tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/digital-media-2757/articlesDigital media – The Conversation2023-11-29T18:33:04Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2187042023-11-29T18:33:04Z2023-11-29T18:33:04ZChatGPT turns 1: AI chatbot’s success says as much about humans as technology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562315/original/file-20231129-15-s86oa5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3600%2C2398&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The drama surrounding OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, left − joined on stage here by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella − has overshadowed the first anniversary of the company's ChatGPT.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/OpenAIChatGPTShowcase/058e90ae4f044405955216633dc562b3/photo">AP Photo/Barbara Ortutay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>ChatGPT was launched on Nov. 30, 2022, ushering in what many have called <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1a329ad3-f696-4ee2-a730-2f8b700f15a1">artificial intelligence’s breakout year</a>. Within days of its release, ChatGPT went viral. Screenshots of conversations snowballed across social media, and the use of ChatGPT skyrocketed to an extent that seems to have surprised even its maker, OpenAI. By January, ChatGPT was seeing 13 million unique visitors each day, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-sets-record-fastest-growing-user-base-analyst-note-2023-02-01">setting a record</a> for the fastest-growing user base of a consumer application. </p>
<p>Throughout this breakout year, ChatGPT has revealed the power of a good interface and the perils of hype, and it has sown the seeds of a new set of human behaviors. As a researcher who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=YqMcw0wAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">studies technology and human information behavior</a>, I find that ChatGPT’s influence in society comes as much from how people view and use it as the technology itself.</p>
<p>Generative AI systems like ChatGPT are becoming pervasive. Since ChatGPT’s release, some mention of AI has seemed obligatory in presentations, conversations and articles. Today, OpenAI claims <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/06/openais-chatgpt-now-has-100-million-weekly-active-users/">100 million people use ChatGPT every week</a>.</p>
<p>Besides people interacting with ChatGPT at home, employees at all levels <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-2023-generative-ais-breakout-year">up to the C-suite</a> in businesses are using the AI chatbot. In tech, generative AI is being called <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/02/17/chatgpt-ai-next-platform-tech">the biggest platform since the iPhone</a>, which debuted in 2007. All the major players <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/28/chatgpt-big-tech-microsoft-google-apple-meta-amazon">are making AI bets</a>, and venture funding <a href="https://venturebeat.com/business/report-ai-startup-funding-hits-record-high-of-17-9b-in-q3/">in AI startups is booming</a>.</p>
<p>Along the way, ChatGPT has raised numerous concerns, such as its implications for <a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-disinformation-is-a-threat-to-elections-learning-to-spot-russian-chinese-and-iranian-meddling-in-other-countries-can-help-the-us-prepare-for-2024-214358">disinformation</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/voice-deepfakes-are-calling-heres-what-they-are-and-how-to-avoid-getting-scammed-201449">fraud</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/two-authors-are-suing-openai-for-training-chatgpt-with-their-books-could-they-win-209227">intellectual property issues</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-dystopian-scenarios-ai-is-pervasive-today-and-the-risks-are-often-hidden-218222">discrimination</a>. In my world of higher education, <a href="https://theconversation.com/writing-instructors-are-less-afraid-of-students-cheating-with-chatgpt-than-you-might-think-207202">much of the discussion has surrounded cheating</a>, which has become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23735082.2023.2254787">a focus of my own research this year</a>.</p>
<h2>Lessons from ChatGPT’s first year</h2>
<p>The success of ChatGPT speaks foremost to the power of a good interface. AI has already been part of countless everyday products for well over a decade, from Spotify and Netflix to Facebook and Google Maps. The first version of GPT, the AI model that powers ChatGPT, dates back to 2018. And even OpenAI’s other products, such as DALL-E, did not make the waves that ChatGPT did immediately upon its release. It was the chat-based interface that set off AI’s breakout year. </p>
<p>There is something uniquely beguiling about chat. Humans are endowed with language, and conversation is a primary way people interact with each other and infer intelligence. A chat-based interface is a natural mode for interaction and a way for people to experience the “intelligence” of an AI system. The phenomenal success of ChatGPT shows again that user interfaces drive widespread adoption of technology, from the Macintosh to web browsers and the iPhone. Design makes the difference. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562464/original/file-20231129-29-i6inhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man wearing glasses looks at a laptop screen, his hands poised over the keyboard, text on the screen" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562464/original/file-20231129-29-i6inhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562464/original/file-20231129-29-i6inhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562464/original/file-20231129-29-i6inhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562464/original/file-20231129-29-i6inhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562464/original/file-20231129-29-i6inhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562464/original/file-20231129-29-i6inhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562464/original/file-20231129-29-i6inhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The chat in ChatGPT is just as important as the AI under the hood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/illustration-picture-shows-the-chatgpt-artificial-news-photo/1246765443">Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>At the same time, one of the technology’s principal strengths – generating convincing language – makes it well suited for producing false or misleading information. ChatGPT and other generative AI systems make it easier for criminals and propagandists to prey on human vulnerabilities. The potential of the technology to <a href="https://theconversation.com/regulating-ai-3-experts-explain-why-its-difficult-to-do-and-important-to-get-right-198868">boost fraud and misinformation</a> is one of the key rationales for regulating AI.</p>
<p>Amid the <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-dystopian-scenarios-ai-is-pervasive-today-and-the-risks-are-often-hidden-218222">real promises and perils of generative AI</a>, the technology has also provided another case study in the power of hype. This year has brought no shortage of articles on <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-artificial-intelligence-is-transforming-the-world/">how AI is going to transform every aspect of society</a> and how <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae/growth-strategies/the-advancement-of-artificial-intelligence-is-inevitable/454155">the proliferation of the technology is inevitable</a>.</p>
<p>ChatGPT is not the first technology to be hyped as “the next big thing,” but it is perhaps unique in simultaneously being hyped as an existential risk. Numerous tech titans and even some AI researchers have warned about the risk of <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/09/12/sapiens-author-yuval-noah-harari-ai-alien-threat-wipe-out-humanity-elon-musk-steve-wozniak-risk-cogx-festival/">superintelligent AI systems emerging and wiping out humanity</a>, though I believe that these fears are far-fetched. </p>
<p>The media environment <a href="https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.3004">favors hype</a>, and the current venture funding climate further fuels AI hype in particular. Playing to people’s hopes and fears is a recipe for anxiety with none of the ingredients for wise decision making.</p>
<h2>What the future may hold</h2>
<p>The AI floodgates opened in 2023, but the next year may bring a slowdown. AI development is likely to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot/2023/04/26/openai-ceo-suggests-that-chatgpt-and-generative-ai-have-hit-the-wall-and-getting-bigger-wont-be-the-way-up-raising-eyebrows-by-ai-ethics-and-ai-law/">meet technical limitations</a> and encounter infrastructural hurdles such as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-owner-openai-is-exploring-making-its-own-ai-chips-sources-2023-10-06/">chip manufacturing</a> and <a href="https://gizmodo.com/openai-pauses-chatgpt-plus-signups-demand-surges-1851024026">server capacity</a>. Simultaneously, <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-will-write-the-rules-for-ai-how-nations-are-racing-to-regulate-artificial-intelligence-216900">AI regulation is likely to be on the way</a>. </p>
<p>This slowdown should give space for norms in human behavior to form, both in terms of etiquette, as in when and where using ChatGPT is socially acceptable, and effectiveness, like when and where ChatGPT is most useful.</p>
<p>ChatGPT and other generative AI systems will settle into people’s workflows, allowing workers to accomplish some tasks faster and with fewer errors. In the same way that people learned “to google” for information, humans will need to learn new practices for working with generative AI tools. </p>
<p>But the outlook for 2024 isn’t completely rosy. It is shaping up to be <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/the-world-ahead/2023/11/13/2024-is-the-biggest-election-year-in-history">a historic year for elections around the world</a>, and AI-generated content will almost certainly be used to influence public opinion and stoke division. Meta may have <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-bar-political-advertisers-using-generative-ai-ads-tools-2023-11-06/">banned the use of generative AI in political advertising</a>, but this isn’t likely to stop ChatGPT and similar tools from being used to create and spread false or misleading content. </p>
<p>Political misinformation spread across social media <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2019.1673940">in 2016</a> as well as <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3919032">in 2020</a>, and it is virtually certain that <a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-disinformation-is-a-threat-to-elections-learning-to-spot-russian-chinese-and-iranian-meddling-in-other-countries-can-help-the-us-prepare-for-2024-214358">generative AI will be used to continue those efforts in 2024</a>. Even outside social media, conversations with ChatGPT and similar products <a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-and-other-generative-ai-could-foster-science-denial-and-misunderstanding-heres-how-you-can-be-on-alert-204897">can be sources of misinformation on their own</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, another lesson that everyone – users of ChatGPT or not – will have to learn in the blockbuster technology’s second year is to be vigilant when it comes to digital media of all kinds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218704/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Gorichanaz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>ChatGPT’s interface fueled the technology’s phenomenal rise to prominence. By being good at talking with us, it spoke to us.Tim Gorichanaz, Assistant Teaching Professor of Information Science, Drexel UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2173352023-11-28T13:40:04Z2023-11-28T13:40:04ZPhilly parents worry about kids’ digital media use but see some benefits, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560790/original/file-20231121-15-ky05z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents can model good media habits, like using online tools to connect with family and friends. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/father-and-daughter-using-tablet-royalty-free-image/696315038">Ridofranz/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A group of U.S. senators recently called on tech giant Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger – to <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2023.11.14%20-%20Meta%20-%20Document%20Request.pdf">hand over documents</a> related to the mental and physical harms its products cause to young people. The demand follows a lawsuit <a href="https://coag.gov/app/uploads/2023/10/23.10.24-Doc.-1-Complaint-People-v.-Meta-23cv05448.pdf">filed by 33 states</a> in October 2023 that alleges that Meta, in order to maximize profits, knowingly designs addictive social media features. The lawsuit states these features are designed “to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens.”</p>
<p>While researchers disagree about whether social media and other digital media <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106414">can truly be addictive</a>, they do agree that excessive smartphone use is a problem. Many parents express <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-023-02555-9">concern and confusion</a> about how best to manage digital media use for children under the age of 13. </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OPZ2j6wAAAAJ&hl=en">professor of library and information science</a> at Drexel University’s College of Computing and Informatics. My colleague <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/cems/cs/profiles/yuanyuan-feng">Yuanyuan Feng</a> and I conducted in-depth research interviews in 2019-22 with 17 parents at three branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia. The goal was to study <a href="https://navigatingscreens.wordpress.com/">how parents manage media use</a> within their families. All of the parents – who represented a range of educational, socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds – were Philadelphia residents with at least one child age 5 to 11. </p>
<p>Although we did not set out to study parental concerns about children’s media use, every one of the parents expressed worries. Only eight parents discussed any positive aspects of media use. </p>
<p>Our research suggests promoting balance – rather than preventing addiction – is a better goal for managing kids’ digital media use.</p>
<h2>Parents’ key concerns</h2>
<p>The most common concern – expressed by 80% of our study participants – was children’s exposure to inappropriate content. We have used pseudonyms throughout this article to protect our participants’ privacy. </p>
<p>As Eliza, a mother of three kids ages 4, 7 and 13, said, “I wanted to make sure that (my children) just were not watching inappropriate stuff. … They know that word. They’re always like, ‘It’s not appropriate.’” </p>
<p>Nearly three-quarters of the parents were uncomfortable with the amount of time their children spend with media. “It’s like a battle,” said Jordan, a father of three sons, the oldest age 6. “I try to limit the screens as much as I can, although I realize we have pretty much every type of device that he could use or want to use.” </p>
<p>Seventy percent of the Philadelphia parents worried about media use displacing potentially healthier activities like reading books, playing outside, socializing in-person with friends or attending <a href="https://libwww.freelibrary.org/programs/kids/events">community events for kids</a>. </p>
<p>“There’s all kinds of cool things (at the library). There’s story time here, and … (t)hey had a pot-bellied pig outside one day. We got to meet a pot-bellied pig! I mean, how do you get that chance when you live in the city?” said Marla, the mother of a 5-year-old girl. </p>
<p>Evonne, a mother of an 8-year-old boy and two girls age 11 and 12, cited concern for children’s safety and privacy. This was shared by slightly more than half of the parents.</p>
<p>“I just had this conversation with my kids,” she said. “‘Whatever you put out there on social media can come back to haunt you … whether it’s a job interview or even a college or high school interview. You have to be very careful how you present yourself. … It can really damage you.’” </p>
<p>Research suggests that saying digital media damages children’s social skills <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/707985">is an oversimplification</a>. Still, about a third of the parents worried that media overuse leads to poor social skills. “Kids (are) losing the ability just to socialize,” said Tyler, a father of two boys, ages 4 and 8.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girls sits on bed while taking part in video meeting on laptop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561155/original/file-20231122-23-qahi7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561155/original/file-20231122-23-qahi7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561155/original/file-20231122-23-qahi7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561155/original/file-20231122-23-qahi7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561155/original/file-20231122-23-qahi7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561155/original/file-20231122-23-qahi7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561155/original/file-20231122-23-qahi7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Online interactions can help build kids’ social skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-in-black-and-white-zebra-print-shirt-using-macbook-pro-61fy_dlPtF4">Maria Thalassinou on Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Benefits for kids</h2>
<p>The parents in our study told numerous and often lengthy stories about their concerns. They mentioned benefits of media use much less often and with far less detail. Nonetheless, it’s important to recognize that digital media offer <a href="https://doi.org/10.21241/ssoar.71817">both risks and opportunities</a> for children. </p>
<p>Parents appreciated how digital media enabled their children to communicate with family and friends who live far away, for example by video chatting with relatives in other countries. They also believed digital media skills are vital to their kids’ future job success. And they appreciate how digital media can support kids’ learning by building curiosity and providing access to new information.</p>
<p>Several parents enjoyed playing online games with their children and texting them messages of support throughout the day. They felt these were examples of how they could use digital media to support healthy family relationships. </p>
<p>Finally, several parents discussed the joy and relaxation their children feel using digital media. Research shows that gaming in particular can be a <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1542/pir.2022-005666">healthy form of digital play</a> when done in moderation and with parental awareness of content warnings.</p>
