Internet Media

Conspiracies and the media

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Article in The Guardian by Steve Rose, 11/8./24

Headline:  “A reporter down the rabbit hole: Gabriel Gatehouse on edgelords, conspiracy theories and Trump’s America”

Subhead:  “The former BBC journalist has spent four years considering the misfits, misinformation and manipulation that are now central to US politics. In his new book, The Coming Storm, he weaves a terrifying narrative”

“. . . The parallels between media reporting and conspiracy theory manufacturing are uncomfortably close, especially now that “the media” is itself fragmented into different camps, each pushing its own conflicting version of reality. ‘If some people take this series as a sort of critique of establishment media, then we’ll be happy about that,’ he says. Bias is unavoidable: ‘You’re not just putting facts in there in a random order; you are crafting a narrative, so obviously you are choosing what to include and what to leave out.’ As a conspiracist, you can be more cavalier, but as a journalist, “You’ve got to do that in as honest a way as possible, but you can’t help but go into a story with some kind of preconceived idea of what the story is.”

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/nov/08/gabriel-gatehouse-coming-storm-conspiracy-theories-trump-america

Alternative Media Changed Things

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Article in The Washington Post by Manuel Roig-Franzia, Elahe Izadi, 11/8/24

Headline:  “As Trump joined the podcast revolution, legacy media got left out”

Subhead:  “The 2024 election result makes clear how much alternative forms of news have changed the game.”

” . . .There is no question that this election was probably a breaking point in terms of the role legacy media plays in political campaigns,” said Dan Pfeiffer, a co-host of the popular liberal podcast, “Pod Save America.” Trump “paid no price” for mostly ignoring legacy media — appearances on Fox News aside — in the final month-and-a-half of the campaign, something that would have been unheard of in elections past, said Pfeiffer, who was communications director in Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

“. . . At the same time, traditional legacy media audiences, particularly for news, have eroded over the decades. Daily newspaper circulation, digital traffic to newspaper websites and local television news ratings are all down, per Pew. About 15 years ago, as many as 90 percent of households paid to get TV channels; now, it’s barely half. Television is still the single most common way Americans get their political news, according to Pew, but it’s way more popular among older Americans than those younger than 29, whose most common source is social media.”

“. . . “They don’t need the legacy media,” she said. “They know they can sit in a room full of podcasters and whatever else you want to call the influencers that lead his base and they will write down his every word, even if it’s spelled backwards.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/11/08/podcasts-joe-rogan-trump/

Australia’s Social Media Action

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Article in the New York Times by By Eve Sampson, 11/7/24

Headline:  “Australia Moves to Ban Young Teens From Social Media”

Subhead:  “The proposed legislation would put the country at the forefront of regulating social media access for children.”

“Far-reaching legislation announced on Thursday would make the platforms that are the lifeblood of many teenagers — among them TikTok — off limits to anyone under 16.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared at a news conference. “I’ve spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online.”

The proposed legislation, which puts Australia at the forefront of regulating social media access for children, would hold platforms accountable for enforcing the new rules, Mr. Albanese said. There will be no exemptions for children with parental permission, he said, but neither underage users nor their parents will face punishment for violations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/world/australia/australia-teens-social-media.html

From AP:

” The Australian government announced on Thursday what it described as world-leading legislation that would institute an age limit of 16 years for children to start using social media, and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.”

https://apnews.com/article/australia-social-media-age-limit-e8259408c0b1456f41967decd474782a

From UPI:

“Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday his government will introduce legislation to ban children under 16 years of age from social media.”

Defending Legacy Media Over Internet Media?

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Article in The Washington Post by Catherine Rampell, 11/5/24

Headline:  “Opinion:  This election year, legacy media consumers came out on top”

Subhead:  “We’ve made our share of mistakes, but readers of traditional media understand the stakes of this election.”

“. . . If you had consumed all your election news this year exclusively from The Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or other journalistic dinosaurs, you’d probably be well-informed. You’d have a sense of what the stakes are this election. You might even know what the candidates stand for! The same cannot be said if you instead primarily relied on TikTok influencers, random bros with podcasts or Discord streams, and Elon Musk’s X platform.”

“. . . We traditional journalists don’t get things right all the time. We have biases we’re often blind to. We make errors of omission, commission and emphasis. But we are (usually) embarrassed when we get stuff wrong, and we have procedures for transparently correcting our mistakes.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/05/media-2024-presidential-election/

Social Media Also Influence Climate

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Article in Techxplore by by Domenico Vicinanza

Headline: “Social media and generative AI can have a large climate impact—here’s how to reduce yours”

“. . . Every time we read an article, see an advertisement, watch a photo or video, that content needs to be transferred from the social media platform’s servers to our device. The larger the file, the more data needs to be transferred. And high-resolution images or long videos involve lots of data.”

