[Air-L] Fake News -- because it is fake

Fri Dec 9 09:59:54 PST 2016

There are actually fake stories -- completely made up -- so it is by definition "fake" news.

Rod

> From: mcambre at ualberta.ca
> Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2016 12:37:35 -0500
> To: Todd.O'Neill at mtsu.edu
> CC: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Fake News
> 
> Instead of fake news, how about disinformation? The partial and/or
> misleading of unverified events posing as information but tending more
> towards gossip, scandal and slander, with the intent to polarize debate and
> damage reputations. Often put forth from behind masked partisan lenses.
> 
> On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 12:23 PM, Todd O'Neill <Todd.O'Neill at mtsu.edu> wrote:
> 
> > FWIW, I think the term "fake news" gives this term a kind of legitimacy.
> > News is news. When we differentiate between real and fake news we're on
> > slippery slope.
> > We have adopted a term put forth by popular media not necessarily
> > journalists.
> > I don't know what the term should be. Commentary seems to be part of the
> > label I think.
> > Any thoughts?
> >
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > > On Dec 9, 2016, at 11:16 AM, MC Cambre <mcambre at ualberta.ca> wrote:
> > >
> > > Worthy point and well noted.
> > > Pedagogically, I stress the difference between image and substance, and I
> > > teach about the word propaganda and how it rose and fell in popularity. I
> > > don't know if anyone uses this piece from 1952, I found it a gem for
> > > helping students view critically.
> > > "Propaganda Techniques In Institutional Advertising" BY LEONARD 1.
> > PEARLIN
> > > AND MORRIS ROSENBERG 1952 in PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY, SPRING
> > >
> > > It specifically points to institutional advertising, but we can say that
> > > much that is being called fake news uses these techniques.
> > >
> > > For what it is worth!
> > > cc
> > >
> > >
> > >> On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 9:47 AM, Sarah Ann Oates <soates at umd.edu> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Just have to jump here and refer to the comment above that noted that
> > >> "What's
> > >> accurate news for one group
> > >> may be fake news for another. News is socially constructed." That is
> > >> certainly a dominant guiding principle from communication studies BUT
> > what
> > >> that is very different from news that is deliberately constructed as
> > >> propaganda. There is indeed a central organizing principle of news in
> > the
> > >> service of society -- it can failed or weak, but journalism as a
> > profession
> > >> in the United States is concerned with the broader principle that news
> > >> creates informed citizens and without informed citizens you cannot have
> > a
> > >> democracy. You cannot have a democracy without journalism. So the
> > >> journalism may be flawed and -- in the case of the US -- in particular
> > >> challenged by a failing economic model of traditional media outlets as
> > >> advertising shifts to more powerful social-media outlets, etc. There is
> > a
> > >> qualitative difference between the attempt to inform the public and the
> > >> attempt to deceive the public. We can measure the value of news by
> > criteria
> > >> such as giving voice to both sides, an attempt to explain issues,
> > quoting
> > >> accurately, attempting to give facts, owning up to and correcting an
> > >> errors, attempting to be objective. As an ex-journalist and a journalism
> > >> educator, I ask people to stop saying that news and propaganda are
> > really
> > >> the same thing. I've heard it for years and it's simply not true. Many
> > >> journalists risk their lives to bring us as close to the truth as they
> > can.
> > >> Propagandists deliberately lie, cheat, deceive, misinform and seek to
> > use
> > >> information for their own means. And yes, I know the arguments about
> > media
> > >> in service to the state, in service to capitalism, in service to
> > communism,
> > >> in service to a media owner etc. But please, people, as communication
> > >> scholars we need to recognize, support, and try to make better the ONE
> > >> THING between us and authoritarianism -- a free press.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 9:31 AM, Joshua Braun <jabraun at journ.umass.edu>
> > >> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> 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
> > >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
> > >>>>>>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> > >>>>>>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers
> > >>> http://aoir.org
> > >>>>>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> > >>>>>>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > >>>>>>> http://www.aoir.org/
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>> _______________________________________________
> > >>>>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> > >>>>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers
> > >> http://aoir.org
> > >>>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> > >> http://listserv.aoir.org/
> > >>> listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > >>>>> http://www.aoir.org/
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>> <---------------------------------------------------->
> > >>>> 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/>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>> _______________________________________________
> > >>>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> > >>>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers
> > http://aoir.org
> > >>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> > http://listserv.aoir.org/
> > >>> listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > >>>> http://www.aoir.org/
> > >>>
> > >>> --
> > >>> 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
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> _______________________________________________
> > >>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> > >>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> > >>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/
> > >>> listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> > >>>
> > >>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > >>> http://www.aoir.org/
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Sarah Oates
> > >> Professor and Senior Scholar
> > >> Philip Merrill College of Journalism
> > >> University of Maryland
> > >> College Park, MD 20457
> > >> Email: soates at umd.edu
> > >> Phone: 301 405 4510
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> > >> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> > >> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/
> > >> listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> > >>
> > >> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > >> http://www.aoir.org/
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > --
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > *Carolina Cambre PhD Assistant Professor Concordia University, Montreal
> > > Centre for Global Citizenship Education & Research Fellow Affiliate of
> > > Concordia University - Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling
> > > http://storytelling.concordia.ca/content/cambre-carolina
> > > <http://storytelling.concordia.ca/content/cambre-carolina> Book:
> > > http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-semiotics-of-che-guevara-9781472505293/
> > > <http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-semiotics-of-che-guevara-
> > 9781472505293/>*
> > > <http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-semiotics-of-che-guevara-
> > 9781472505293/>
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> > > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> > > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/
> > listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> > >
> > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > > http://www.aoir.org/
> >
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> -- 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Carolina Cambre PhD Assistant Professor Concordia University, Montreal
> Centre for Global Citizenship Education & Research Fellow Affiliate of
> Concordia University - Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling
> http://storytelling.concordia.ca/content/cambre-carolina
> <http://storytelling.concordia.ca/content/cambre-carolina> Book:
> http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-semiotics-of-che-guevara-9781472505293/
> <http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-semiotics-of-che-guevara-9781472505293/>*
> <http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/the-semiotics-of-che-guevara-9781472505293/>
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> 
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/