<h2>How to guide kids</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2022.2044265">Thoughtful discussions with children</a> are key to helping them benefit from digital media and to reduce potential risks. Toward this end, I suggest parents think about their role in guiding children’s media use less as protecting them from harm and more as educating them for long-term healthy habits. Here are a few recommendations to support that approach. </p>
<p><strong>Rethink time limits:</strong> Time limits focus on the amount of digital media use without considering the <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/family/kids-phones-expert-one-thing-rcna121130">value of different types of use</a>. There is no “normal” amount of time children should spend with media. Three hours in one day spent watching cartoons probably isn’t great for social or educational development. But one hour watching cartoons plus one hour <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.268">video calling with grandparents</a> and one hour working online for a school assignment take up the same amount of time and represent a balance of activities that support entertainment as well as social and educational development. </p>
<p><strong>Educate kids:</strong> Some online content is <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/1183-investigating-risks-and-opportunities-for-children-in-a-digital-world.html">inappropriate or risky for children</a>. But simply restricting access leaves them unprepared to make informed decisions on their own when they reach adulthood. Educating kids about the benefits and risks prepares them for a life certain to be spent partly online.</p>
<p><strong>Encourage building social skills online:</strong> Much of young people’s social activity today takes place online, making online participation an important part of making and keeping friends. Being digitally connected can help children <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/are-there-apps-or-tech-tools-to-help-kids-develop-socially">practice social interactions</a>. Popular cooperative games like <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/minecraft">Minecraft</a> and <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/animal-crossing-new-horizons">Animal Crossing: New Horizons</a>, for example, can help children learn how to solve problems together. </p>
<p><strong>Model good media habits:</strong> When parents use media in moderation to interact with others and not just for passive use like watching videos, kids are likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.681">pick up these behaviors</a>. If you decide to set rules for family media use, you should follow them. too. If children are not allowed to use their phones at mealtimes, for example, parents should consider doing the same. The same is true for modeling respectful communication – set a good example by avoiding arguments online. </p>
<p><strong>Avoid fear tactics:</strong> Most young people find positive discussions more motivating than scare tactics, which are <a href="https://pshe-association.org.uk/evidence-and-research-key-principles-of-effective-prevention-education">generally ineffective</a>. Rather than telling children that the internet is a scary place where dangerous strangers hang out, for example, teach them to leave online conversations when anyone asks them to share personal information or when they begin to feel uncomfortable. It sends the same message without suggesting that all online conversations are dangerous. It also encourages children to build judgment skills. </p>
<p>At its core, a balanced parenting approach requires talking honestly with children about both the risks and benefits of digital media and helping them to learn to make good media use decisions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217335/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denise E. Agosto, Rebekah Willett (University of Wisconsin), and June Abbas (University of Oklahoma) received funding for this work from The Institute of Museum and Library Services.</span></em></p>Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 17 Philadelphia parents about how their family uses digital media. Here they offer tips to promote healthy, balanced media habits for kids.Denise E. Agosto, Professor of Library and Information Science, Drexel UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049582023-10-22T10:44:23Z2023-10-22T10:44:23ZCommunity radio: young South Africans are helping shape the news through social media<p>The number of South African internet users has <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/462958/internet-users-south-africa">nearly doubled</a> in the past decade. One <a href="https://www.electronicshub.org/the-average-screen-time-and-usage-by-country/">2023 study</a> of 45 developed countries suggests that South Africans even lead the world when it comes to the amount of time spent in front of screens, at 58.2% of the day.</p>
<p>This digital transformation has significant implications for the country’s media. Particularly for newsrooms that want to engage online audiences in a time when news production has evolved towards <a href="https://ict4peace.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/we_media.pdf">greater participation</a> of citizens and civil society. More and more, listeners are <a href="https://ict4peace.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/we_media.pdf">contributing</a> to media processes. </p>
<p>During protests, for example, news outlets often invite people at the scene to use WhatsApp groups to share firsthand observations, images or videos. These are verified and incorporated into news coverage. (Indeed, WhatsApp emerged as South Africa’s <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1189958/penetration-rate-of-social-media-in-south-africa/">most popular</a> social media platform in 2022.)</p>
<p>This shift is at the heart of our recent broadcast and community media <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-19417-7_8">study</a>. We examined two community radio stations – Zibonele FM and Bush Radio – in South Africa’s Western Cape province. We wanted to know how social media platforms like Facebook and X are shaping the way that young people interact with the stations, and how radio is adapting to meet them online.</p>
<p>We found the stations have embraced social media apps and are actively using them to shape content. Young people are increasingly participating in citizen journalism to influence this content. </p>
<p>This could keep community radio relevant – and that matters. South Africa is home to over 290 community radio stations, <a href="https://brcsa.org.za/rams-amplify-radio-listenership-report-jul22-jun23/">far outnumbering</a> the 41 commercial and public service stations. Community radio emerged with democracy in South Africa in the 1990s, providing a <a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/100-Years-Radio-South-Africa/dp/3031407059">platform</a> for alternative voices and grassroots organisations. It’s able to address issues often overlooked by mainstream media.</p>
<h2>The stations</h2>
<p><a href="https://zibonelefm.co.za">Zibonele FM</a> and <a href="https://bushradio.wordpress.com">Bush Radio</a> stood out for us. This is because of their youth-focused content, multilingual broadcasts, diverse audience segments and robust use of digital technologies in news production and programming. </p>
<p>Zibonele FM is based in Khayelitsha, a vast township (black residential area) on the outskirts of Cape Town. The station broadcasts mainly in the local Xhosa language. </p>
<p>Bush Radio is one of the country’s <a href="https://bushradio.wordpress.com/about/">oldest</a> and most influential community stations. Founded in 1992, it has played a role in shaping post-apartheid life in Cape Town. <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">Apartheid</a> was a system of white minority rule that suppressed black voices. Bush Radio provided a platform for voices and perspectives that were often marginalised in mainstream media. </p>
<p>June 2023 <a href="https://brcsa.org.za/rams-amplify-radio-listenership-report-jul22-jun23/">data</a> puts listenership figures of Zibonele FM at 182,000 a day. Bush Radio attracts 49,000 listeners. The average daily listenership of community stations in the Western Cape is 29,000.</p>
<h2>The study</h2>
<p>We conducted in-depth interviews with station managers, producers and journalists at these two stations. Alongside this we studied social media posts from the stations’ X and Facebook accounts and we analysed their on-air content.</p>
<p>We wanted to see if social media shaped youth-oriented programming at Zibonele FM and Bush Radio. While the study’s scope remains small, it provides valuable insights into the digital transformation of news production in South African community radio.</p>
<p>Young Zibonele FM and Bush Radio listeners, we found, were actively participating in the news processes at the radio stations. Especially when the stations tailored their news to draw in these communities. A station manager explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’ve gained a lot of followers, showing that people are drawn to the station’s young presenters on social media. Many engage with our live videos and interactive content, validating their active involvement in shaping news production and content direction. This reinforces our roles as central community hubs. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our data analysis revealed that young audiences on X and Facebook used these platforms to hold journalists accountable, forcing them to reevaluate their reporting. One producer said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Any mistake leads to immediate corrections. This caution improves our content quality and accuracy, benefiting from feedback from our social media followers. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The participants in our study stressed the importance of WhatsApp voice notes as a feature of social media that enabled greater engagement from youth audiences. Young listeners are actively shaping the content production process by sending questions as voice notes. This shift diminishes the power traditionally held by presenters and producers. One producer elaborated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When we interview guests, we inform our audiences that we have a question, and they actively engage with it. During interviews, we encourage young people to post voice notes, which the interviewees respond to. This practice enables us to incorporate diverse voices on air, as people often prefer sending voice notes, sometimes in the form of questions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our research underscores how Zibonele FM and Bush Radio have empowered young listeners to engage with journalists actively. This allows them to question and challenge news content. </p>
<p>Station managers reported increased engagement on social media, reinforcing the effectiveness of these strategies in expanding reach and enhancing audience participation. Young audiences, for their part, also used social media to hold journalists accountable, fostering a culture of transparency and trust.</p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>The challenges faced by South African community radio, such as limited reach and resources, are <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/29780/#:%7E:text=These%20were%20attributed%20to%20high,and%20adapting%20to%20technological%20advancement">well documented</a>. </p>
<p>For a long time academics have <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/making-publics-making-places/social-media-and-news-media-building-new-publics-or-fragmenting-audiences/F356F7A3AD7B9AD8444557211EEBD10E">observed</a> that journalism is undergoing changes because of social media. </p>
<p>Social media, as seen in our study, can have a significant impact on the future of radio programming and news. It could lead to a dynamic shift towards more interactive and community-driven programming. This would sustain community radio and enhance its role as a vital source of alternative voices, diverse perspectives and local engagement.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=John+Bulani&btnG=">John Bulani</a> was a co-author of this study.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sisanda Nkoala has previously received funding from the National Research Foundation and the AW Mellon Foundation. For this study, however, there are no funders to disclose.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blessing Makwambeni and Trust Matsilele do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media is a lifeline for community radio, helping it grow by being shaped by young listeners.Sisanda Nkoala, Senior Lecturer, University of South AfricaBlessing Makwambeni, Senior Lecturer in Communication Science, Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyTrust Matsilele, Lecturer in Journalism, Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2076592023-06-13T23:02:48Z2023-06-13T23:02:48ZYoung people are abandoning news websites – new research reveals scale of challenge to media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531663/original/file-20230613-9276-i2rjyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C6695%2C4017&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/connect-connection-social-network-media-concept-384774652">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The crisis in journalism caused by the traditional news media’s struggles to cope with the digital revolution has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-future-or-race-to-the-bottom-what-journalists-really-think-8692">well documented over many years</a>. But news organisations now face a much more fundamental change driven by generations who have grown up with and rely almost entirely on various digital media.</p>
<p>Data published in this year’s <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2023">Reuters Institute Digital News Report</a> shows an acceleration in the structural shifts towards more digital, mobile and media environments. This is where news content is delivered via social media and now, increasingly video-led platforms such as TikTok, rather than via what to a new generation of media consumers look like the more formal and stuffy traditional of “legacy” media, including newspapers and television. </p>
<p>Not only is consumption of traditional television news and print formats continuing to decline at a relentless rate, but online websites are also struggling to engage news users, despite the tumultuous times in which we live. </p>
<p>One benchmark of this shift is a question we ask about key gateways that people use to access news. Using average data across all 46 countries surveyed in our annual report, we found that more people choose social media each year, mostly at the expense of direct access via a traditional news website or app. Access via search and other aggregators has also increased slightly over time.</p>
<p><strong>Use of news websites/apps versus social media to access news:</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531617/original/file-20230613-22-6ccmht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing direct news website/app use decline and social news increasing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531617/original/file-20230613-22-6ccmht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531617/original/file-20230613-22-6ccmht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531617/original/file-20230613-22-6ccmht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531617/original/file-20230613-22-6ccmht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531617/original/file-20230613-22-6ccmht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531617/original/file-20230613-22-6ccmht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531617/original/file-20230613-22-6ccmht.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which of these was the main way in which you came across news in the last week? Base: All who used a news gateway in the last week in each market-year ≈ 2000. Note: Number of markets grew from 36 in 2018 to 46 from 2021 onwards. Markets listed in online methodology.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These are averages, and it is important to point out that direct connection remains strong in some markets – mainly in northern Europe, where there is keen interest in news and relatively high trust. But elsewhere – especially in parts of Asia, Latin America, and Africa – social media or other aggregators are by far the most important gateways, leaving news brands much more dependent on third-party platforms for traffic. </p>
<p>Generational differences are also a big part of the story. In almost every country we find that younger users are less likely to go directly to a news site or app and more likely to use social media or other intermediaries. </p>
<p>The following chart for the UK shows that over-35s (blue line) have hardly changed their direct preferences over time, but that the 18–24 group (pink line) has become significantly less likely to use a news website or app. </p>
<p>This is just one indication of how the generation that has grown up in the age of social and messaging apps is displaying very different behaviours as they come into adulthood.</p>
<p><strong>Percentage of people using a news website or app:</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531619/original/file-20230613-29-cae5hq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing declining use of news websites and apps among 18-24 age group from 53% in 2015 to 24% in 2023 while 35+ group stayed around 52% (see previous two paragraphs)." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531619/original/file-20230613-29-cae5hq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531619/original/file-20230613-29-cae5hq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=228&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531619/original/file-20230613-29-cae5hq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=228&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531619/original/file-20230613-29-cae5hq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=228&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531619/original/file-20230613-29-cae5hq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531619/original/file-20230613-29-cae5hq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531619/original/file-20230613-29-cae5hq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thinking about how you got news online (via computer, mobile, or any device) in the last week, which were the ways in which you came across news stories? Base: 2018–22; 18–24 ≈ 200, 25–34 ≈ 300, 35+ ≈ 1500.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dependence on social media may be growing, but it is not necessarily the same old networks. Across all age groups, Facebook is becoming much less important as a source of news – and by implication as a driver of traffic to news websites. Just 28% say they accessed news via Facebook in 2023 compared with 42% in 2016, based on data from 12 countries we have been tracking since 2014. </p>
<p>This decline is partly driven by Facebook pulling back from news and partly by the way that video-based networks such as YouTube and TikTok are capturing much of the attention of younger users. </p>
