How science helps fuel a culture of misinformation
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Thursday, June 9, 2022
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How science helps fuel a culture of misinformationWe tend to blame the glut of disinformation in science on social media and the news, but the problem often starts with the scientific enterprise itself. By Joelle Renstrom. |
What We’re Reading
NPR / Bobby Allyn
Group aiming to defund disinformation tries to drain Fox News of online advertising →
“We can do more than just complain and be sad and tweet and share with each other that we’re sad about where Fox News has taken us as a country. We can actually fight back.”
Your Local Epidemiologist / Katelyn Jetelina
“The Morning today is…wrong,” plus David Leonhardt’s response →
“The email reported that death rate for White Americans has recently exceeded the rates for Black, Latino and Asian Americans. The disparities seem to have flipped. This is misinformation,” Jetelina wrote. Leonhardt responded here.”
Slate / Heather Schwedel
The weirdly specific trend that has taken over women’s fiction →
“In Protagonist Does a Thing book titles, after the name of the protagonist comes the, well, doing of a thing.”
Nieman Reports / Andras Petho
“I witnessed Orbán crack down on the press. Here’s my advice to journalists facing similar threats.” →
“[F]ocusing too much on your role, however noble it is, will create a narrative that you personally fight against certain political forces. Nothing would make autocrats happier, as it would reinforce their argument that journalists are out to get them.”
Washington Post / Meryl Kornfield and Paul Farhi
The biggest U.S. newspaper chain wants less opinion in its pages →
“Readers don't want us to tell them what to think. They don't believe we have the expertise to tell anyone what to think on most issues. They perceive us as having a biased agenda.”
Puck / Dylan Byers
The Washington Post’s Twitter fragility →
“The severity of Weigel's suspension was actually attributable to a number of factors, including at least three previous instances in which his tweets had been flagged to H.R. for violating the Post's social media policy. Indeed, these sources told me that, in light of his history, Weigel could have had reason to expect he might be fired for this latest transgression.”
Washington Post / Elizabeth Dwoskin and Naomi Nix
Facebook’s ban on gun sales gives sellers 10 strikes before booting them →
“A separate five-strikes policy extends even to gun sellers and purchasers who actively call for violence or praise a known dangerous organization.”
NBC News / Brandy Zadrozny
Facebook’s 2018 algorithm change boosted local GOP groups, research finds →
“The new paper adds to a growing collection of data-based research that shows Facebook has consistently amplified content from conservative accounts.”
Current / Scott Fybush
How pandemic evacuations created openings for public broadcasters to build new studios →
“We isolated the floor with some rubber isolation. Lifted the floor by about six inches, filled it with insulation and then did the same thing for the walls.”
Task & Purpose / Max Hauptman
AP Style Guide tells journalists to be more specific when writing about service members and veterans →
“The military-civilian divide is nothing new … but part of bridging that divide is understanding what life is like for everyone in the military, and that means understanding just what a particular ribbon or weapons qualification means.”
Gawker / Tarpley Hitt
The Washington Post meltdown is not helping the perception of media →
“Whatever is going on at the Post, it is not great PR for the industry as a whole. A good chunk of the country already sees journalists as a bunch of sniveling high school students fighting over cafeteria real estate. No need to do the work for them.”
Digital Content Next / Esther Kezia Thorpe
What The Economist’s move into education can teach other publishers →
“When you're talking about topics that are extensively covered already in our publications, we need to make sure that the courses have the same take on subjects, the same access to the sources the journalists might use, and of course, the journalists themselves, because they are the best people to comment on these topics.”
The New York Times / Jack Nicas, Ana Ionova, and André Spigariol
Threats, then guns: A journalist and an expert vanish in the Amazon →
“Mr. Phillips, who also wrote regularly for The New York Times in 2017, has dedicated much of his career to documenting the struggle between the people who want to protect the Amazon and those who want to exploit it. Mr. Pereira has spent years defending Indigenous groups under the resulting threat. Now fears are growing that their latest journey deep into the rainforest could end up as one of the grimmest illustrations of that conflict.”
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