News And How To Use It

A society that isn’t sure what’s true can’t function, but increasingly we no longer seem to know who or what to believe. We’re barraged by a torrent of lies, half-truths and propaganda: how do we even identify good journalism any more? At a moment of existential crisis for the news industry, in our age of information chaos, News and How to Use It shows us how. From Bias to Snopes, from Clickbait to TL;DR, and from Fact-Checkers to the Lamestream Media, here is a definitive user’s guide for how to stay informed, tell truth from fiction and hold those in power accountable in the modern age.

America is being torn apart by the rise of new sources of news that have no respect for facts or democracy. Coupled with politicians who cast honest journalists as frauds and enemies of the public, they are eroding the informational common ground and poisoning the process of reaching consensus that democracy requires. Public trust in professional journalism has fallen to the lowest point since polls began to measure confidence in the news. That makes us prey for unscrupulous media actors who whip up resentment and hatred of fellow Americans with false and distorted news reports. Because each group now has its own set of "facts," disputes cannot be resolved logically. We are becoming a nation of warring tribes, even to the point where we no longer wish to associate with each other. As a consequence, lawmakers no longer agree on what's real, much less what to do about it. Congress can no more plot a safe course forward than a squirrel caught in traffic. The only solution that respects freedom of speech is to equip all citizens with some basic tools - habits of mind - enabling them to discern truth from falsehood in this new information ecology of confusion. It's vital that we learn to critically assess news and information because in a democracy a misinformed vote counts as much as a wise one. And everyone is equally bound by the outcome. This book presents a method - the SMELL test - for separating real from fake and misleading news. But it goes much further: * Assessing the dimensions of a communication revolution that's upending politics and altering every aspect of modern life; * Exploring the limited nature of facts; * Explaining the origins of bias and how to uncover them; * Showing how self-interest on the part of individuals and news organizations influences what becomes news; * Providing realistic standards for news quality; * Describing how to "read" images and video; * Exposing common ways spinmeisters manipulate the public, and finally: * Reviewing online tools and techniques for unmasking bias, including our own.

Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, concerns about fake news have fostered calls for government regulation and industry intervention to mitigate the influence of false content. These proposals are hindered by a lack of consensus concerning the definition of fake news or its origins. Media scholar Nolan Higdon contends that expanded access to critical media literacy education, grounded in a comprehensive history of fake news, is a more promising solution to these issues. The Anatomy of Fake News offers the first historical examination of fake news that takes as its goal the effective teaching of critical news literacy in the United States. Higdon employs a critical-historical media ecosystems approach to identify the producers, themes, purposes, and influences of fake news. The findings are then incorporated into an invaluable fake news detection kit. This much-needed resource provides a rich history and a promising set of pedagogical strategies for mitigating the pernicious influence of fake news.

From the PREFACE. This book has been prepared with the purpose of furnishing students of journalism and young reporters with a large collection of typical news stories. For college classes it may be used as a textbook. For newspaper workers it is offered as a handbook to which they may turn, in a particular case, to find out what news to get, where to get it, and how to present it effectively. Every young writer on a newspaper is called upon to do kinds of reporting in which he lacks experience. If, with the aid of an index, he can turn readily to several instances where more experienced writers have solved problems like his own, he will undertake his new task with a clearer idea of what to do and how to do it. For systematic instruction in news writing it is desirable that students have in convenient form representative stories for study and analysis. Newspapers, it might be thought, would furnish this material, but experience has shown that it is often difficult to find, in current issues of newspapers, examples of the particular kind of story under consideration, and it is likewise difficult to supply every student in a large class with a copy of the issue that happens to contain the desired example. The selection of specimens for this book has been determined largely by two considerations: first, that the news which the story contains should be typical, rather than extraordinary or "freakish"; and second, that the story should present the news effectively. It has been assumed that the student must first learn to handle average news well in order to grapple successfully with extraordinary happenings. A considerable part of the book deals with more or less routine news, because it is with this type that a large portion of the reporter's work is concerned. Since newspapers are read rapidly, it has been taken for granted that a story is most effective when its structure and style enable the reader to get the news with the least effort and the greatest interest. Many pieces of news can best be treated in a simple, concise style, with the essential facts well massed in a summary lead. Such straightforward presentation does not mean that the style must be bald and unoriginal. The examples illustrative of this purely informative type of news story are generally marked by a simplicity and directness of expression that are characteristic of good journalistic style. Informative news stories in which the so-called "human interest" element has been developed have also been included in considerable number, not only because they are perennially popular, but because some news may be presented very effectively by bringing out its human interest phases. As a type distinct from these stories with news of some value are those entertaining and appealing stories, containing little or no real news, that are generally known as "feature" or "human interest" stories. Both of these types illustrate the application to news writing of recognized methods of fiction. The use of these methods is entirely commendable. The danger for the reporter lies in failure to discriminate between fiction and its methods. To use the devices of fiction in order to portray faithfully actual events is one thing; to substitute fictitious details in order to heighten the effect is quite another. No stories have been included in this book that are unquestionably fictitious. Some that may have imaginary details have been given to furnish material for discussion....

An A-Z guide on how we stay informed in the era of fake news, from former Guardian Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger

An urgent account of the revolution that has upended the news business, written by one of the most accomplished journalists of our time Technology has radically altered the news landscape. Once-powerful newspapers have lost their clout or been purchased by owners with particular agendas. Algorithms select which stories we see. The Internet allows consequential revelations, closely guarded secrets, and dangerous misinformation to spread at the speed of a click. In Breaking News, Alan Rusbridger demonstrates how these decisive shifts have occurred, and what they mean for the future of democracy. In the twenty years he spent editing The Guardian, Rusbridger managed the transformation of the progressive British daily into the most visited serious English-language newspaper site in the world. He oversaw an extraordinary run of world-shaking scoops, including the exposure of phone hacking by London tabloids, the Wikileaks release of U.S.diplomatic cables, and later the revelation of Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency files. At the same time, Rusbridger helped The Guardian become a pioneer in Internet journalism, stressing free access and robust interactions with readers. Here, Rusbridger vividly observes the media’s transformation from close range while also offering a vital assessment of the risks and rewards of practicing journalism in a high-impact, high-stress time.

Peeking inside the newsrooms where journalists create stories and the work settings where the public reads them, the author reveals why journalists contribute to the growing similarity of news and why consumers acquiesce to a media system they find increasingly dissatisfying.

"Here's a deep dive into how real journalism works, what fake news is -- and most importantly, how to spot the difference. Organized into chapters that explore fake news and why it's so popular, how real news gets made, some common types of fake news, and how to investigate what you see online, this book is a must-read guide for kids who get most of their information online. With hilarious examples and humorous and lively illustrations, Can You Believe It? teaches critical thinking skills AND makes them fun. Readers will become familiar with everything from clickbait to advertorials, learning along the way about how bias creeps into fake news, why celebrity Instagram posts may not always be truthful, and why they should be extra suspicious of anything that makes them feel super smart. Thanks to two step-by-step guides to deconstructing fake news articles, and an additional article kids can use to test themselves, as well as a number of tips to keep in mind when browsing online, readers are empowered to build their skills. An engaging, understanding tone never talks down to kids, and a mix of illustration styles, from comics to fake news examples, makes tricky concepts visually appealing. Supported by backmatter that includes an author's note, a glossary, sources, and an index, this book contains everything kids need -- they'll never fall for fake news again!"--Provided by publisher.

Looks at the emerging phenomenon of online journalism, including Weblogs, Internet chat groups, and email, and how anyone can produce news.