<p>Twitter usage is also <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/15/23683554/twitter-dying-elon-musk-x-company">reportedly declining</a> following the chaotic set of changes introduced by Elon Musk, even if our survey shows relatively stable weekly reach overall.</p>
<h2>New platforms</h2>
<p>TikTok is the fastest growing social network in our survey, used by 44% of 18–24 year-olds for any purpose and by 20% for news (up five percentage points compared with last year). Our survey results also show that the Chinese-owned app is most heavily used in parts of Asia, Latin America and Africa.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531621/original/file-20230613-21-1ee1k9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing which platforms and websites people have used to access news." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531621/original/file-20230613-21-1ee1k9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531621/original/file-20230613-21-1ee1k9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531621/original/file-20230613-21-1ee1k9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531621/original/file-20230613-21-1ee1k9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531621/original/file-20230613-21-1ee1k9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531621/original/file-20230613-21-1ee1k9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531621/original/file-20230613-21-1ee1k9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which, if any, of the following have you used for news in the last week? Base: Total sample in each market ≈ 2000. Note: TikTok has been banned in India and does not operate in Hong Kong.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The report also provides evidence that users of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat tend to pay more attention to celebrities and social media influencers than they do to journalists or media companies when it comes to news topics. This marks a sharp contrast with “legacy” – or more established – social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, where news organisations still attract most attention and lead conversations.</p>
<p>Although news organisations have been <a href="https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/why-do-news-publishers-struggle-to-embrace-tiktok-/s2/a899308/">experimenting with TikTok accounts</a>, many are struggling to adapt to the more informal tone where creativity is the key to attracting an audience.</p>
<p>These shifts are additionally challenging for publishers because they often require expensive bespoke content to be created and there are few ways to monetise short form videos, with limited linking opportunities back to websites or apps.</p>
<h2>Younger people less likely to read online</h2>
<p>These platform shifts are part of a wider move away from reading and towards watching or listening to news content online. While all age groups say they still prefer to read news online because of the speed and control if offers, younger groups are more likely to express preferences for watching or listening to news content, as the chart below shows. And this translates into greater consumption of short-form videos and podcasts by this group, according to our data.</p>
<p><strong>News consumption preferences by age and media:</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531622/original/file-20230613-21-yelb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing young people are less likely to read and more likely to watch or listen to news." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531622/original/file-20230613-21-yelb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531622/original/file-20230613-21-yelb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531622/original/file-20230613-21-yelb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531622/original/file-20230613-21-yelb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531622/original/file-20230613-21-yelb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531622/original/file-20230613-21-yelb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531622/original/file-20230613-21-yelb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In thinking about your online habits around news and current affairs, which of the following statements applies best to you? Please select one. Base UK= 1740 (excl. DKs)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research over more than a decade has captured the way that all age groups have adopted digital media, alongside more familiar formats such as TV and print. But now we are seeing the emergence of a generation of social natives that are not bound by traditional definitions of news. </p>
<p>As our <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/kaleidoscope-tracking-young-peoples-relationships-news">previous research has shown</a>, younger groups expect news to be engaging, participatory and to be available on their terms – in the networks and platforms where they spend their time. Trust is not a given, it needs to be earned – as much by journalists as by any other creator of content. </p>
<p>For all the difficulties this entails – around trust, attention and business models – this is the media environment that the public is increasingly choosing for themselves. It is one where journalists and news media will need to carve out their place if they want to maintain their relevance and connection with the wider public.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Digital News Report/Reuters Institute received funding in 2023 from the Google News Initiative, BBC News, Ofcom, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (now the Coimisiún na Meán), the Dutch Media Authority (CvdM), the Media Industry Research Foundation of Finland, the Fritt Ord Foundation, Code for Africa, the Korea Press Foundation, Edelman UK, NHK, and the Reuters News Agency, as well as our academic sponsors at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research/ Hans Bredow Institute, the University of Navarra, Spain, the University of Canberra, Australia, the Centre d’études sur les médias, Québec, Canada, and Roskilde University, Denmark. Fundación Gabo is supporting the translation of the report into Spanish. </span></em></p>The latest data shows a dramatic generational shift in the way people consume news.Nic Newman, Senior Research Associate, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045092023-04-27T12:31:02Z2023-04-27T12:31:02ZSaving broadcasting’s past for the future – archivists are working to capture not just tapes of TV and radio but the experience of tuning in together<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522861/original/file-20230425-18-ro9r4q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C6%2C4479%2C2984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How will we preserve technologies so deeply embedded in daily life? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/retro-old-tv-receiver-and-outdated-broadcast-radio-royalty-free-image/1141288438?phrase=radio%20and%20television%20old%20fashioned&adppopup=true">BrAt_PiKaChU/Istock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We’ve lived with broadcasting <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/history-of-commercial-radio">for more than a century</a>. Starting with <a href="https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-history-of-the-radio-industry-in-the-united-states-to-1940/">radio in the 1920s</a>, then <a href="https://dp.la/exhibitions/radio-golden-age/radio-tv">television in the 1950s</a>, Americans by the millions began purchasing boxes designed to receive electromagnetic signals transmitted from nearby towers. Upon arrival, those signals were amplified and their messages were “aired” into our lives.</p>
<p>Those invisible signals provided our kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms with access to jazz clubs, baseball stadiums and symphony halls. For a century, they have been transporting us instantly to London, Cairo or Tokyo, or back in time to the old West or deep into the imagined future of interplanetary travel. </p>
<p>The reception of those radio, then television, signals didn’t just inform us, they shaped us. Everyone experienced broadcasting individually and collectively, both intimately and as members of dispersed crowds. </p>
<p>Radio and television fostered an ephemeral and invisible public arena that expanded our understanding of the world – and ourselves. Whether it was the final episodes of <a href="https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/GangBusters.pdf">radio serials like “Gangbusters”</a>, or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/M-A-S-H">television’s “M*A*S*H</a>” or “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Seinfeld">Seinfeld</a>,” Americans often marked the passage of time by shared broadcast experiences. </p>
<p>Even today, more <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/02/13/for-world-radio-day-key-facts-about-radio-listeners-and-the-radio-industry-in-the-u-s/">Americans use standard AM/FM radio broadcasting</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/tiktok-now-150-million-active-users-us-ceo-tell-congress-rcna75607">than TikTok</a>. At a time when most Americans get their <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/local-tv-news/">news from local TV stations and broadcast television</a> networks, and radio remains pervasive, it might seem frivolous to express concern about preserving technologies so deeply embedded in daily life. </p>
<p>Yet a media evolution is occurring, as paid subscription video streaming and audio services climb in popularity, and fewer Americans are <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/186833/average-television-use-per-person-in-the-us-since-2002/">consistently tuning in to broadcast media</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JBgyKJPFV20?wmode=transparent&start=18" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite reports on the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Demise of shared moments</h2>
<p>The broadcasting era is becoming eclipsed by new media technologies. In the era of TV and radio dominance, “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mass-media">mass media</a>” was defined by shared experiences. </p>
<p>But now, new media technologies – cable TV, the web and social media – are changing that definition, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01616.x">segmenting what was once</a> a huge, undifferentiated mass audience. All those new media fragmented what were once huge collectives. Bottom line: We’re not all watching or hearing the same thing anymore.</p>
<p>With fewer Americans simultaneously sharing media experiences, the ramifications of this evolution stretch beyond the media industries and into our culture, politics and society. </p>
<p>The shared moments that electrified and unified the nation – from <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-fireside-chat-provided-a-model-for-calming-the-nation-that-president-trump-failed-to-follow-133473">President Franklin Roosevelt’s fireside chats</a> to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-jfk-media/how-the-jfk-assassination-transformed-media-coverage-idUSBRE9AK11N20131121">TV news coverage of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination</a> and up through the <a href="https://archive.org/details/911/day/20010911">Sept. 11, 2001, attacks</a> – have become more rare. Even national events, such as a presidential election, are different today in that our collective experiences now seem more individualized and less communal. People get their news about presidential elections from sources with radically different perspectives on what used to be shared facts.</p>
<p>The very idea of collectively tuning in to history as it happens has been altered, as the profusion of channels and platforms now funnels audience members into self-segregated affinity groups where messages are shaped more for confirmation than enlightenment.</p>
<h2>How to remember</h2>
<p>As we move into this new media world, broadcasting risks being relegated to the rustic past like other old media such as the rotary telephone, the nickelodeon, the 78-rpm phonograph and the DVD. </p>
<p>That’s why, from April 27-30, 2023, the Library of Congress is hosting a conference, titled “<a href="https://radiopreservation.org/2023-conference/">A Century of Broadcasting</a>,” that invites scholars, preservationists, archivists, museum educators and curators, fans and the public to discuss the most effective ways to preserve broadcasting’s history.</p>
<p>The goal of the conference, convened by the Library of Congress’ <a href="https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-plan/about-this-program/radio-preservation-task-force/">Radio Preservation Task Force</a>, is to begin envisioning the future of this technology’s past. As a <a href="https://cmj.umaine.edu/faculty-staff/michael-j-socolow/">radio historian</a> and member of the Radio Preservation Task Force, I was invited to serve on the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-plan/documents/23-LOC-conference-program.pdf">conference organizing team</a>. <a href="https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-plan/documents/23-LOC-conference-program.pdf">Panels, papers and presentations</a> will look at how broadcasting is currently being archived, and how we, as a society, can think more systematically and formally about how we’ll remember broadcasting. While the task force is primarily concerned with broadcasting’s inception as radio, aspects of television’s past will be included as well. </p>
<p>Preserving radio – and TV – is not as simple as storing machines or tapes. To understand broadcasting history, preservationists must try to describe an experience. It isn’t enough to show somebody the printed script from a 1934 Jack Benny radio program, or <a href="https://www.si.edu/object/archie-bunkers-chair-all-family%3Anmah_670097">the theatrical stage set</a> used when “All in the Family” was taped before a live studio audience in 1973. To comprehend what Jack Benny, Gracie Allen or Jackie Gleason meant to the people of the United States involves trying to imagine, and almost feel, an experience.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A recording of the Jack Benny radio show of Jan. 1, 1955, titled “Jack Doesn’t Have a Script.”</span></figcaption>
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<h2>‘Essential’ first step</h2>
<p>The Radio Preservation Task Force seeks to go beyond the big corporate commercial collections that already exist. <a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/recnbc.html">NBC’s radio and TV archives</a>, as well as the <a href="https://invention.si.edu/rca-corporation-records-1887-1983-bulk-1914-1968">Radio Corporation of America’s</a> and others, are already well-preserved and housed at repositories like the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution. </p>
<p>The Radio Preservation Task Force is concerned with the diverse universe of broadcasting, including the many types of stations and networks that defined American broadcasting. </p>
<p>“Millions of Americans listened to college, community and educational radio stations that were less famous than CBS and NBC but still played an important role in daily life,” notes University of Colorado <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/people/media-studies/josh-shepperd">scholar Josh Shepperd</a>, chair of the Radio Preservation Task Force. “<a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/idx/j/jcms/18261332.0062.701/--presencing-through-preserving-sound-history-at-historical?rgn=main;view=fulltext">Preservation projects associated</a> with the Radio Preservation Task Force have revealed to us that <a href="https://www.wyso.org/hbcuradioproject">African American radio stations</a> played an important role in helping catalyze the Civil Rights Movement by fostering and inspiring community.” </p>
<p>Shepperd added that “those are just two examples of often-overlooked but essential components of our nation’s broadcast history.” </p>
<p>At the “<a href="https://radiopreservation.org/full-conference-schedule/">Century of Broadcasting” Conference</a>, scholars will examine such varied topics as how gender roles were performed on the air and how Spanish-language radio maintained listener identity with the community while broadening outreach. The conference also includes discussion of international and global radio communities, with scholars presenting on broadcasting history from France, Germany and Latin America. </p>
<p>“There’s even a panel on preserving the history of unlicensed and illegal ‘pirate’ radio,” says Shepperd. </p>
<p>Our media remains so atmospheric – it’s everywhere, all the time – that we too rarely pause to concentrate on how it evolves and how those transformations ultimately influence us. </p>
<p>Radio and TV might not technically be “endangered” right now; after all, we all still use telephones even if they look completely different and serve functions largely unimaginable 40 years ago. </p>
<p>Yet moving beyond the broadcast era holds important ramifications for all of us, even if we cannot precisely discern them in this moment. Recognizing the need to preserve radio and TV’s past marks an essential first step, so that the future will be properly informed about how we lived and communicated for over a century of American history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael J. Socolow is a member of the Library of Congress Radio Preservation Task Force, and was on the conference organizing team for the "Century of Broadcasting" conference. </span></em></p>Scholars, preservationists, archivists, museum educators and curators, fans and the public are meeting in late April in the nation’s capital to figure out how to preserve broadcasting’s history.Michael J. Socolow, Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism, University of MaineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2019682023-03-16T16:50:35Z2023-03-16T16:50:35ZLineker-BBC row: survey shows how different outlets approach their staff’s social media presence<p>The row over Gary Lineker’s tweet criticising the UK government’s proposed asylum legislation has re-ignited the debate about impartiality in journalism and the way news organisations deal with social media.</p>
<p>The BBC now looks set to review its social media policies again (it last did this in 2020). This decision is in line with a wider international media effort. In 2022, the UK Guardian revised its 2018 policies to include language on disciplinary action after <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/features-main/guardian-social-media-guidelines-owen-jones/">a row</a> involving its journalists spilled over onto Twitter. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06/inside-the-washington-posts-social-media-meltdown">Washington Post</a> updated its policies a month later after another high-profile Twitter clash which drew in multiple Post staffers and resulted in the firing of one reporter and the suspension of another. </p>
<p>In 2020, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidance/individual-use-of-social-media/">the BBC</a> revised its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/editorialguidelines/guidance/social-media">2019 guidelines</a> after a row over “virtue signalling” saying that staff could not use activist hashtags or retweets “no matter how worthy the cause or how much their message appears to be accepted or uncontroversial”. </p>
