Hate Groups Manipulate Media

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Hate groups manipulate media: Whitney Phillips warns that journalists covering hate groups unwittingly spread their hateful ideology and other false and misleading narratives “with news coverage itself harnessed to fuel hate, confusion and discord.”

 

Sexual Predators Among Foreign Correspondents

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Sexual predators among foreign correspondents: Joanna Chiu writes about sex abuse by journalists far from home.

“The corrosive culture of expatriates spans multiple countries, and bad sexual behavior — dubbed ‘sexpat behavior’ in the expat world — is hardly confined to tourists.” It includes journalists.

Ombudsman Target of Sex Abuse Probe

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Ombudsman is target of sex abuse probe: Alan Stamm reports that Jack Lessenberry, ombudsman at The Blade in Toledo, is under investigation for alleged misbehavior at a Memphis newspaper and at Wayne State University, where he taught.

Lessenberry has called sexual harassment “a national buzzword” and “the current crime the nation is fixated on.”

 

How The Internet Found Its Voice

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How the internet found its voice: Lyz Lenz analyzes the rise of internet writing.

“It comes as no surprise that finding and creating a cohesive understanding of internet writing is just as dubious, problematic and maddening as the internet itself,” she writes.

“The internet, with its irreverence and short attention span, is a perfect vehicle for crassly delightful send-up humor.”

 

Ethics Of Talking Machines

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Ethics of talking machines: Drew Harwell writes that Google’s artificial intelligence assistant sounds almost exactly like a human.

It’s a convenience for phone-shy people, “but it is also raising thorny questions about the ethics of using a machine to copy a person’s voice, carry out commands — and potentially deceive the unsuspecting listener on the other side.”

Guarding Against Deepfakes

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Guarding against deepfakes: Nicholas Diakopoulos writes that a media synthesis algorithm generates convincing but fake video.

“Dire as the case may be, it could offer a great comeback opportunity for mainstream media,” writes Diakopoulos. Trained journalists can act as validators and assessors of mediated reality the public can trust.

 

Vulture Capitalists And The Demise Of Newspapers

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Vulture capitalists and the demise of newspapers: Jack Shafer writes that plundering newspaper owners are “acting on the fact that more value can be extracted by sucking the marrow than by investing more deeply or sell.”

“It’s a truth universally acknowledged by those who don’t let sentiment cloud their thinking that the newspaper’s time will soon pass — except for rare titles like the New York Times and a few others that can attract national audiences,” he writes.

Crazy Media Poll Answers Kill Public Trust

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Crazy media poll answers kill public trust: Davide W. Moore explores CBS News poll on investigation into Trump administration ties to Russia.

“Apart from the confusing wording of the initial question, the poll results suffer from not measuring how strongly people feel about the issue,” writes Moore. “It’s highly unlikely that 95 percent of the public has thought carefully about the issues involved in the investigation, yet that is what the poll results suggest.”