The Impact of Technology on News Media By Aaron Berhane

Agenda What’s new media New Media & its functionality Distinct features of New Media Fake News Challenges of Traditional media Advantage/disadvantage to society Conclusion

What is New Media? New Media can be defined by its technology (interactivity, digitalization, convergence); Its services (delivery of information, entertainment, political participation, education, commerce) and Its textual forms (genre hybridity, hypertextuality, multimedia) Source:  Livingstone, S. Young People and New Media: Childhood and the Changing Media Environment. London: Sage Publications, 2002

. . .New Media Which are the New Media?

. . .New Media Which are the New Media? Facebook Youtube Google + Twitter Textual blogs, Photoblogs, Videoblogs, Wikis, Podcasts etc.

New Media & Its Functionality How does the new media work?

New Media & Its Functionality Contents produced by users Possibility of on-demand access to content anytime Interactive user feedback Democracy in the creation, publishing, distribution & consumption of the media content - (creative particiapation and community formation around the media content)

. . . . Media & Its Functionality Example: http://www.youtube.com http://www.facebook.com

. . . . Media & Its Functionality Example: Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), facebook page It has 17 citizen reporters in the ISIS’s stronghold city – Raqqa More than half a million people follow the group on facebook More than 70,000 people follow them on Twitter 103 journalists were killed since 2011

. . . . Media & Its Functionality Example: Current TV launched in 2005 Viewers created content Viewers were encouraged to create ads The business model depends on relatively inexpensive content producers of televised pods were paid negotiated rate However, despite the viewer create content business model, 2/3 of the content is produced by staff of Current TV. "the beauty is the engagement opportunity that's offered to potential customers" director of T-mobile

. . . . Media & Its Functionality Example: Current TV Available in more than 50 million households Subscription fee $40/m Total revenue US$59 million 41 million in the United states households, 11 million in Britain and Ireland

What is the source of this news? Task 1 Work with a partner What is the source of this news? How was this made? What tools/techniques were used? Why was this made? What is this missing? Is this the whole story? Where do I go from here?

New Media & Its Functionality Example: Huffington Post It samples the highlights of others’ work It writes a few original sentences to add context It slaps on a come-hither headline and provide a link to the original article HuffPost Canada has only two full-time employees It describes itself as a platform and doesn’t offer payment to contributors It’s an aggregator; HuffPost prefers the term curation, and it’s what 90 per cent of the Canadian site’s roughly 20 editorial employees spend their days doing.

Distinct features of New Media What are the distinct features of the New Media? Digital-technology based It gives voice to anyone who is literate to the new media An individual can use multiple platforms all in one go Anyone can reach few or huge audience

What are the main concern of people about the news produced by New Media?

Differentiating real news from Fake News

Fake News Fake news are stories that look like real news stories but are not Fake news appears on websites that look professional They relate to topics that are trending on Google and Facebook. They have catchy or outrageous headlines designed to get people to click They are hoax, propaganda or disinformation

Fake . . . Example: Top US Admiral Fired For Questioning Obama Purchase of Mansion in Dubai http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index 1979.htm Yoko Ono: “I had an affair with Hillary Clinton in the ‘70s” http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/yoko- ono-i-had-an-affair-with-hillary-clinton-in- the-70s/ Yoko Ono: “I Had an Affair with Hillary Clinton in the ’70s”

Fake . . . Why spread fake news? To attract audience and advertising revenues that come with it. Sometimes are published to harm someone’s reputation

Fake . . . What caused the growing problem of fake news? News is no longer monopolized by traditional media. Anyone can start a blog and claim to be a journalist. Most fake news comes from websites. Media literacy is no longer taught at many schools. People are naïve and can’t distinguish real news from fake, studies show.

How can we spot fake news ? Determine where the info comes from Looks can be deceiving: Fake news sites often try to mimic real news sites. Pay attention to the URL: Sites endings like .com.co (For example, abcnews.com is a legitimate news source, but abcnews.com.co is not, despite its similar appearance.)

How can we spot fake news ? Read the “About Us” section Find more information about the media outlet in other sites. Examine the sources cited Utilize fact- checking sites such as Snopes.com, FactCheck.org and FirstDraftNews.com

Is this real or fake news? Find out the authenticity of the news. Task 3 Work in Group Read the news article Is this real or fake news? Find out the authenticity of the news.

Challenges of traditional media What are the impacts of the new media to a newsroom? loss of job – shrinking the staff of the newsroom Reduce the quality of news Undermine the responsibility of journalists

Challenges of traditional . . . What are the impacts to the profession of journalism? Digital piracy -- copyright issues Produced a phenomenon of citizen journalism Undermining the traditional media & professional journalism blurred the difference between factual and opinion based assumptions. (Google, Yahoo, All Africa.com and other content aggregators

Challenges of traditional . . . Resistance to change -- traditional media rivalries persist Higher compensation for publishing on multiple platforms How to maintain professionalism as we know it (ethics, values, etc) the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was the first entity to broadcast television programming within Canada, launching in September 1952 in both Montreal and Toronto. - All television stations that signed on in Canada were required to be CBC affiliates with CBC

Challenges of traditional . . . Taking the newspaper in particular to the next level Newsrooms -- fewer or more journalists Lack of resources to invest in new technology? Lack of training, little or no access to the new technology

Task 2 Work with a partner What are the advantages and disadvantages of new media to society? small community media House has more audience than just its geographical reach

Advantage/Disadvantage to society Advantages: Enjoys more analysis, in-depth reporting, commentaries, investigative journalism, unique and specialist content simplifies the research More audience beyond geographic area Journalism turns from lecture into conversation News and info are available anywhere, anytime. A lot to choose from AND IT’S ALL FREE

Advantage/Disadvantage to society Plagiarism – it’s much easier to do. Nationalist and hate speech is spreading Commercialization & tabloidization dominate the media landscape It’s easier to spread disinformation It is a large competitive space and being first with the story may override publications standards of accuracy.

Conclusion The impact new media is huge: Increases demand & pressures on journalists, to retool and diversify their skill set to produce more work in the same amount of time under ongoing deadline pressures for one or more media. Technology takes time to sediment into the working culture Increasing our awareness of news is crucial