<p>And in a situation which echoes the current BBC brouhaha, the US sports giant ESPN <a href="https://apnews.com/article/7284c75a5f2943ce86db394a3963f923">revamped its guidelines</a> in 2017 after suspending TV anchor Jemele Hill for tweeting that then-president Donald Trump was racist. Like Lineker, Hill worked in sports rather than news – but ESPN said it needed to revisit the guidelines to make sure that all employees, no matter the field, were aware of the new expectations around impartiality on social media.</p>
<p>ESPN’s 2017 guidelines were markedly different to their 2011 policies which, like many others, were focused more on maintaining control of content than concerns about political commentary. It’s difficult to comprehend now, but news outlets initially declined to set formal policies. Most have tended to use what the BBC used to see as its “<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/26_03_15_bbc_news_group_social_media_guidance.pdf">common sense</a>” approach. This was that reporters should refrain from posting anything “that would embarrass them personally or professionally or their organisation”. This hands-off style of guidance was perhaps best symbolised by the reluctance of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-strategy-new-york-times-bill-keller-twitter-facebook-bbc-video-2011-5?r=US&IR=T">The New York Times</a> to set any policy at all.</p>
<p>The BBC, like many news organisations surveyed here, is in a different place now. The concerns about reputational damage are driving policy to the point that a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355869313_Business_as_Usual_How_Journalism's_Professional_Logics_Continue_to_Shape_News_Organization_Policies_Around_Social_Media_Audiences/link/6381590e554def619370bdc3/download">survey I conducted of 13 mainstream news organisations</a> in the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland shows that impartiality is the primary theme among a wide swath of news organisations. The list includes state broadcasters (RTÉ, CBC, BBC and NPR), commercial broadcasters (Sky), centre-right tabloids (Globe and Mail, Daily Express/Daily Star), centre-left broadsheets (The Guardian and The New York Times) as well as wire agencies (Reuters and AP), sports news (ESPN) and digital (BuzzFeed).</p>
<h2>Impartiality</h2>
<p>Impartiality informs every aspect of the guidelines – from obvious pursuits such as commentary to relatively innocuous activities such as “liking” content and retweets. The rules appear to be pretty consistent across regions and types of media outlet. </p>
<p>In the US, the independent non-profit media organisation NPR emphasises the importance of avoiding revealing “personal views on a political or other controversial issue”. Irish state broadcaster RTÉ, meanwhile, warns against showing “bias on current topics” and in the UK the BBC cautions against sharing “views on any policy which is a matter of current political debate”.</p>
<p>In Canada, the Globe and Mail says it’s fine to express views in private but any “political or partisan views which go beyond your public-facing role should not be expressed in public”. ESPN is a bit more nuanced, requesting that employees “do nothing that would undercut your colleagues’ work or embroil the company in unwanted controversy”. </p>
<p>But the overriding concern among all news organisations is that any partisan opinions or political views will damage the specific news organisation’s reputation as a source of news and bring them into disrepute.</p>
<p>The problem, as far as the news organisations see it, is that every action of their employees is connected to their workplace. So their social media posts, likes, and shares can be viewed as representing an official position of the organisation. ESPN reminds its employees that “at all times you are representing ESPN, and social sites offer the equivalent of a live microphone”. </p>
<p>RTÉ says that employees are always considered public representatives of the organisation and the Guardian and its stablemate The Observer says that such restrictions extend to every employee associated with their organisation, whether staff or freelance, but particularly those with large followings. </p>
<h2>Retweets</h2>
<p>Retweets, as the BBC puts it, are typically viewed as “an expression of opinion on social media”. It’s a comment echoed by the Daily Express/Daily Star which describes them as “an endorsement of the original tweet”. </p>
<p>The Guardian and The New York Times say retweets can reveal “personal prejudices and opinions,” which could raise doubts about a journalist’s ability to cover news events fairly and impartially. As NPR cautions, journalists should not assume that their retweets will not be seen as reflecting their own views: “Don’t assume it’s not going to be viewed that way.”</p>
<h2>Liking and friending</h2>
<p>Retweets, likes, and friending activities are also considered suspect. The BBC warns against “revealed bias”, in liking and reposting other people’s messages. RTÉ cautions that “liking and following accounts may make other users think those accounts are more trustworthy or that you endorse them”. </p>
<p>The Guardian warns that likes “can easily become public and may be seen as representing an official GNM position”. This is a sentiment echoed in the US where The New York Times emphasises that “everything we post or ‘like’ online is to some degree public. And everything we do in public is likely to be associated with The Times”.</p>
<h2>Disclaimers or separate accounts</h2>
<p>Overall, while the guidelines highlight the concerns around impartiality on social media they also highlight the absence of guardrails for journalists using any of these platforms. There is no “un-send” button on social media and frequently used strategies such as disclaimers or private accounts are discouraged with all news outlets saying that neither can help in mitigating negative publicity. </p>
<p>The BBC specifically says that there is no difference between how personal and official accounts are perceived on social media – so it will be interesting to see how the UK public broadcaster’s new guidelines further tighten up what is already a fairly restrictive environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly Fincham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Over the past few years, most big media organisations have updated their social media rules.Kelly Fincham, Lecturer in Journalism and Communications, University of GalwayLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1948092022-11-24T19:06:21Z2022-11-24T19:06:21ZMukbang, #EatWithMe and eating disorders on TikTok: why online food consumption videos could fuel food fixations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496651/original/file-20221122-25-c1u58b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C41%2C6875%2C5022&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might have come across #EatWithMe videos on TikTok, which typically feature young women eating food while encouraging viewers to eat along with them. Many such content creators say they aim to help people with eating disorders overcome their fear of food.</p>
<p>But some videos tagged #EatWithMe also feature the hashtag “mukbang” (which are videos showing people eating an often vast amount of food).</p>
<p>So, what’s the connection between #EatWithMe videos and mukbang? And what are we to make of claims #EatWithMe videos could help people overcome a fear of eating?</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-i-work-with-people-with-eating-disorders-i-see-many-rules-around-good-and-bad-foods-but-eating-is-never-that-simple-188803">When I work with people with eating disorders, I see many rules around 'good' and 'bad' foods – but eating is never that simple</a>
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<h2>#EatWithMe videos</h2>
<p>The #EatWithMe videos on TikTok represent a relatively recent genre that emerged during the pandemic.</p>
<p>The creators of TikTok #EatWithMe videos usually claim to positively influence viewers’ relationship with food. They encourage viewers to eat along with them, as a way to overcome urges to avoid food. Many say they are themselves in recovery from an eating disorder.</p>
<p>As an expert in eating disorders I (Vivienne Lewis) can tell you these videos are very unlikely to assist people in their <a href="https://butterfly.org.au/get-support/helpline/">recovery</a>. In fact, a fascination with eating and watching others eat can be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-people-with-eating-disorders-are-often-obsessed-with-food-77509">symptom of a restrictive eating disorder</a>. Watching #eatwithme and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7497418/">mukbang</a> content could even fuel the eating disorder. </p>
<p>Firstly, eating disorder recovery is about more than just eating. It is about a person’s perception of their body and themselves, their self esteem, how they deal with emotions and feelings of self worth.</p>
<p>The eating part of recovery from an eating disorder involves five stages called the <a href="https://ceed.org.au/resources_links/raves-a-step-by-step-approach-to-re-establishing-normal-eating/">RAVES</a> model. This stands for <strong>r</strong>egular eating, <strong>a</strong>dequate eating, eating a <strong>v</strong>ariety of foods, <strong>e</strong>ating socially and <strong>s</strong>pontaneous eating. </p>
<p>It often takes a person many months, if not years, to achieve this. It requires encouragement and support from an accredited practising dietitian, an accredited psychologist and family and friends. It can not be achieved through simply watching videos of people eating. If that was the case, a person would recover simply from watching friends eat. </p>
<p>Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that require specialist <a href="https://butterfly.org.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-treatment/">treatment and care</a>. Turning to untrained influencers for advice or treatment strategies comes with serious risk.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496653/original/file-20221122-18-qapv1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496653/original/file-20221122-18-qapv1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496653/original/file-20221122-18-qapv1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496653/original/file-20221122-18-qapv1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496653/original/file-20221122-18-qapv1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496653/original/file-20221122-18-qapv1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496653/original/file-20221122-18-qapv1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496653/original/file-20221122-18-qapv1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A fascination with eating and watching others eat can be a symptom of a restrictive eating disorder.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Mukbang: ‘broadcast eating’</h2>
<p>It’s noteworthy that many #EatWithMe videos include “#mukbang” among the accompanying hashtags. The videos that feature both hashtags tend not to centre on eating disorder recovery but rather on the spectacle of seeing a person heartily, and often noisily, eat a large meal. </p>
<p>However, the fact many videos feature both hashtags means it would be easy for people with eating disorders to come across mukbang videos.</p>
<p><a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mukbang-eatcast">Mukbang</a> videos – a phenomenon I (Sijun Shen) have <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/01634437221111950">studied</a> – feature people eating vast amounts of food, such as 10,000 calorie meals or almost 50 pieces of KFC in one sitting.</p>
<p><a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mukbang-eatcast">Mukbang</a> originated in Korea in around 2008, and is a phonetic translation of the Korean words 먹방 (먹다 means eat and 방송 means broadcast) – it literally means broadcast eating. Mukbang videos, which have been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/korea-eating-online-idINDEEA0Q03K20140127">described</a> as “gastronomic voyeurism”, soon became an international trend. </p>
<p>As anthropologist and ethnographer Crystal Abidin has <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/9781787560765">observed</a>, the ability to consume a large quantity of food while looking slim has been a general theme or selling point for mukbang videos.</p>
<p>Many mukbang celebrities are physically slim. Their videos, while not always explicitly claiming to be therapeutic, often send the unspoken message one can find release by overeating, all while staying slim. Many parts of Asia have punishingly difficult beauty standards that elevate slimness as a physical ideal worth pursuing at any cost. For people starving themselves in pursuit of this goal, there may be something cathartic in watching another person eat freely and with gusto.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496657/original/file-20221122-25-obj24f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496657/original/file-20221122-25-obj24f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496657/original/file-20221122-25-obj24f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496657/original/file-20221122-25-obj24f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496657/original/file-20221122-25-obj24f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496657/original/file-20221122-25-obj24f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496657/original/file-20221122-25-obj24f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496657/original/file-20221122-25-obj24f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Mukbang originated in Korea in around 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sjutterstock</span></span>
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<p>As I (Sijun Shen) found through <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/01634437221111950">my research of mubkang culture</a>, certain mukbang and “eat-streaming” communities in some countries (such as China) have been formed by fans who are also active in online eating disorder communities. Less discussed are reports of mukbang influencers <a href="https://new.qq.com/omn/20220305/20220305A02P8B00.html">being</a> <a href="https://poptopic.com.au/rumour/nikocado-avocado-to-stop-posting-mukbang-videos-due-to-health/">hospitalised</a>, fainting or losing teeth during live eat-streaming sessions.</p>
<p>Mukbang and #EatWithMe videos share some common visual themes. Both usually (but not always) use the image of a relatively slim girl eating food as a form of visual entertainment and release.</p>
<p>It is not hard to see how people with eating disorders may start by watching #EatWithMe videos centred around eating disorder recovery but end up watching mukbang videos. </p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-020-00309-w">link</a> between mukbang communities and online eating disorder communities, it seems unlikely exposure to these videos is helpful for a person recovering from an eating disorder.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-people-with-eating-disorders-are-often-obsessed-with-food-77509">Why people with eating disorders are often obsessed with food</a>
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<h2>Eating disorders are complex</h2>
<p>Eating disorders are complex and require evidence-based treatment. This treatment can be expensive and hard to access, so it may be no surprise people are turning to TikTok for help.</p>
<p>But online influencers are generally not trained professionals. </p>
<p>While many content creators may mean well there is scant evidence watching TikTok #EatWithMe or mukbang videos can successfully treat eating disorders – and they may end up fuelling food fixation in people with eating disorders.</p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, consider contacting the <a href="https://butterfly.org.au/">Butterfly Foundation</a> on 1800 33 4673 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vivienne Lewis works for The University of Canberra and is a member of the Australian Psychological Society. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sijun Shen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What’s the connection between #EatWithMe videos and mukbang? And what are we to make of claims they could help people overcome a fear of eating?Sijun Shen, Lecturer, Media and Communications Studies, Monash University, Monash UniversityVivienne Lewis, Assistant professor – Psychology, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1883312022-10-05T21:30:11Z2022-10-05T21:30:11ZEurope has never had a global voice – but that may be changing with rise of digital media<p>An oft-quoted question attributed (<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c4c1e0cd-f34a-3b49-985f-e708b247eb55">probably wrongly</a>) to the former US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger: “Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?”, still resonates as an indication of Europe’s lack of unity and leadership. It also signals a disconnect in transatlantic communications that is due, in part, to the lack of a pan-European media system that engages a broad continental audience.</p>
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<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/europe-has-never-had-a-global-voice-but-that-may-be-changing-with-rise-of-digital-media-188331&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>But there are signs of change, as new technologies disrupt national and global forms of political communication and reshape news flows. With the European media landscape in some turmoil due to <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/IPOL_STU(2021)690873">“the digital shift and evolving business models”</a>, US-style models and reporting styles are shaking up the ways news is made and consumed.</p>
<p>There have been few successful news media efforts to address a pan-European public. Europeans show little interest in EU affairs and the news media cultures in Europe remain very much centred on the particular nation or culture they represent – privileging “legacy” or “old” media and their national language, looking at EU matters through a local lens.</p>
<p>Several pan-European media projects have been launched and some have been subsidised by the EU, such as <a href="https://www.euronews.com/">Euronews</a> and <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/">Euractiv</a>. But these have achieved limited success in terms of audiences and influence.</p>
<p>Euronews, created in the wake of the 1990 Gulf War as a “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1993/01/02/euronews-is-launched-as-an-alternative-to-cnn/d45d7b42-7a4c-4331-baf1-deab136a5dc9/">European CNN</a>” and originally owned by a consortium of state-owned European news organisations, experienced severe financial problems in recent years due to plunging advertising revenue and in 2021 was bought out by a Portuguese investment firm.</p>
