might be seen as raising some interesting questions about
whether messages circulated via social media might be more influential
because of the social context. I.e., When news is circulated via social
networks it is often being spread *by* influencers, which affects the
fit with traditional two-step flow models.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v489/n7415/full/nature11421.html

Not arguing a side here. Just suggesting that applying Lazarsfeld, etc.
might require some rethinking of context.

Cheers,
Josh

On 12/09/2016 08:36 AM, Jeanine Finn wrote:
> There is a study of the 2004 elections that might be useful while we wait for the dust to settle from 2016.
>
> Carlson, M. (2007). Blogs and journalistic authority. Journalism Studies, 8(2) <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616700601148861>, 264–279. doi:10.1080/14616700601148861
>
> This paper asserts that the role of blogs cannot be adequately understood without examining the established media context in which they appear. Blogs operate along side, in conjunction with, and in opposition to established vehicles for political information, which creates tension among journalists seeking to preserve their authority. As a site to observe the blog-traditional journalism relationship, this article examines the reaction by journalists and others to blogs’ role in US Election Day 2004 coverage. Much of the attention by journalists focuses on assessing the well-publicized decision by some blogs to release incomplete exit polls erroneously predicting a victory for Democratic candidate John Kerry. This discourse works to make sense of the status and credibility of blogs while simultaneously allowing journalists to negotiate their role as authoritative providers of political news. Ultimately, the discourse underlines the dynamism of news in a contemporary media environment marked by new forms of complexity and competitiveness.
> http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616700601148861 <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616700601148861>
>
>
>
>> On Dec 9, 2016, at 7:29 AM, Yosem Companys <companys at stanford.edu <mailto:companys at stanford.edu>> wrote:
>>
>> Exactly. I was wondering whether anyone has studied whether news -- fake or
>> real -- had any tangible effect on the 2016 election outcome. Wouldn't
>> Lazarsfeld et al. say "no," at least not directly?
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lazarsfeld <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lazarsfeld>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-step_flow_of_communication
>>
>> There is a long tradition of studying the effects of news on people's
>> attitudes (or attitude change). My recollection is that news in and of
>> itself has little influence on people's attitudes unless mediated by an
>> influencer (i.e., hence Lazarsfeld 2-step flow of communication). But
>> experiments show the opposite: News has a strong effect on people's
>> attitudes, though the effect wanes over time.
>>
>> Anyone studied 2016 from this perspective?
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 8, 2016 at 9:20 PM, Ronald E. Rice <rrice at comm.ucsb.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> Perhaps more important and interesting: anyone have any studies showing
>>> that real (accurate, true) news influenced the 2016 presidential election
>>> outcome?  ;=)
>>> --
>>> Ronald E. Rice
>>> Arthur N. Rupe Professor in the Social Effects of Mass Communication
>>> International Communication Association President 2006-2007
>>> Dept. of Communication, 4005 Social Sciences & Media Studies Bldg (SSMS)
>>> University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4020
>>> Ph: 805-893-8696; Fax: 805-893-7102
>>> rrice at comm.ucsb.edu; http://www.comm.ucsb.edu/people/ronald-e-rice
>>>
>>>
>>> Quoting Yosem Companys <companys at stanford.edu>:
>>>
>>> Anyone know of any academic studies showing that fake (social media) news
>>>> influenced the 2016 presidential election outcome?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Yosem
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>>>
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>
>
> <---------------------------------------------------->
> Jeanine Finn, PhD
> Researcher
> School of Information
> University of Texas at Austin
> jefinn at utexas.edu <mailto:jefinn at utexas.edu>
> http://jeaninefinn.me <http://jeaninefinn.me/>
>
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-- 
Josh Braun, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Journalism Studies
Journalism Department
University of Massachusetts Amherst

@josh_braun
Skype: wideaperture
http://wideaperture.net/
new book: http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300197501/program-brought-you

"Maybe the only gift is a chance to inquire, to know nothing for certain. An inheritance of wonder and nothing more."
William Least Heat-Moon