media – Julie's Corner

As FactCheck.org explains, fake news has become more pervasive than ever before. What was once limited to an occasionally annoying chain email now has the potential to be shared across social media and other platforms under the guise of seemingly legitimate reporting.

In an effort to help readers decipher between what is fact and fiction, Snopes published a list of well-known “fake news” purveyors, including names like News Examiner and Empire News. FactCheck.org also cautions about the names of these websites. The article stated that the creators of these sites will mirror their domains after trusted news organizations. An example of this is how closely abcnews.com.co, a URL meant to mimic ABC News, resembles the actual URL for the outlet (abcnews.go.com).

person reading the daily fake news newspaper sitting on gray couch — Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

However, there are other clues readers can look for when reviewing the legitimacy of an article. Look to see authored the piece. If you cannot find a link to any other work he/she has done, the name may be fake. I’ve linked to my work both as an example and a bit of shameless self promotion.

Another aspect to look out for is the date of the piece. Occasionally, these fake news outlets will take an old story and re-brand it to be connected with current-day events. This can be solved by Googling the news item to see if it has been debunked/proven or what other outlets are saying about it.

However, none of this changes the fact that potentially false information is often finding its way into our social media feeds. According to an NPR podcast with guest Craig Silverman, an editor at Buzzfeed, Facebook’s algorithm for content is, whatever is receiving the most engagement will be promoted to others.

Silverman goes on to explain that teenagers and 20-somethings in Veles, Macedonia took advantage of this fact. They saw, for example, that pro-Trump and anti-Clinton material was popular on the platform during the 2016 Election. They would post content reflecting those biases into Trump support groups. In addition, many of these posts were multimedia: video, pictures, memes and text-based articles as well.

Silverman said that the multimedia aspect of these messages was one of the driving forces behind their popularity. People could see a meme, for example, and quickly identify that it was inline with their beliefs. From there, the “share button” feeds the algorithm for popularity.

The clicks a piece of content receives, that directs the audience back to a website, and Google’s role in all of this is possibly the biggest factor in the whole puzzle. If the website has ads placed on it by Google (AdSense), then traffic to that website can be a major revenue generator. Just ask the man who built a fake news domain once worth more than $100,000.

Though Facebook has said it is improving its flagging system and algorithm to recognize misinformation, there is a high possibility that information which merely expresses an opposing opinion will be suppressed. Therefore, the responsibility rests with the audience to research and inform itself. That may be easier said than done but it is necessary to becoming an informed news consumer.

Okay, admittedly, the title of this week’s post is a bit dramatic and also implies that there is a clear answer. Ultimately, I land somewhere in the middle.

Twitter has its uses, both for journalism and PR. As Forbes suggests, PR professionals can use the platform for announcements, news releases and contest launches among other tactics. In a 2012 post, the late Steve Buttry laid out 10 reasons why journalists should be on Twitter, all of which seem valid. I particularly identified with his top reason, finding breaking news. As Campus Life Editor for Seton Hall University’s The Setonian, I routinely look for stories on social media.

However, to put it bluntly, there is a risk of getting caught up in the platform and becoming lazy. Based on experience, I can more easily relate to how this affects journalism as opposed to PR. Most journalists cite Twitter as a key place to look for sources. Many articles even have embedded tweets in them as a means of gauging public response to news. However, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) many accounts on Twitter are in fact bots and not real people.

Twitter pic — Photo via Unsplash/Marten Bjork

There is a way to check on this. For example, running account name through Botometer can help determine if the account is real or not. Since bots are usually designed to participate and share in the spread of propagandized information, a journalist who does not verify his or her source could unwittingly be aiding in this goal.

However, if a journalist or PR professional is careful about their source aggregation, Twitter can doubtlessly be a useful tool. Individuals in both professions can find a litany of ways to gain followers and spread their messages and stories. One way to gain followers on Twitter is to add your name to a directory, as per the Forbes article. If people want information on a certain topic, you can be listed as a go-to source. If the content is engaging enough, you will likely have yourself a new follower. Forbes also mentions the benefit of adding a twitter widget to your blog, like the one on mine. If you regularly keep your Twitter account updated with regard to upcoming posts and news, visitors to the blog will see that and may follow you to keep updated.

Even though, at the outset of this post, I said I landed somewhere in the middle on Twitter being a must or not for journalism and PR, I will conclude by saying that there are far too many benefits to the platform to ignore it completely. Another way to look at the fields I just mentioned is to point out that they both involve communication. Social media, whether it be Twitter; Facebook; Instagram or whatever platform to be introduced in the years to come, has become the way billions across the globe communicate and connect. To ignore this change is to be in the dark when it comes to the media industry.

On that note, for the latest on what is happening with Julie’s Corner be sure to follow me on Twitter at @SHUSocialJulie. If you’re interested to learn more about what’s happening at Seton Hall, check out the blog I run with a classmate, Campus Rundown! We can be reached at @CampusRundown.