<p>Its instability reflects widespread disruptions in the news industry, with the decline in advertising revenue pressing many to publish on digital ahead of print and replace advertising with subscriptions. As this becomes a trend, media companies are seeking global standing and new models of news production and delivery. </p>
<h2>The US invasion</h2>
<p>In this transition, there has been a flurry of shutdowns and expansions in Europe by US legacy media such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. There have also been efforts by US-based digital natives such as Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and Vice to find European audiences.</p>
<p>In 2016 the New York Times shut down a substantial part of its Paris operation for editing and pre-press print production and then <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2020/02/06/the-newsroom-never-sleeps-inside-the-new-york-times-control-centre-london">opened a digital newsroom in London</a> in 2017, creating an “express desk” to coordinate reporting of breaking news with New York. The Washington Post followed suit in 2021 by opening a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2020/12/21/washington-post-announces-newsroom-expansion-including-new-foreign-bureaus-breaking-news-hubs-europe-asia/">new breaking news hub</a> in London.</p>
<p>The primary role of these London hubs is to act as supports to US-based breaking news teams, so there is less strain on journalists and the live global coverage is fresh and fast. London is perceived as a hub within a global network (just as it is for global capital), with the related goal of gaining international subscribers.</p>
<p>At the same time, these moves are also producing more coordinated reporting of European affairs. The New York Times London hub has dedicated reporters covering the UK and the EU. Its nine-month investigation in 2019 into corruption in EU agricultural subsidies reported from nine countries and initiated policy debates in Brussels, and had <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2020/02/06/the-newsroom-never-sleeps-inside-the-new-york-times-control-centre-london">readers asking</a>: “Why didn’t publications in Europe do this?”</p>
<h2>Germans cross the Atlantic</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most startling move in the transatlantic news business has been Germany’s largest media company Axel Springer buying up US news media to become a major player in news production on both sides of the Atlantic. It purchased the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/axel-springer-acquire-news-website-politico-2021-08-26/">Washington-based Politico in 2021</a>, having already collaborated with Politico in 2014 to create Politico Europe. Axel <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/axel-springer-acquiresbusiness-insider-for-450-million-2015-9?r=US&IR=T">also purchased</a> the American-owned and based Business Insider in 2015.</p>
<p>Since its founding in Washington in 2007, Politico has been hugely influential in redefining US politics and policy coverage via snappy insider-style reporting, with a popular <a href="https://www.politico.com/playbook">Playbook</a> franchise (delivering a daily early-morning newsletter) and a high-end subscription service <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/">Politico Pro</a>, which provides policy insights for professionals.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.adweek.com/media/politico-europe-names-jamil-anderlini-its-new-editor-in-chief/">Politico Europe</a> has been well funded and designed to repeat the trick in Brussels, based in a large newsroom in the city, with additional bureaux in London, Paris and Berlin. In advertising this development, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/about-us/">they claim</a> to “connect and empower professionals through nonpartisan journalism and actionable intelligence about European politics and policy”.</p>
<p>It has certainly shaken up the Brussels media and political scene (“<a href="https://www.dg-meme.eu/meme/glossary/eu-bubble/">the Brussels bubble</a>”), and there has been some disquiet expressed about its noisy style, but it has also been markedly successful to judge both by its fast growth and <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/politico-and-financial-times-seen-as-most-influential-media-sources-at-european-parliament-new-comres-poll-finds/">widely acknowledged influence</a>. Other media commentators may carp but also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/25/business/media/politico-pierces-the-brussels-bubble-with-us-style-coverage.html">ruefully agree</a> that Politico’s Brussels Playbook has “really become the thing that starts the daily conversation here”.</p>
<h2>Power and policy</h2>
<p>Politico Europe’s advance is unlikely to herald a pan-European turn in news production and consumption that will promote integration. However, it has significantly disrupted complacencies about the importance of European news, how it is reported, and who consumes it. It is also helping to position Axel Springer as a major player in transatlantic affairs.</p>
<p>Politico has an eye on a niche but lucrative market of European influencers and professionals. It promises to engage them by joining the dots of power and policy in and across many sectors. In this it recognises the global significance of the EU as a regulatory power, with EU policies having global impact in areas such as data privacy and environmental protection.</p>
<p>At the same time, the purchase of Politico <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a7bea99e-a43c-4f3b-9ed2-47fd5883c4d8">positions</a> Axel Springer in Washington and Brussels as the regulation of Big Tech becomes an increasingly important transatlantic issue. So, who do you call if you want to speak to Europe? Well, you might try the <a href="https://www.politico.eu/staff/claire-boussagol/">chief executive</a> of Politico Europe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188331/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liam Kennedy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Efforts to create a pan-European media outlet have found it tough going, but there are signs that a new digital player may well be finding success.Liam Kennedy, Professor of American Studies, University College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1891042022-09-20T12:35:58Z2022-09-20T12:35:58ZDeepfake audio has a tell – researchers use fluid dynamics to spot artificial imposter voices<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484966/original/file-20220915-33289-bmfzf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=818%2C7%2C4057%2C3165&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With deepfake audio, that familiar voice on the other end of the line might not even be human let alone the person you think it is.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/male-hacker-wearing-mask-while-using-laptop-at-royalty-free-image/1181587363">Knk Phl Prasan Kha Phibuly/EyeEm via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine the following scenario. A phone rings. An office worker answers it and hears his boss, in a panic, tell him that she forgot to transfer money to the new contractor before she left for the day and needs him to do it. She gives him the wire transfer information, and with the money transferred, the crisis has been averted. </p>
<p>The worker sits back in his chair, takes a deep breath, and watches as his boss walks in the door. The voice on the other end of the call was not his boss. In fact, it wasn’t even a human. The voice he heard was that of an audio deepfake, a machine-generated audio sample designed to sound exactly like his boss.</p>
<p>Attacks like this using recorded audio <a href="https://www.protocol.com/enterprise/deepfake-voice-cyberattack-ai-audio">have already occurred</a>, and conversational audio deepfakes might not be far off.</p>
<p>Deepfakes, both audio and video, have been possible only with the development of sophisticated machine learning technologies in recent years. Deepfakes have brought with them a new level of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/08/30/deep-fake-video-on-agt/">uncertainty around digital media</a>. To detect deepfakes, many researchers have turned to analyzing visual artifacts – minute glitches and inconsistencies – found in <a href="https://theconversation.com/examining-a-videos-changes-over-time-helps-flag-deepfakes-120263">video deepfakes</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oxXpB9pSETo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This is not Morgan Freeman, but if you weren’t told that, how would you know?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Audio deepfakes potentially pose an even greater threat, because people often communicate verbally without video – for example, via phone calls, radio and voice recordings. These voice-only communications greatly expand the possibilities for attackers to use deepfakes. </p>
<p>To detect audio deepfakes, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=txlJCGYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">we and our research colleagues</a> at the University of Florida have developed a technique that <a href="https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity22/presentation/blue">measures the acoustic and fluid dynamic differences</a> between voice samples created organically by human speakers and those generated synthetically by computers. </p>
<h2>Organic vs. synthetic voices</h2>
<p>Humans vocalize by forcing air over the various structures of the vocal tract, including vocal folds, tongue and lips. By rearranging these structures, you alter the acoustical properties of your vocal tract, allowing you to create over 200 distinct sounds, or phonemes. However, human anatomy fundamentally limits the acoustic behavior of these different phonemes, resulting in a relatively small range of correct sounds for each.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SVKR3ESdAk8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How your vocal organs work.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, audio deepfakes are created by first allowing a computer to listen to audio recordings of a targeted victim speaker. Depending on the exact techniques used, the computer <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3327345.3327360">might need to listen to as little as 10 to 20 seconds of audio</a>. This audio is used to extract key information about the unique aspects of the victim’s voice. </p>
<p>The attacker selects a phrase for the deepfake to speak and then, using a modified text-to-speech algorithm, generates an audio sample that sounds like the victim saying the selected phrase. This process of creating a single deepfaked audio sample can be accomplished in a matter of seconds, potentially allowing attackers enough flexibility to use the deepfake voice in a conversation.</p>
<h2>Detecting audio deepfakes</h2>
<p>The first step in differentiating speech produced by humans from speech generated by deepfakes is understanding how to acoustically model the vocal tract. Luckily scientists have techniques to estimate what someone – or some being such as a <a href="https://carnegiemnh.org/what-did-dinosaurs-sound-like-paleoacoustics/">dinosaur</a> – would sound like based on anatomical measurements of its vocal tract. </p>
<p>We did the reverse. By inverting many of these same techniques, we were able to extract an approximation of a speaker’s vocal tract during a segment of speech. This allowed us to effectively peer into the anatomy of the speaker who created the audio sample.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482539/original/file-20220902-22-7jgydo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="line drawing diagram showing two focal tracts, one wider and more variable than the other" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482539/original/file-20220902-22-7jgydo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482539/original/file-20220902-22-7jgydo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482539/original/file-20220902-22-7jgydo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482539/original/file-20220902-22-7jgydo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482539/original/file-20220902-22-7jgydo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482539/original/file-20220902-22-7jgydo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482539/original/file-20220902-22-7jgydo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deepfaked audio often results in vocal tract reconstructions that resemble drinking straws rather than biological vocal tracts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity22/presentation/blue">Logan Blue et al.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From here, we hypothesized that deepfake audio samples would fail to be constrained by the same anatomical limitations humans have. In other words, the analysis of deepfaked audio samples simulated vocal tract shapes that do not exist in people. </p>
<p>Our testing results not only confirmed our hypothesis but revealed something interesting. When extracting vocal tract estimations from deepfake audio, we found that the estimations were often comically incorrect. For instance, it was common for deepfake audio to result in vocal tracts with the same relative diameter and consistency as a drinking straw, in contrast to human vocal tracts, which are much wider and more variable in shape.</p>
<p>This realization demonstrates that deepfake audio, even when convincing to human listeners, is far from indistinguishable from human-generated speech. By estimating the anatomy responsible for creating the observed speech, it’s possible to identify the whether the audio was generated by a person or a computer.</p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>Today’s world is defined by the digital exchange of media and information. Everything from news to entertainment to conversations with loved ones typically happens via digital exchanges. Even in their infancy, deepfake video and audio undermine the confidence people have in these exchanges, effectively limiting their usefulness.</p>
<p>If the digital world is to remain a critical resource for information in people’s lives, effective and secure techniques for determining the source of an audio sample are crucial.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189104/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Logan Blue receives funding from the Office of Naval Research for this work.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Traynor receives funding from the Office of Naval Research for this work.</span></em></p>AI-generated voice-alikes can be indistinguishable from the real person’s speech to the human ear. A computer model that gives voice to the dinosaurs turns out to be a good way to tell the difference.Logan Blue, PhD candidate in Computer & Information Science & Engineering, University of FloridaPatrick Traynor, Professor of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1877562022-09-06T12:38:16Z2022-09-06T12:38:16ZWhen tragedy becomes banal: Why news consumers experience crisis fatigue<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483133/original/file-20220907-12-n19nkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C4992%2C3233&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As the war continues in Ukraine, a grandmother helps her grandchild light candles in a church in Lviv.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RussiaUkraineWar/7c62ace9ac914c7eb47bb07244085fad/photo?Query=ukraine%20war%20&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=27912&currentItemNo=359">AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Vladimir Putin launched a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/putin-orders-military-operations-in-eastern-ukraine-as-un-meets">full-scale invasion of Ukraine</a> by land, air and sea on Feb. 24, 2022, the images of war were conveyed to dismayed onlookers around the world. Far from the action, many of us became aware of the unprovoked aggression by reading online coverage or watching TV to see explosions and people <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/02/world/ukraine-russia-war">running from danger and crowding into underground bunkers</a>. </p>
<p>Half a year later, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/ukraine-live">the violence continues</a>. But for those who have not been directly affected by the events, this ongoing war and its casualties have been <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/ukraine-reader-interest-publishers-uk/">shifting</a> to the periphery of many people’s attention. </p>
<p>This turning away makes sense. </p>
<p>Being attentive to realities like war is often painful, and people are not well-equipped to keep a sustained focus on ongoing or traumatic occurrences. </p>
<p>In addition, since the war in Ukraine began, many other events have arisen to occupy the world’s attention. These include <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/29/global-extreme-weather-events-climate-change/">droughts</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/crews-battle-oregon-wildfire-heat-wind-threaten-disaster-rcna45380">wildfires</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/us/california-superstorm.html">storms tied to global warming</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/02/mass-shootings-in-2022/">mass shootings</a> and the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1102305878/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-decision-overturn">reversal of Roe v. Wade</a>. </p>
<p>As the philosopher-psychologist <a href="https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/prin9.htm">William James</a> asked, “Does not every sudden shock, appearance of a new object, or change in a sensation, create a real interruption?”</p>
<p>Ongoing tragic events, like the assault on Ukraine, can recede from people’s attention because many may feel overwhelmed, helpless or drawn to other urgent issues. This phenomenon is called “<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/crisis-fatigue/">crisis fatigue</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480952/original/file-20220824-15610-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A firetruck drives near a burning wildfire." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480952/original/file-20220824-15610-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480952/original/file-20220824-15610-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480952/original/file-20220824-15610-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480952/original/file-20220824-15610-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480952/original/file-20220824-15610-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480952/original/file-20220824-15610-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480952/original/file-20220824-15610-j9lpxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The McKinney Fire burned more than 60,000 acres in Northern California this summer, killing four people and destroying 90 residences. Drought conditions enabled the fire to spread quickly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CaliforniaWildfireLawsuits/5f9822283e264978be3248d93b2791ee/photo?Query=wildfire%20&mediaType=photo,video,graphic,audio&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=24571&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Noah Berger</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Roots of crisis fatigue</h2>