“. . . But there are things we can do to reduce the carbon footprint of our internet use, involving a combination of individual actions and systemic changes.”

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-11-social-media-generative-ai-large.html

 

Social Media Politically Ghosting?

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Article in Vox by Aja Romano, 11/2/24

Headline:  “Were Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin really shadow banned by Instagram and X?”

Subhead:  “What social media shadow ban rumors tell us about election anxiety.”

“In the lead-up to the election, allegations are flying that social media platforms have been “shadow banning,” or in some way filtering the political content of, celebrities. After multiple Latine stars spoke out against the racism and misogyny on display at last week’s Madison Square Garden rally, Ricky Martin posted an Instagram Story claiming that the platform was blocking a post he’d published on the subject. Users also speculated that their access to other public figures who posted about the rally, including Bad Bunny, was being somehow restricted.”

https://www.vox.com/culture/381925/instagram-shadow-ban-political-election-posts-ricky-martin-bad-bunny-twitter-x-censorship

Social Media Good or Bad for Democracy?

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Article in AP, 11/1/24

Headline: “Mauritius suspends access to social media ahead of parliamentary elections”

“JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The government of Mauritius on Friday banned access to social media websites ahead of parliamentary elections on Nov. 10 in which Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth is seeking a second term in power.

‘The directive was announced by the national communications regulator, which said social media sites will be banned until Nov. 11, the day after the election.

‘The unprecedented social media ban follows a wiretapping scandal which rocked the country last month when recorded conversations of politicians, business people, and members of civil society were leaked on social media.

‘According to media freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, the recorded conversations of five well-known journalists were also published on social media.

https://apnews.com/article/mauritius-social-media-suspension-elections-pravind-jugnauth-2e4e13fcd2ab37c32f85e4d042726022

Article in Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mauritius-suspends-social-media-until-after-election-communications-regulator-2024-11-01/

Article in Al Jezerra

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/1/mauritius-blocks-social-media-until-after-election-amid-wiretapping-row

 

Right-Wing Newser Called on Facts, Quits in Snit

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Article in The Daily Beast by Grace Harrington, 11/1/24

Headline: “Hugh Hewitt Resigns as Washington Post Columnist After Storming Off Paper’s Livestream”

Subhead: “The conservative had argued with two progressive columnists amid the backlash at the paper over owner Jeff Bezos’ endorsement decision.”

“Conservative columnist Hugh Hewitt resigned from The Washington Post on Friday, shortly after exiting a stormy livestream debate moderated by Jonathan Capehart, the New York Post reports.

“Hewitt walked off of the Post‘s show “First Look,” with liberal columnists Jonathan Capehart and Ruth Marcus, after a heated discussion on Donald Trump’s lawsuit about alleged voting irregularities in Pennsylvania.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hugh-hewitt-resigns-as-washington-post-columnist-after-storming-off-papers-livestream/

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Article in The Hill by Donald Mastrangelo, 11/1/24

Headline:  “Conservative radio host and political pundit Hugh Hewitt stormed off a Washington Post live event Friday after an argument over former President Trump’s rhetoric on election integrity ahead of Tuesday’s election.”

“. . .After a brief pause, Capehart told Hewitt, “I don’t appreciate being lectured about reporting when, Hugh, many times you come here saying lots of things that aren’t based in fact.”

“I won’t come back, Jonathan, I’m done,” Hewitt said, ripping his earpiece out and standing up.

“I’m done. This is the most unfair election ad I’ve ever been a part of,” Hewitt continued, his face no longer visible on the screen. “You guys are working, that’s fine, I’m done.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4965738-hugh-hewitt-washington-post-live-jonathan-capehart-ruth-marcus/

Podcasts Stomping Out Newspapers?

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Article in Al Jezeera by John Power, 10/31/24

Headline: “What Joe Rogan, Washington Post dramas say about the US election and media”

Subhead: “Trump and Harris have both shunned newspapers in favour of podcasts, highlighting media’s struggle for relevance.”

“Two stories about the United States presidential election this week highlight the total transformation of the news business.

“One involves Joe Rogan, the world’s most popular podcaster.”

“. . . Tellingly, while both Trump and Harris have made time for a number of high-profile podcasts, neither has sat down for an interview with The [Washington] Post.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/10/31/what-joe-rogan-washington-post-dramas-say-about-the-us-election-and-media