Category Archives: Minimizing Harm

Weeding Out Toxic Commentary

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Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. finds a way to weed out toxic commentary: Take a quiz.

Many large media organizations eliminated their comment sections because of abusive commentary, writes Steve Friess. The Guardian, for example, last year closed comments under articles on race, immigration and Islam because they attract “unacceptable levels of toxic commentary.”

A short quiz on the contents of a story, the Norwegian brainstorm, unlocks access to the comments section.

“We wanted to create a bump in the road to make people think a bit before ranting away,” a source tells Friess.

Facebook Home of Viral Hoaxes

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Rumors, misinformation and fake news: Craig Silverman says he helped popularize the term “fake news” and now regrets it.

Silverman and colleagues published an analysis of 50 of the biggest fake news hits on Facebook in 2017.

“This highlights the challenge faced by Facebook to find ways to halt or arrest the spread of completely false stories on its platform, and raises questions about how much progress has been made in fighting this type of misinformation.”

Facebook “remains the home of massively viral hoaxes,” says Silverman.

Unnamed Sources Harms Public Trust

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Reading a story with unnamed sources: Bethania Palma quotes experts who say that journalists risk losing audience trust by frequent or unnecessary use of unnamed sources.

“The public, like the reporters and editors putting a story together, should question whether the story is important enough to grant public-facing anonymity to the sources making the claims.”

Facial-recognition and Internet Vigilantes

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Year of the Internet Vigilantes: Doris Truong writes about online identification technology to combat misinformation.

“It might lie in facial-recognition technology. You might have it in your hands already, depending on which smartphone you’re using.” Trust but verify.

Deciding on Corrections or Clarifications

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Correcting “significant errors:” The Guardian’s readers’ editor tells how he decides if an error needs a correction or clarification, using six criteria.

“Seriousness of any potential harm” tops the list, followed by “consequences if item misunderstood.”

“Human frailty plays its part,” writes the editor. “People can mishear, misunderstand, misread, mistype and overlook. People cut corners and sometimes crash.”

Combating Newsroom Sexual Abuse

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Combating sexual abuse in the newsroom: The Society of Professional Journalists lists resources “in light of the increasing sexual misconduct allegations against high-profile male journalists.” Four steps explained: Demand, insist, urge and establish.

Best Practices for Women Journalists

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Avoiding gender-based violence and sex abuse: Dart Center asks leading women journalists to describe their own best practices and personal boundaries.

“Listen to your internal radar,” says Christine Amanpour, CNN correspondent.

Mistake Feeds “Fake News” Charges

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Brian Ross mistake feeds “fake news” charges: Vivian Wang quotes ethics expert Kathleen Culver saying “this error plays right into the hands of people who callously try to say that news media all just lie.” ABC News suspends Ross. Culver calls for wider assessment.