<p><a href="https://longtermrisk.org/files/Reducing_long_term_risks_from_malevolent_actors.pdf">Malevolent actors</a> and authoritarians like Putin are aware of public fatigue and use it to their advantage. “War fatigue is kicking in,” the Estonian prime minister, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/24/why-the-west-risks-condemning-ukraine-to-slow-strangulation">Kaja Kallas</a>, said. “Russia is playing on us getting tired. We must not fall into the trap.” </p>
<p>In a speech to <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/viryu-sho-sila-lyudskoyi-kreativnosti-bilsha-nizh-sila-yader-75937">marketing professionals in Cannes, France</a>, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, asked them to keep the world focused on his country’s plight. “I’ll be honest with you – the end of this war and its circumstances depend on the world’s attention …,” he said. “Don’t let the world switch to something else!” </p>
<p>Unfortunately, many of us have already changed the channel. The tragic has become banal. </p>
<p>I became interested in the phenomenon of fatigue as a result of my scholarly research into <a href="https://doi.org/10.5840/philtoday200953170">moral attentiveness</a>. This idea was articulated by the 20th-century French philosopher and social activist <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/simone-weil/">Simone Weil</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480954/original/file-20220824-12096-zql1sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A 1936 photo of French philosopher Simone Weil dressed in military clothing holding a rifle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480954/original/file-20220824-12096-zql1sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480954/original/file-20220824-12096-zql1sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480954/original/file-20220824-12096-zql1sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480954/original/file-20220824-12096-zql1sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480954/original/file-20220824-12096-zql1sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480954/original/file-20220824-12096-zql1sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480954/original/file-20220824-12096-zql1sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1360&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Simone Weil, a French philosopher, joined the Durruti Column in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. Her scholarly work of social justice focused on the oppressed and marginalized in society.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/simone-weil-french-philosopher-here-in-1936-during-spanish-news-photo/89869077?adppopup=true">Apic/Hulton Archives via Getty Images</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to Weil, moral attention is the capacity to open ourselves up fully – intellectually, emotionally and even physically – to the realities that we encounter. She described such attention as vigilance, a suspension of our ego-driven frameworks and personal desires in favor of a Buddhist-like emptiness of mind. This mindset receives, raw and unfiltered, whatever is presented without avoidance or projection. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, Weil found attention to be inseparable from compassion, or “suffering with” the other. There is no avoiding pain and anguish when one attends to the afflicted; hence, she wrote that “thought flies from affliction as promptly and irresistibly as an animal flies from death.” </p>
<p>The sensitivity involved in attending to crises can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, attention can put people in touch with the unvarnished lives of others so the afflicted are truly seen and heard. On the other, such openness can overwhelm many of us through vicarious trauma, as psychologists <a href="https://www.traumaticstressinstitute.org/about-2/company-history/">Lisa McCann</a> and <a href="https://dartcenter.org/bio/laurie-anne-pearlman-phd#:%7E:text=D.,-Co%2DDirector%2C%20">Laurie Pearlman</a> <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1990-17844-001">have noted</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480955/original/file-20220824-4813-vbwo1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two young people place candles on the ground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480955/original/file-20220824-4813-vbwo1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480955/original/file-20220824-4813-vbwo1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480955/original/file-20220824-4813-vbwo1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480955/original/file-20220824-4813-vbwo1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480955/original/file-20220824-4813-vbwo1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480955/original/file-20220824-4813-vbwo1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480955/original/file-20220824-4813-vbwo1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protests are a visual reminder of the devastating war in Ukraine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/1LvJhtGshAw">Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona for Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The difficulty of sustained focus on events like the war is due not only to the inherent fragility of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/religion/simone-weil-fatigue-and-moral-attention/13299758">moral attention</a>, however. As cultural critics like <a href="https://neilpostman.org/">Neil Postman</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/27/world-distraction-demands-new-focus">James Williams</a> and <a href="https://maggie-jackson.com/books/distracted/">Maggie Jackson</a> have noted, the 24/7 news cycle is one of many pressures clamoring for our attention. Our smartphones and other technology with incessant communications – from trivial to apocalyptic – engineer environments to keep us perpetually distracted and disoriented.</p>
<h2>Why audiences tune out</h2>
<p>Aside from the threats to people’s attention posed by our distracting technologies and information overload, there is also the fact of crisis fatigue leading readers to consume less news. </p>
<p>This year, a <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/dnr-executive-summary">Reuters Institute</a> analysis showed that interest in news has decreased sharply across all markets, from 63% in 2017 to 51% in 2022, while a full 15% of Americans have disconnected from news coverage altogether. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480956/original/file-20220824-12400-klnwzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Men looking at multiple monitors." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480956/original/file-20220824-12400-klnwzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480956/original/file-20220824-12400-klnwzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480956/original/file-20220824-12400-klnwzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480956/original/file-20220824-12400-klnwzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480956/original/file-20220824-12400-klnwzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480956/original/file-20220824-12400-klnwzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480956/original/file-20220824-12400-klnwzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sheer volume of digital news and information has an unintended side effect: News consumers are tuning out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/w_zE6qlkQKA">ThisisEngineering RAEng for Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to the Reuters report, the <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/dnr-executive-summary">reasons for this differ</a>, in part, with political affiliation. Conservative voters tend to avoid the news because they deem it <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2021/02/20/fewer-americans-than-ever-before-trust-the-mainstream-media/?sh=58a342b3282a">untrustworthy or biased</a>, while liberal voters avoid news because of feelings of powerlessness and fatigue. Online news, with its perpetual drive to keep eyes trained on screens, is unwittingly undermining its own goals: to provide news and keep the public informed.</p>
<h2>Taking a new tack</h2>
<p>How might we recover a capacity for meaningful attention and responses amid incessant, disjointed and overwhelming news? Scholars have made a variety of recommendations, usually focused on <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/06/conquering-digital-distraction">reining in digital device usage</a>. Beyond this, readers and journalists might consider the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><a href="https://time.com/5125894/is-reading-news-bad-for-you/">Limiting the daily intake of news</a> can help people become more attentive to particular issues of concern without feeling overwhelmed. Cultural theorist <a href="https://frenchculture.org/books-and-ideas/authors-on-tour/6484-yves-citton">Yves Citton</a>, in his book “<a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-ecology-of-attention--9781509503728">The Ecology of Attention</a>,” urges readers to “extract” themselves “from the hold of the alertness media regime.” According to him, the current media creates a state of “permanent alertness” through “crisis discourses, images of catastrophes, political scandals, and violent news items.” At the same time, reading long-form articles and essays can actually be a practice <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/14/the-lost-art-of-concentration-being-distracted-in-a-digital-world">that helps with cultivating attentiveness</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Journalists can include more <a href="https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/">solutions-based stories</a> that capture the possibility of change. Avenues for action can be offered to readers to counteract paralysis in the face of tragedy. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/08/how-to-fix-news-media/">Amanda Ripley</a>, a former Time magazine journalist, notes that “stories that offer hope, agency, and dignity feel like breaking news right now, because we are so overwhelmed with the opposite.” </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Weil, who was committed to the responsibility of moral attentiveness but did not romanticize tragedy, wrote, “Nothing is so beautiful and wonderful, nothing is so continually fresh and surprising, so full of sweet and perpetual ecstasy, as the good.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187756/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Rozelle-Stone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Whether it is the war in Ukraine or other devastating news, people find it hard to sustain their attention. A scholar who studies crisis fatigue explains why that is so and what we can do.Rebecca Rozelle-Stone, Professor of Philosophy, University of North DakotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1854772022-06-24T11:02:29Z2022-06-24T11:02:29ZOur fifth anniversary: Readers weigh in<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469863/original/file-20220620-14-l538pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C15%2C5097%2C3462&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Conversation Canada is five years old!</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Five years ago, <em>The Conversation Canada</em> quietly crept into existence. It was known as a “soft launch” — a term sometimes used as a cover in case something goes terribly wrong. Luckily, nothing did. </p>
<p>We published eight stories on that very first day, including some on topics that are still very much relevant five years later — the impact of <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-making-cities-sick-and-we-need-to-act-78447">climate change on cities</a>, the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-glass-cliff-is-steep-for-canadas-female-politicians-78988">glass cliff</a>” that female politicians face, why Canada needs a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-canada-should-introduce-universal-drugs-coverage-79824">pharmacare plan</a>. That first edition also included a <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-wanna-be-white-can-we-change-race-78899">provocative piece on race</a>, a subject that has been one of the cornerstones of our coverage throughout the years.</p>
<p>Our co-founders Mary Lynn Young and Alfred Hermida of the University of British Columbia School of Journalism, Writing and Media, also wrote <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-start-the-conversation-in-canada-79877">a first-day essay</a> on why <em>The Conversation Canada</em> was needed. They’ve done another wonderful piece to mark our fifth anniversary.</p>
<p>To mark this big birthday, we recently invited readers to send us their thoughts. We heard from people across the country and around the world.</p>
<p>“We should all read about info that makes us go, ‘Hmm, never thought of that, that way,’ ” wrote Mark Brown of Gananoque, Ont. Good journalism should not only inform, but it should also open a reader’s mind to new ideas and other perspectives.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>The Conversation</em> constantly makes me think — and often outside my own comfortable box of knowledge or long-held views: that is good for both my brain and my soul.
<strong>Judy Humphries,
Gravenhurst, Ont.</strong></p>
<p>I am so fed up with polarization. I breathe a sigh of relief when I can read articles that make me think and weigh actions being taken in our world.
<strong>Jacqueline Kelly,
Grimsby, Ont.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Given that our authors are academics, we know that our articles are often used in classrooms.</p>
<p>Wendy Burton, a lecturer with the department of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University, told us that <em>The Conversation</em> is “just what my first-year university students needed — plain language discussions of current research, written by reputable sources. … Several students have told me they have now bookmarked the site and check it regularly.”</p>
<p>Rosemary Evans said as a high school principal at University of Toronto Schools “it is very important to me to support students and staff to seek out sources which provide a balanced, carefully researched, thoughtfully reasoned, understanding of contemporary events accessible to a lay audience. … The scholarly integrity of <em>The Conversation</em> makes it a ‘go to source.’”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Congratulations! <em>The Conversation</em> is a ‘must read’ for me every morning — no matter what else is hovering, I always open and I enjoy the browse. I value highly that the content is authored by Canadian academic professionals and that the content is evidence-based.
<strong>Bonnie Woodland,
St. John’s, NL</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since our very first day, <em>The Conversation Canada</em> has published provocative stories about race and racism — something that most traditional media in Canada have historically under covered. Many readers also told us they are regular listeners to our anti-racism podcast <em><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Don’t Call Me Resilient</a></em>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As an Indigenous woman, I tire of being spoken of as resilient — I am not resilient, I am only a person who has to circumvent my life around so very much bureaucracy and institutional barriers. I am not alone. Many other ethnicities in Canada live the same way. Canada is not the ‘true north strong and free’ and <em>The Conversation</em> has not shied away from making us all think about that.
<strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/norma-dunning-392572">Norma Dunning,</a>
Edmonton</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sheri Zhang of Gatineau, Que., told us she appreciates the articles we’ve published <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/search?q=anti-asian+racism">about anti-Asian racism</a>, which has become a worse problem since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Usha Srivastava especially enjoyed an article <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-all-niqabis-now-coronavirus-masks-reveal-hypocrisy-of-face-covering-bans-136030">that pointed out the hypocrisy of people complaining about Muslim women who wear a niqab</a> at the same time face masks were being promoted as the best way to stop the spread of COVID-19. “Keep up the hard work, it is well worth it,” she wrote.</p>
<p>One of the things that surprised us the most since our launch is that <em>The Conversation Canada</em> has developed a very large international audience — 69 per cent of our readers come from outside of Canada.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>The Conversation Canada</em> helps to put in perspective events that deserve more than the sole French view, be it economical, political, international or simple and ordinary. Kind of a fresh air breeze.
<strong>Michel Breisacher,
Paris</strong></p>
<p>As an avid reader of <em>The Conversation Australia</em> and now having a family connection to B.C., I find <em>The Conversation Canada</em> is an invaluable read. With you overseeing the same level of high-quality journalism underpinned by scientific rigor as I enjoy here, l read to find out what we as nations have in common and where we differ. Whether it be our treatment of our First Nations peoples, the environmental issues we face, social justice concerns or the escalating energy crisis and need to decarbonize, I conclude the challenges are the same.
<strong>Mike Vanderkelen,
Geelong, Australia</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>What could we do better? Some readers would like more stories on the arts and music. Others think we use too many hyperlinks in our articles, which they find distracting. Many readers told us they appreciated that we publish in both <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca-fr">French</a> and English. Several cited our ability to counter the disinformation that permeates social media.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>The Conversation</em> represents all that is good about journalism, research and efforts by so many people of good will to better understand the world we live in…. As misinformation and disinformation spreads, <em>The Conversation</em> represents an important bulwark designed to protect the truth, promote in-depth thinking and most importantly spur change based on reasoned insights and innovative thinking.
<strong>Ron Burnett, President Emeritus, Emily Carr University of Art + Design,
Vancouver</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Those who took the time to write to us about this major milestone were incredibly kind. We would be nowhere without you. We hope you will continue on this journey with us and <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters/canada-daily-7">stay up-to-date with our daily newsletter</a>. Thank you — and here’s to the next five years!</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Always reliable, readable and short. Perfect.
