We’ve talked about this ad nauseam: How did our once-upon-a-time era of “Walter Cronkite credibility” give way to current polarization perpetuated by rancorous social media? And where is our government in overseeing mass and social media? Why isn’t it fixing this? What ever happened to the Fairness Doctrine? Couldn’t that be our guide in dealing with these platforms? … [Read more...] about Are investigative reporting and news literacy the new Fairness Doctrine?
Local media have role in fighting vaccine hesitancy, misinformation
A few days ago I shared an op-ed on my personal Facebook page by a doctor in Los Angeles who wrote that she was running out of compassion for the people unwilling to get the COVID vaccine. “Last year, a case like this would have flattened me,” the doctor wrote of a man who had refused to be vaccinated and was now dying. “I would have wrestled with the sadness and how … [Read more...] about Local media have role in fighting vaccine hesitancy, misinformation
The pandemic exposed deep inequality. We shouldn’t forget that in our race to ‘normal’
Every year since I became a journalism professor, I’m asked to do this strange academic ritual called an “annual report.” In that report, I’m required to document every course I teach, every article I’ve written, every meeting of substance, every project. It’s a basic accounting of my time that the college can then use to tell me if I’m pulling my weight. Of course it’s more … [Read more...] about The pandemic exposed deep inequality. We shouldn’t forget that in our race to ‘normal’
Jan. 6 insurrection raised misunderstood 1A issues about censorship and incitement
The Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol raised a host of questions about free expression where the law of the First Amendment is widely misunderstood. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who went to Stanford, graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts, claimed Simon & Schuster assaulted the First Amendment by canceling his book contract because … [Read more...] about Jan. 6 insurrection raised misunderstood 1A issues about censorship and incitement
Facebook v. Science
Social media have helped us cocoon ourselves into comfortable ignorance of “the other side” — so goes the prevailing notion of the last few years, since Facebook has been king. A team of researchers at Facebook published an article Thursday that claimed to detail how much the site contributes to political echo chambers or filter-bubbles. Published in the journal Science, … [Read more...] about Facebook v. Science