Understanding Press Freedom and Media Influence on Society
School
University of Wisconsin, Madison**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
JOURN 201
Subject
Communications
Date
Dec 12, 2024
Pages
11
Uploaded by MinisterRiver15903
KEYWORDS: Keywords for Review• Functions and importance of press freedom and journalism●“... were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers & be capable of reading them.” (1787)●Legacy or mainstream media: radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, and online offshoots●Traditional journalism (associated with the legacy or mainstream media)●Independent media: any media that is free from influence by government or corporate interests (or often “alternative press”)●Citizen journalism●Blog●Podcast●Social media: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc.●Newsletters●Independent Media○a list of more than 300 independent, community- based, member- and audience-supported, nonprofit, not-for-profit, cooperative, and social justice oriented news publications, primarily based in the United States and Canada• Cultivation theory & Mean world syndrome●• Agenda-setting• Framing (equivalency framing, emphasis framing, frames used in protest coverage,adaptive framing)●Equivalency Framing Effects ○The result reflects a general tendency for people to be risk averse when exposed to a gains frame (saved) and be risk seeking when exposed to a losses (die) frame●Mass Communication Can Affect How You Think…○Framing effects: how mass media influence people's attitudes and behaviors by changing the ways in which media presents a certain issue○These dimensions involve either substantively distinct considerations (i.e., emphasis frames) or logically equivalent ones (i.e., equivalency frames).○In both cases, the frame leads to alternative representations of the problem and can result in distinct evaluations and preferences.●Five Frames in protest narratives in mass media ○Elite ○Episodic vs thematic ○Protesters vs police
○Characterizing the protest movement based on small, inappropriate samples of individual protesters ○Lack of empathy for the disenfranchised before, during and after protests• Social media use & political engagement• Community-oriented journalism & research (participant observation, deep hanging out,interviews, surveys, native anthropology, multi sited fieldwork, digital ethnography)• EML model & Persuasion principles in strategic communication●The elaboration likelihood model explains how people can be persuaded to change their attitudes.●When people are invested in a topic and have the time and energy to think over an issue they’re more likely to be persuaded through the central route.●When people are less invested in a topic, they’re more likely to be persuaded by the peripheral route and are more easily influenced by superficial aspects of the situation.●Central route persuasion tends to be stronger and last longer, but we should not overlook the peripheral route and its effectsSuccess of a persuasive campaign depends on:●Transmitted communication is effective in changing/preserving attitudes in a desired way.●Modified/preserved attitudes influence people’s behavior in the expected way.Principles of Persuasion:• Authority• Likability• Social proof• Scarcity• Reciprocity• Consistency/commitment• Social influence and persuasion (agency, communion, conformity, mentalizing, positivevaluation)• Paths to journalistic persuasion (exemplars, fact-checks, adaptive frames)• Hostile media effect●Hostile media effect○Design of the study:○• 68 pro-Israeli, 27 pro-Arab, and 49 politically neutral undergraduates at Stanfordin the 1980s○Given identical samples of major network TV coverage of the Beirut massacre○Students asked to rate samples as whether being biased against their side or not●Hostile media effect: originally hostile media phenomenon, sometimes hostile media perception
●If an individual has a strong pre-existing attitude toward a given issue, they tend to perceive the news coverage of that issue as biased against their side and in favor of their antagonists’ viewpoints.●A cognitive bias○Selective recall○Selective perception○Different standards or motivated reasoning●Often happens to partisans (defined as people who have strong opinions about an issue); but not confined to politics○Nonpartisan individuals tend to see the stories as balanced• Third person perception & third person effects●People perceive the message as undesirable – powerful media●The reach is perceived to be larger – powerful media●People view others as being prone to influence (but not themselves!) – personal immunity●Ego enhancement/biased optimism –personal immunity●“People will perceive some influence of communication on others and as a result will change their own attitudes or behaviors accordingly” (Park 2005: 569; originally from Gunther and Storey 2003)Third person effects●Behavioral outcomes grouped in 2 categories:○Prevention■Willingness to censor media○Corrective actions■Offline participation■Online participation• Presumed media influence• Computational communication science (what it does and what it takes to study it)●Emerging communication technologies are producing lots of data every minute!●These data are not only big, but also complex!●— Big & complex data requires computational methods to generate insights.What does CCS do?●— Describe & measure things otherwise difficult to capture●Explain and identify why something has happened (causal inference)●Develop effective interventions• Automation bias & techno chauvinism●“Techno Chauvinism is a kind of bias that considers computational solutions to be superior to all other solutions. Embedded in this bias is an a priori assumption that computers are better than humans – which is actually a claim that the people who make and program computers are better than other humans.” (Broussard 2023: 2)Three major ML modes:- Supervised learning