<strong>Gail Benjafield,
St. Catharines, Ont.</strong></p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185477/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
“Always reliable, readable and short. Perfect.” Our readers offer their thoughts on the fifth anniversary of The Conversation Canada.Scott White, CEO | Editor-in-Chief, The Conversation CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855412022-06-24T10:55:23Z2022-06-24T10:55:23ZThe untold story of Canada’s journalism startups<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470368/original/file-20220622-34601-35c970.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4013%2C3024&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Conversation Canada is celebrating its fifth anniversary. It's one of dozens of digital news organizations that has found a niche in the changing media landscape in Canada.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CONVERSATION)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-untold-story-of-canada-s-journalism-startups" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The fifth anniversary of the launch of <em>The Conversation Canada</em> is an opportunity to reflect on an untold story of the Canadian news media.</p>
<p><em>The Conversation Canada</em> is one of more than 120 novel English-language digital-born journalism organizations to launch since 2000. That’s more than the number of daily newspapers that populated the country in the latter part of the 20th century. </p>
<p>In reflecting on the past five years <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-start-the-conversation-in-canada-79877">as co-founders</a> and journalism researchers, we locate <em>The Conversation Canada</em> as part of <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3621685">an emergent journalism infrastructure</a> populated by a new group of vital contributors who range from cottage industry to larger-sized established organizations. </p>
<p>These players — such as <em><a href="https://thelogic.co/">The Logic</a></em>, <a href="https://mediaindigena.com/"><em>MediaIndigena</em></a>, <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/"><em>The Narwhal</em></a>, <em><a href="https://www.sprawlcalgary.com/">The Sprawl</a></em>, <em><a href="https://thetyee.ca/">The Tyee</a></em> and <em><a href="https://www.villagemedia.ca/">Village Media</a></em> — are shaping what it means to be a journalist and what journalism could and should do in this country. They have taken advantage of low barriers to entry online and the potential of a digital space that affords a place to experiment with diverse approaches. </p>
<p>Yet the decline of legacy, commercial media has been a singular focus of policymakers and journalism coverage even as these new digital-born journalism organizations are winning recognition at industry awards and filling gaps in news coverage.</p>
<h2>Tackling critical issues</h2>
<p>Our research for the past two years has focused on identifying and understanding this wave of digital-born entrants. We’ve found that the majority of the new digital news organizations are still up and running, even though many startups fail in their first few years. Like <em>The Conversation Canada</em>, more than half have launched since 2015.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Climate activists holding up a variety of signs demonstrate in downtown Calgary" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470671/original/file-20220623-52182-2w9vtx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470671/original/file-20220623-52182-2w9vtx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470671/original/file-20220623-52182-2w9vtx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470671/original/file-20220623-52182-2w9vtx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470671/original/file-20220623-52182-2w9vtx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470671/original/file-20220623-52182-2w9vtx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470671/original/file-20220623-52182-2w9vtx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some of the new digital news organizations in Canada have focused coverage on specific issues like the climate crisis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A majority of the new journalism organizations are located in British Columbia and Ontario, although they are largely in non-urban centres. Some 40 per cent have a national and/or international outlook in their coverage, which is a surprise given the fears about the loss of local news.</p>
<p>Many of these new organizations are consciously mission-driven, with some acknowledging their roles as a response to urgent global concerns and living in a settler-colonial nation state. Some take explicit stances on harms and fault lines in legacy media reporting including justice for Indigenous peoples, racial injustice, the climate crisis, the economy and more.</p>
<p>Just under two-thirds of the new digital-born news media were started by a mix of veteran and emerging journalists, and the rest by media makers, business people or activists. </p>
<p>This new system is, however, not without its challenges such as sustainability, scale, living wages, attracting audiences and the influence of funders, to name just a few. </p>
<p>The increase in the past two decades in the number and range of journalism entrepreneurs and owners is important because there is evidence the concentration of ownership has contributed to a limited diversity of perspectives and types of organizations that could and have engaged in journalism in Canada. </p>
<h2>Trend towards not-for-profits</h2>
<p>Our research shows a shift to not-for-profit organizations doing journalism in the past two decades, including <em>The Conversation Canada</em>. </p>
<p>The evolution in types of ownership and business models is significant given the highly concentrated nature of Canadian journalism ownership, which has been a concern since the first government committee <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/Pilot/LoPBdP/BP/prb9935-e.htm#A.%20The%20Daveytxt">explored the issue in 1970</a>. </p>
<p>Contemporary Canadian journalism has also had a largely commercial orientation, despite the important presence of a public service broadcaster, with <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/comparing-media-systems/B7A12371782B7A1D62BA1A72C1395E43">professional ideals of objectivity and independence</a>.</p>
<p>These elements have contributed to a widely shared and relatively homogenous perception of journalistic roles among public and legacy media. Largely, described as “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-political-science-revue-canadienne-de-science-politique/article/abs/is-there-a-distinct-quebec-media-subsystem-in-canada-evidence-of-ideological-and-political-orientations-among-canadian-news-media-organizations/835FC4D4BDAAF96976B53F28D0A05619">monitorial</a>,” journalism roles in Canada have focused on a five-point “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-political-science-revue-canadienne-de-science-politique/article/abs/changes-in-canadian-journalists-views-about-the-social-and-political-roles-of-the-news-media-a-panel-study-19962003/535827D9F0BF053D9BA3D17A59E50FC3">creed</a>”: “accurately reporting the views of public figures, getting information to the public quickly, giving ordinary people a chance to express their views, investigating activities of government and public institutions, and providing analysis and interpretation of complex problems.”</p>
<h2>‘A single newspaper agenda’</h2>
<p>Such professional commercial logics span Canada’s anglophone and francophone media systems. A recent study by scholars in Québec found the perception of similar content focus in Canadian media. These scholars suggest this finding validates prior research that there is “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210428185800id_/https:/www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/835FC4D4BDAAF96976B53F28D0A05619/S0008423920000189a.pdf/div-class-title-is-there-a-distinct-quebec-media-subsystem-in-canada-evidence-of-ideological-and-political-orientations-among-canadian-news-media-organizations-div.pdf">a single newspaper agenda in Canada</a>,” with the caveat that this agenda is “beyond Québec-specific issues.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People walk by two newspaper boxes in downtown Toronto" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470457/original/file-20220623-51459-5mozlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470457/original/file-20220623-51459-5mozlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470457/original/file-20220623-51459-5mozlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470457/original/file-20220623-51459-5mozlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470457/original/file-20220623-51459-5mozlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470457/original/file-20220623-51459-5mozlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470457/original/file-20220623-51459-5mozlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As legacy newsrooms in Canada have struggled and downsized, a new crop of digital-born organizations have launched across the country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Frayer</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These are important considerations because there is evidence the relationship between journalists’ professional ideology in Canada and perception of partisanship and politicization is paradoxical. While journalists ascribe to neutrality, audiences perceive them as partisan.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadians-trust-in-the-news-media-hits-a-new-low-184302">Canadians' trust in the news media hits a new low</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This paradox is timely as it coincides with a <a href="https://www.cem.ulaval.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/dnr22_can_eng.pdf">decline in public trust</a> in the news media. Anglophones’ trust in journalism has dropped to a low of 39 per cent compared to 55 per cent in 2016 and to 47 per cent from 55 per cent over the same period among francophones.</p>
<p>Perceptions of trust are related to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadians-trust-in-the-news-media-hits-a-new-low-184302">perceived lack of diversity in media ownership</a>”, as well as concerns about the media’s independence from political or business influence.</p>
<h2>What journalism can be</h2>
<p>The fifth anniversary of <em>The Conversation Canada</em> is an opportunity to express our deep gratitude to the many individuals, including its editors, who have contributed to its success — and to its <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003140399-6/university-giant-newsroom-alfred-hermida-lisa-varano-mary-lynn-young">meaningful contributions to journalism in Canada</a>, from the coverage of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/topics/covid-19-82431">COVID-19</a> to the podcast <em><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/">Don’t Call Me Resilient</a></em>. </p>
<p>Our goal in co-founding <em>The Conversation Canada</em> was to explore how non-commercial journalism values affect what journalism could and should do in this country. (We are both tenured professors at the University of British Columbia and we have not earned any revenue from <em>The Conversation Canada</em> or our roles in it.)</p>
<p>It was an initiative to see what journalism could be if written by experts in their fields and edited by journalists, deliberately welcoming those critical studies and perspectives from scholars who have been excluded and/or had to operate on the margins of the media. </p>
<p>Our approach sought to address established power relations in journalism, extending how the newsroom and its presence within a commercial landscape, <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190067076.001.0001/oso-9780190067076">largely created by white professional journalists</a> in Canada, has been habitually conceptualized, understood and practised. </p>
<p>Canada is not alone in trying to decide on policy responses to legacy journalism economic challenges while seeing the rise of newer players all trying to survive alongside the dominance of platforms such as Facebook and Google. Countries such as Australia, Belgium and others are grappling with how best to support quality journalism today to various degrees of success.</p>
<p>Our research is ongoing as part of <a href="https://journalisminnovation.ca/about">a number of related studies</a> in Canada and Australia about the impact and use of <em>The Conversation</em> content nationally and globally, funded by a Canadian federal government research grant. </p>
<p>The evidence is clear that national social, economic and political conditions have an impact on the nature of our media systems. The question for Canadians is what choices they have or should have about the kinds of journalism that are available to them, now and in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Lynn Young receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council. She is co-founder and a former member of the board of The Conversation Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alfred Hermida receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council. He is co-founder and a member of the board of directors of The Conversation Canada.</span></em></p>Canada is home to a growing number of new digital-born journalism organizations, even though government policy aimed at helping the news industry has focused mostly on the decline of legacy media.Mary Lynn Young, Professor, School of Journalism, Writing and Media, University of British ColumbiaAlfred Hermida, Professor, School of Journalism, Writing, and Media, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1756482022-02-02T14:36:53Z2022-02-02T14:36:53ZSaving journalism: views on how to pay for reliable information<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442891/original/file-20220127-24-97s3jf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Newsrooms in Africa are struggling to stay afloat amid declining revenue margins</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fredrick Omondi/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Journalism globally faces a <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-calls-global-support-independent-journalism-amid-funding-crisis-media">sustainability crisis</a>. It largely <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-calls-global-support-independent-journalism-amid-funding-crisis-media">stems from</a> declining advertising revenue, loss of revenue to technology giants, control of news media by political actors and individuals with business interests, disinformation and dwindling public trust.</p>
<p>Twisting the knife in the wound, the financial pressure on media organisations has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. <a href="https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2021/here-are-the-newsroom-layoffs-furloughs-and-closures-caused-by-the-coronavirus/">In the US</a>, for example, at least 21 local newspapers merged and about 1,400 newsroom staffers lost their jobs. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/africas-media-hit-hard-by-covid-19-crisis/a-53427253">African journalism</a> also felt the economic impact.</p>
<p>Without journalism, the foundations on which democratic societies operate will be weaker. Public and private institutions and their actors will be less accountable in their use of power.</p>
<p>A year ago, a team of researchers at Columbia University published a <a href="https://www.kas.de/documents/283221/283270/KAS_Saving+Journalism.pdf/8ee31596-7166-30b4-551f-c442686f91ae?version=1.4&t=1611338643015">report</a> assessing interventions and new initiatives to sustain journalism. Now this team, including myself, has gone back to assess the <a href="https://www.kas.de/documents/283221/283270/Saving+Journalism+2+-+Global+Strategies+and+a+Look+at+Investigative+Journalism.pdf/a8ec2655-5636-8d69-00e5-e698e76c3845?version=1.0&t=1642517860288">status of the promising measures we documented</a>. We’ve also looked at worldwide strategies that show promise in stemming declines in revenue of media outlets and loss of journalism jobs.</p>
<p>Many countries are experimenting with different forms of government support and policies but the question is what works best and is sustainable in each context.</p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We interviewed 60 respondents: economists, policy makers, journalists, editors, academics, and media development workers from Asia, North America, South America, Australia and Africa.</p>
<p>In our earlier report, we found that there was a big appetite for sweeping changes in the business of journalism. Several funding organisations we spoke to in 2021 had made significant progress in 2020 with their support for quality journalism. Some had increased the amount of funding; others had extended funding to more media outlets. </p>
<p>Globally, there is experimentation with different forms of government support and policies. Indonesia gave a series of tax credits to local media. Australia’s <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2021A00021">News Media Bargaining Code</a> channelled hundreds of millions of dollars from Google and Facebook to different journalism outlets.</p>
<p>The people we interviewed for our latest report agree these interventions are necessary, though they believe that there is no perfect fix for saving journalism. The economists take the pragmatic view that in the absence of detailed data showing what is the most effective, interventions are worth pursuing as long as they are not harmful and can garner support.</p>
<p>We found more divided opinions in the journalism community. Some felt governmental support for journalism was crucial. However, when compared to niche players or digital startups, the larger, established outlets benefit more from many government programmes. So the bigger outlets are more in favour of government intervention.</p>
<p>Smaller outlets, particularly in Africa and Latin America, had genuine apprehensions about governmental support. Some felt that government subsidies and tax breaks wouldn’t help small outlets. Others expressed concerns about the potential influence of government on media reportage. </p>
<p>Yet they were open to accepting money from large foundations, foreign governments and tech giants. Some sub-Saharan African journalists believed that supporting quality information was of secondary importance to governments and the public in a region where so many basic needs were not met.</p>
<p>African journalism felt the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Ghanaian media houses <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBiKTN7h1lA">lost a third of their revenue</a>. Journalists faced <a href="https://kenyanwallstreet.com/nmg-to-layoff-staff-to-survive-revenue-losses/">layoffs</a>, while some newsrooms had to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/06/coronavirus-could-trigger-media-extinction-event-in-developing-countries">cut back</a>, <a href="https://gijn.org/2020/04/27/coronavirus-may-spell-the-end-for-many-of-africas-print-newspapers/">close</a> or put staff on compulsory leave. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/06/coronavirus-could-trigger-media-extinction-event-in-developing-countries">Some</a> fear a media extinction event is inevitable. </p>
<p>Most outlets in Africa received little governmental financial support. African journalists competed with journalists in other regions for donor funding. Most government support available was not media-specific. In sub-Saharan Africa it was mainly in the form of personal protective equipment.</p>
<p>Likewise, much of the support that came from media development organisations and international donors was in the form of capacity-building training to help journalists cover the pandemic effectively, and to support educational programmes.</p>
<h2>Some lingering concerns</h2>
<p>Our interviewees believe that substantial investment is needed in finding systemic solutions to make journalism sustainable. Government support and donor funding could be useful, even though some have reservations about it.</p>
<p>There is a perception that donors support journalism purely to <a href="https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/To-Tell-You-the-Truth-EthicalJournalism_Final-1.pdf">buy goodwill</a>. As big tech companies <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2021/05/02/around-the-world-governments-are-readying-to-regulate-bigtech/?sh=f0f261a5935f">lobby</a>
governments to shape new regulations and intensify their giving where they fear regulation, or are being required to pay local news publishers for news content liked on their platforms (as in Australia), these concerns seem to be justified. </p>
<p>We believe that journalism can’t depend on the unpredictable philanthropy of tech companies. There are also questions around their possible influence on journalism content. Some of our participants suggested that to stem big tech’s possible control of media outlets, big tech must be made to pay more taxes, partly to support journalism.</p>
<h2>Looking into the future</h2>
<p>There is consensus that the amount of money needed to save journalism is not huge. <a href="https://www.cima.ned.org/publication/confronting-the-crisis-in-independent-media/">Estimates</a> are as low as US$1 billion a year. As a participant said, it is important to look from the ground up.</p>
<p>Systemic solutions like tax on tech (earmarking the revenue for journalism), a levy on turnover to support public interest journalism, government subsidies and tax credits may be useful without interfering in the work journalists do. </p>
<p>Additionally, African countries can take a cue from the Australian Code. They can build consensus to negotiate a good deal that African media will benefit from. The technical, moral, and economic support of competition regulators across countries will have a radical bearing on how negotiations turn out.</p>
<p>For donors, criteria like public trust, relevance and meeting basic information needs can guide which outlet to fund.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175648/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey receives funding from the National Research Foundation, South Africa. </span></em></p>Many countries are experimenting with different forms of government support for journalism, but the question is about what works best and is sustainable.Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey, Research Associate, School of Journalism and Madia Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa / Lecturer, Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1754852022-01-27T13:28:09Z2022-01-27T13:28:09ZWest Elm Caleb and the rise of the TikTok tabloid<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442290/original/file-20220124-15-142deel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=529%2C3%2C1700%2C1250&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On TikTok, stories can be manufactured and dramatized like an investigative gossip reel.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jenna Drenten</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can you believe Makayla was dropped from <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/08/10631092/alabama-rush-tiktok-obsession-reason">Bama Rush</a>? Do you think <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/who-is-couch-guy-on-tiktok-the-internets-latest-obsession-explained/">Couch Guy</a> was cheating? Did you see <a href="https://www.insider.com/gabby-petito-brian-laundrie-missing-found-true-crime-tiktok-2021-9">Gabby Petito’s</a> last post before she went missing? </p>
<p>If you don’t spend much time online, you may not recognize these names.
