engaged reading digest
Engaged Reading Digest: Deepfakes, YouTube controversy and better analytics through complexity
Five links on engaged journalism to see you through the morning coffee break
paywalls
Paywalls promote misinformation
If all high-quality news becomes paywalled - what will fill the void left behind?
fake news
To beat "Fake News", look to… Finland?
Finland has been fighting Russian information warfare for over five years. What have they learnt?
Facebook needs to pay the global price of its scale
Facebook continues to avoid paying for the scale it has achieved.
fake news
A caravan of bots, and other news from the misinformation wars
Despite the efforts of the social platforms, the bots are getting more active — and more subtle.
India's WhatsApp murders - is this a technology or a human problem?
People are dying in India thanks to intentional disinformation being spread over — principally — Facebook's WhatsApp. This needs to be addressed - but how?
social media mobs
WhatsApp, mob justice and the desperate need for a strategic response worldwide
Messaging apps are allowing misinformation to spread faster than ever before, and tactical responses aren't working. We need to address this at a societal level, with research and education.
ad fraud
The network of sites supporting fake celeb obituaries
Interesting investigation of a network of advertising-driven misinformation sites [https://hoax-alert.leadstories.com/3468947-this-fake-news-network-specializes-in-celebrity-death-hoaxes.html] : > This seems to be the newest trick in the book of a group of fake news websites: look for news about a well-known celebrity being taken to hospital, wait a few days and then
fake news
Social platforms: perfect propaganda delivery tools
This post by JP Rangaswami resonated with me, because it summed up one of the areas digital seems to have gone wrong [http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2017/10/30/on-platforms-and-sustainability/]: > So is that it? Back to seats and eyeballs, channelled not connected, “audiences” sucking up linear “content”? Back to a
What causes Fake News to spread? People.
For all the panic, soul-searching and debate about the “fake news” phenomenon, there’s one basic truth I rarely see discussed. Much of the blame for the spread of “fake news” can be placed squarely at the feet of the general public, far too few of whom actually apply critical
Live by the Facebook, die by the Facebook
There’s a lot of unhappy Macedonian publishers right now [https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/macedonian-publishers-are-panicking-after-facebook-killed] , as Craig Silverman reports for Buzzfeed: > “I’m in a very inappropriate situation, after spending a huge amount of money on Facebook for promoting articles and Page likes,” said a Macedonian publisher who
alt right media
Breitbart's difficult third act
Is Brietbart, the alt-right site that cheered Trump and succoured Milo, in trouble? A Newsweek profile explores how it’s finding life in power much harder than opposition [http://www.newsweek.com/2017/06/23/breitbart-trump-bannon-fake-news-624726.html] : > After the London Bridge attack at the beginning of this month, Breitbart