- Unsupervised learning- Reinforcement learning●What is algorithmic bias?○As a form of machine bias○Factors contributing to such biases■Biased data sets■Societies in which people live in and from which data is being collected■People who make decisions, write algorithms, design products, etc• Mis/disinformation●Misinformation is false or inaccurate information—getting the facts wrong. [not necessarily with deliberate intention]●Disinformation is false information which is deliberately intended to mislead—intentionally misstating the facts.●The spread of misinformation and disinformation has affected our ability to improve public health, address climate change, maintain a stable democracy, and more.7 types of mis/dis information: ●Satire or parody○No intention to cause harm but has potential to fool ●False connection ○When headlines, visuals or captions don’t support the content ●Misleading content ○Misleading use of information to frame an issue or individual ●False context ○When genuine content is shared with false contextual information●Imposter content ○When genuine sources are impersonated ●Manipulated content ○When genuine information or imagery is manipulated to deceive ●Fabricated content ○New content that is 100% false, made to deceive and do harm • Fake news & fact-checking journalism (media consumption patterns, key shift in fact-checking)●Fact checking - Antecedents○The proofreaders: marking errors for correction○First references to proofreaders in 19th century in US periodicals○The copy editors: corrections before printing○First references showed up in 20th century○Full fledged fact-checking departments emerged at national magazines in the 1920s and 1930s●Key shift in fact-Checking
○Traditional approach: fact-checking “the reporters, not the people being reported on”(Graves 2016:7)○New approach now: investigating claims that are already in the news and publish the results as a news story (Graves 2016:8)●Factual accuracy of information already in the public sphere.●A much more aggressive stance by journalists in adjudicating claims.●Increase in fact-checking activities and speed in which it is done (computational fact checking).• Persuasive health communication (social cognitive theory, health belief model, theory ofreasoned action/planned behavior)●WHAT IS PERSUASIVE HEALTH COMMUNICATION?○Any communication focusing on the transmission of health information with the intent of creating or changing attitudes, beliefs, and/or behaviors●AREAS IN HEALTH COMMUNICATION○Interpersonal■Doctor/Patient or Provider/Patient■Patient/Carer■Patient/Family●Mass Media○Public Service Announcements○Health News ○Policy Communication○Health Science Communication●Computer Mediated○Social Media○Websites○Online Communities○EHRs●SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (BANDURA)○Argument:■In order for people to change/adopt behaviors they need to have:●1) knowledge of the behavior ●2) high self-efficacy related to the behavior●3) positive outcome expectancies●Self-efficacy – the belief that you are able to successfully perform a behavior to achieve the desired effect○E.g., Self-efficacy related to bike riding would involve believing that you have knowledge of how a bike works, how to balance on a bike, etc.●SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY○Self-efficacy can be increased by:■Mastery experiences – successfully performing the behavior
■Vicarious experience – seeing another person like you successfully perform the behavior●HEALTH BELIEF MODEL○Developed in 1950s by US Public Health Service to explain why people weren’t getting screened for TB○Expanded to identify key beliefs that predict the likelihood that someone will engage in preventive health behavior related to a particular health issue■E.g., Using sunscreen to prevent skin cancer○Helps message creators target problem areas and beliefs○5 Components■Perceived susceptibility●What is the likelihood of me getting this disease/condition?○Perception of risk must exist for prevention behavior to change○Higher perception of susceptibility = more likely to engage in prevention behavior■Perceived severity●How bad is it if I end up with this disease/disorder?●Includes:○Physical consequences (e.g., disability, pain, death)○Social consequences (e.g., stigma, ability to work)○Financial consequences ○Etc.■Perceived barriers●What stops me from engaging in healthy behavior?●Again, can be….○Physical (e.g., screening procedure is uncomfortable)○Social (e.g., stigma)○Financial○Etc.●Generally identified as most influential factor■Perceived benefits●What do I get out of engaging in the health behavior?■Self-efficacy●Do I have the knowledge and skill necessary to engage in the health behavior?●THEORY OF REASONED ACTION/PLANNED BEHAVIOR○Focus on motivational factors that determine whether or not a behavior is adopted■Major components are:●Attitudes – Do I feel positively/negatively toward behavior and outcomes?
●Norms –What do I believe important people in my life want me to do? What do people like me actually do?●Perceived Control – Essentially self-efficacy●Behavioral intention – Intention to perform the behavior!○• Spiral of silence & confirmation bias and Echo Chamber●Echo Chamber○An echo chamber is an environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own.○They’re fueled in part by confirmation bias, which is the tendency to favor information that reinforces existing beliefs.○Echo chambers can create misinformation and distort a person’s perspective so they have difficulty considering opposing viewpoints and discussing complicated topics.●Confirmation Bias○Confirmation bias is the natural human tendency to seek, interpret, and remember new information in accordance with preexisting beliefs. (Seneca 2020)●What can we do to break out of echo chamber?○1. “Like” everything.○2. Actively cultivate prestige media on all sides.○3. Pay attention to the amount of followers the people you follow have.○4. Change feeds to focus on recency rather than personalization.○5. Create space for new voices.●Spiral of silence○It is the theory that people’s willingness to express their opinions on controversialpublic issues is affected by their largely unconscious perception of those opinions as being either popular or unpopular■Fear of social isolation■Tendency to conform to norms○Noelle-Neumann viewed public opinion as a form of social control that ultimatelyapplies to everyone, regardless of social class, and that is apparent in many areas of life, ranging from controversial political issues to fashion, morals, and values.• Feature storytelling (communication values, elements of a feature story)●ELEMENTS OF A FEATURE STORY○Dialogue■WE RELY ON THE PEOPLE WE SPEAK TO AND LET READER HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THEM●It’s more engaging and tells readers something they probably don’tknow.●They are learning from someone’s personal experience.■WE INTERVIEW TO
●...add voice, emotion and opinion to stories (for reporting)●...gather information and insight for strategy (for strategic communication)■OBJECTIVE COPY●Use only straight-up facts in the narrative■SUBJECTIVE SOUND●Use to introduce opinion and emotion into the straight-up narrative■MAKE YOUR QUOTES COUNT●(DON’T USE THEM FOR RECOUNTING FACTS — THEY’REFOR EMOTION/OPINION/ANALYSIS)○Emotion○Visuals■Photos and design add to the detail and emotion — they are as much a partof the story as the words○Gold coins■REWARD THE READER THROUGHOUT THE STORY●Anecdotes●Examples●Good quotes●Interesting facts○Scene■THIS IS THE LEAD○Tension■THE NUT GRAF IS THE ESSENCE OF THE STORY■Why is this happening? Why does it matter?○Action■NARRATIVE NONFICTION●EXPOSITION○Introduces Smith and shop●RISING ACTION○Explains clinic and client reactions●CLIMAX○See the impact on Jones and others●RESOLUTION○Smith reflects on the future of the clinic○Characters■What do we learn about Smith ●DON’T TRY TO WRITE A CONCLUSION○(REAL LIFE DOESN‘T ALWAYS HAVE THEM — TRY A KICKER QUOTE)• Media as infrastructure●What is communication?
○A process or a system through which information is exchanged: signals, symbols, signs, behaviors, etc.○Medium (pl. media): chemical, body, image, language, book, cable, satellite, phone, etc.○More than human: among humans, human-machine, human-divine, animal-animal, animal-plant, plant-plant, machine-machine…●What is mass communication?○Mass communication is a process by which a person, group, or organization creates a message and shares it through a platform/medium to a large, mostly anonymous, diverse audience.■Reach mass audiences, not an individual.■It is mediated (print, radio, TV, computer, game consoles, mobiles, etc.)■We consume a lot of it...●What is media as infrastructure?○Infrastructure: underlying structures, referring to the material foundations that a system, society, city, community, or people need in order to function○Media as infrastructure: the underlying technologies, services, facilities, and outlets that are critical to the communicational●THE ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS OF MEDIA INFRASTRUCTURES○Natural resources○Electricity consumption○Global supply chains○Data centers○Growing demands for digitalization○Increasing e-waste globally○Uneven environmental regulations• Digital authoritarianism (definitions, types, and implications)●Digital Authoritarianism○Common definition: “the use of digital information technology by authoritarian regimes to surveil, repress, and manipulate domestic and foreign populations” (European Center for Populism Studies)○Expanded definition: repressive technologies used by a given regime to “facilitatethe control of its citizens and blunt political challenges from opponents” (Steven Feldstein, “The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance)■Surveillance■Censorship■Social manipulation and harassment■Cyberattacks■Internet shutdowns■Targeted persecution against online users○Surveillance
■Monitoring the behaviors and many other activities to gather, influence, manage, or direct information○Censorship■Suppression or removal of writing, artistic work, and so on that are considered as obscene, politically unacceptable, or a security threat○Social manipulation and harassment■The deliberate use of information, communication technologies, and related means by an individual, group, or government to cause harm to another person/entity○Internet shutdowns■An intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information• Artificial intelligence (Technophobia & technophilia, mass communication & AI in threebroad fields)●The jobs that are safe from AI (for now)●Actually, quite a lot!●Most are doing just fine now●Since late 2022, jobs that have grown including:○Video editing/production○Graphic design○Web design○Software development○AI content generation○AI agent development○AI integration work○AI app development●Three jobs that are at risk●Writing: 33%●Translation: 19%●Customer service: 16%Technophilia●Strong attraction for technologies (new)●Utopic imagination about technological futures●DeterministicTechnophobia●Strong aversion against technologies (new)●Dystopic imagination about technological futures●DeterministicMass communication & AI
●Journalism○Data journalism○AI-assisted journalism○Socially impactful storytelling○Ethics and journalism in the age of AI●Strategic Communication○Targeted advertising○Socially impactful storytelling○Ethics of AI-assisted mediation in marketing and businesses●Communication Research○Human-centered AI research: health comm, science comm, political comm, strategic comm, journalism, etc.○Implications (positive & negative) of AI for human societies: socioeconomic classes, gender, race, language, ability, etc.