But on TikTok, their stories became sensationalized, memeified, hashtagged and rehashed.</p>
<p>The most recent is “<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/discover/westelmcaleb">#WestElmCaleb</a>.” Women took to TikTok to share their experiences of being <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/love-bombing-online-dating_l_61e9d178e4b04e26edba87e2">peppered with affection</a>, strung along and ultimately ghosted by a New York City-based designer named Caleb, who became the exemplar for the worst aspects of online dating culture.</p>
<p>Together, these stories represent the emergence of what I call the “TikTok tabloid,” in which users collectively manufacture and dramatize stories like an investigative gossip reel. Traditional tabloids place the lurid limelight on celebrities and public figures. But the TikTok tabloid targets everyday people. </p>
<p>How did we get to the age of the TikTok tabloid? As someone who studies <a href="https://jennadrenten.com/">digital consumer culture</a>, I see it as an outgrowth of the dynamics of <a href="https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/pub_dom">social surveillance</a>: using digital technologies to keep a close watch on one another, while producing online content in anticipation of being watched.</p>
<h2>Shocking! Exclusive! Scoop!</h2>
<p>Tabloid journalism isn’t new. <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/tabloid-culture-reader/oclc/156810350">Common tabloid genres</a> of stars, sex, scandals and slayings have been cultural guilty pleasures since the early 1900s.</p>
<p>In the U.S., early tabloid newspapers like The Daily Mirror and New York Daily News ushered in an era of sensationalist reporting. These papers were particularly popular among <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616701003638368">working class readers</a> who reveled in the speculative shenanigans of high society.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Stacks of newspapers featuring Bill Clinton." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442811/original/file-20220126-13-1bv1ltd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442811/original/file-20220126-13-1bv1ltd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442811/original/file-20220126-13-1bv1ltd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442811/original/file-20220126-13-1bv1ltd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442811/original/file-20220126-13-1bv1ltd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442811/original/file-20220126-13-1bv1ltd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442811/original/file-20220126-13-1bv1ltd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tabloid newspapers specialize in sensationalism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/recent-new-york-tabloid-newspapers-sport-clinton-headlines-news-photo/1594451?adppopup=true">Spencer Platt/Newsmakers via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the 1970s, glossy tabloid magazines like People and Us Weekly picked up the helm with behind-the-scenes celebrity exclusives and human-interest stories. Tabloid journalism <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203135211/tabloid-television-john-langer">migrated to the small screen</a> in the 1990s with television shows like “Hard Copy” and “Inside Edition.”</p>
<p>And in the 2000s, the internet churned out <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/gendersarchive1998-2013/2008/10/01/fame-losing-game-celebrity-gossip-blogging-bitch-culture-and-postfeminism">round-the-clock celebrity gossip</a> with clickbait headlines on websites like TMZ.com and PerezHilton.com.</p>
<p>Previous eras of tabloid journalism were marked by <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Stardom_and_Celebrity/YSRTvYgS8AwC?hl=en&gbpv=0">highly curated content</a> with a focus on lifestyles of the rich and famous. The brokers of attention were editors, publishers, paparazzi, journalists <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2046147X20920821">and publicists</a>. Tabloids filtered information to the masses, and in turn the masses influenced celebrity behaviors.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A banner for a gossip website." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442372/original/file-20220124-23298-4k9mdw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442372/original/file-20220124-23298-4k9mdw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442372/original/file-20220124-23298-4k9mdw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442372/original/file-20220124-23298-4k9mdw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442372/original/file-20220124-23298-4k9mdw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442372/original/file-20220124-23298-4k9mdw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442372/original/file-20220124-23298-4k9mdw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">TMZ is an online clearinghouse for celebrity gossip.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.TMZ.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But now we are witnessing a new iteration of tabloidization playing out in real time on TikTok, where digital technologies enable everyday consumers to play the roles of armchair experts, investigative reporters, digital paparazzi, talking heads and celebrities themselves.</p>
<h2>Watching and being watched</h2>
<p>Traditional tabloid journalism is predicated on surveillance dynamics of “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480697001002003">the many watching the few</a>”: an obsession with a relative handful of selected stars and scandals. The emergent TikTok tabloid relies on dynamics of social surveillance, or “<a href="https://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2013/02/25/liquid-surveillance-social-media-three-provocations/">the many watching the many</a>” – a network of everyday people watching and being watched. </p>
<p>According to media scholar Alice E. Marwick, <a href="https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/pub_dom">social surveillance</a> is defined as “the ongoing eavesdropping, investigation, gossip, and inquiry that constitutes information gathering by people about their peers, made salient by the social digitization normalized by social media.” </p>
<p>Classic views of surveillance envision a prison state – <a href="https://books.google.com/books?dq=Big%20Brother%20is%20Monitoring%3A%20Feminist%20Surveillance%20Studies%20and%20Digital%20Consumer%20Culture&hl=en&id=mhdYEAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&pg=PA368&printsec=frontcover&source=newbks_fb#v=onepage&q=Big%20Brother%20is%20Monitoring%3A%20Feminist%20Surveillance%20Studies%20and%20Digital%20Consumer%20Culture&f=false">a Big Brother-esque panopticon</a> where a guard in a tower can watch prisoners in cells but the prisoners in the cells cannot see into the tower.</p>
<p>In social surveillance, everyone online is both a guard and a prisoner, constantly consuming online content and producing content for others to see.</p>
<p>This always-on dynamic works to control behavior. Everyday people have the power to orchestrate what other users see, read and believe – not only about traditional celebrities, but also about regular everyday people. </p>
<p>In the case of Gabby Petito, who went missing in September 2021, TikTokers <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkb5j8/gabby-petito-internet-sleuth-investigation-tiktok-instagram-spotify">developed theories</a> about her disappearance based on her final Instagram post and her Spotify playlists, claimed to <a href="https://www.insider.com/gabby-petito-tiktok-psychics-criticism-controversy-2021-9">psychically track her</a> and scrambled to be the first to report <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/discover/gabbypetito?lang=en">#GabbyPetito</a> breaking news.</p>
<p>Such deep-diving into people’s private lives for public entertainment is a function of social surveillance only further accelerated by the interactive features of TikTok.</p>
<h2>‘Like for part two’</h2>
<p>TikTok’s unique features and storytelling culture make it the perfect social media platform for making everyday people fodder for tabloid-like coverage. </p>
<p>First, interactive features of the platform allow TikTokers to collectively contribute to the TikTok tabloid in real time. TikTokers can directly <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/product-tutorial-reply-to-comments-with-video">respond to comments</a> with new videos, curate and follow content via <a href="https://boosted.lightricks.com/a-guide-to-hashtags-on-tiktok/">hashtags</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/creators/creator-portal/en-us/tiktok-creation-essentials/the-importance-of-sounds/">sounds</a>, <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/new-on-tiktok-introducing-stitch">stitch</a> videos together with other content, <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/introducing-auto-captions">caption them</a> for context, and use a <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/green-screen-effect-on-tik-tok/">green screen</a> effect – just like a real news studio.</p>
<p>Second, <a href="https://later.com/blog/tiktok-algorithm/">TikTok’s algorithm</a> serves users content based on a combination of their interests and what seems to be generally trending. Watching a few videos about West Elm Caleb easily triggers a stream of West Elm Caleb content on the “<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/creators/creator-portal/en-us/tiktok-creation-essentials/whats-the-for-you-page-and-how-do-i-get-there/">for you page</a>,” or #FYP: the TikTok version of front page news.</p>
<p>Third, storytelling practices on the TikTok platform mimic exclusive reports, hot takes and cliffhanger media. TikTokers dangle tantalizing bits of stories in front of viewers with caveats of “like for part 2” or by serializing their content. These stories then take on lives of their own, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814535194">becoming culturally embedded memes</a>.</p>
<p>Social media <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2057047320961562">can be a useful mechanism for accountability</a>. On Twitter, for example, users voiced outrage over racist actions of the <a href="https://www.bet.com/article/74a5kv/black-twitter-ain-t-buying-nyc-woman-who-accused-black-man">Central Park Karen</a> and found solidarity in sharing experiences of sexual harassment through the <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/692140">#MeToo Movement</a>. </p>
<p>But where platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook enable users to tell stories, TikTok enables users to create full-fledged narrative rabbit holes. A nugget of content can be collectively transformed into an epic drama.</p>
<h2>The promise and peril of publicity</h2>
<p>The TikTok tabloid democratizes access to fame while fueling America’s <a href="https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/34636">cultural penchant for gossip</a>. </p>
<p>The TikTok tabloid may seem fun and frivolous – an entertaining live action, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335570557_Intensified_Play_Cinematic_study_of_TikTok_mobile_app">participatory role-play</a> version of TMZ playing out in real time. But there can a dark side to this form of <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22716772/west-elm-caleb-couch-guy-tiktok-cancel">public shaming</a> and <a href="https://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/blog/2021/10/29/true-crime-tiktok-affording-criminal-investigation-and-media-visibility-in-the-gabby-petito-case/">internet sleuthing</a>.</p>
<p>The constant churn of sensational news can take a toll on <a href="https://www.amity.edu/gwalior/jccc/pdf/jccc-12-19-19.pdf">well-being</a>, particularly for those most <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2021/12/tiktok-couch-guy-internet-sleuths.html">directly involved</a>. In November 2021, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/tiktok-true-crime-conspiracy-theory-fake-1264687/">Sabrina Prater</a> became unwitting front-page news of the TikTok tabloid when her mundane dancing video spiraled into conspiracy theories of being a serial killer. She later posted a tearful video pleading for the emotional attacks to stop.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>In contrast to traditional celebrities, few everyday people have publicists, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.37">spin doctors</a> and social media managers who can help them handle <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2019.1637269">the stresses of scrutiny</a>.</p>
<p>Who manages the public images of people who didn’t choose to become public figures?</p>
<p>It would be easy to say they should just stay off TikTok. But it’s not that simple. Social surveillance ensures we all have the potential to become headline news – beholden to the TikTok tabloid taste-makers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175485/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Drenten does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tabloids traditionally have gone after the rich and famous. On TikTok, anyone can be a target.Jenna Drenten, Associate Professor of Marketing, Loyola University ChicagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1692722021-10-24T07:22:34Z2021-10-24T07:22:34ZApple’s iPod came out two decades ago and changed how we listen to music. Where are we headed now?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427944/original/file-20211022-19-ls3you.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C35%2C5938%2C3911&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On October 23, 2001, Apple released the iPod — a portable media player that promised to overshadow the clunky design and low storage capacity of MP3 players introduced in the mid-1990s. </p>
<p>The iPod boasted the ability to “hold 1,000 songs in your pocket”. Its personalised listening format revolutionised the way we consume music. And with more than 400 million units <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/rise-and-fall-apple-ipod-2020-1?r=US&IR=T">sold since its release</a>, there’s no doubt it was a success. </p>
<p>Yet, two decades later, the digital music landscape continues to rapidly evolve.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6SUJNspeux8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Steve Jobs, then-chief executive of Apple, introducing the iPod in 2001.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A market success</h2>
<p>The iPod expanded listening beyond the constraints of the home stereo system, allowing the user to plug into not only their headphones, but also their car radio, their computer at work, or their hi-fi system at home. It made it easier to entwine these disparate spaces into a single personalised soundtrack throughout the day.</p>
<p>There were several preconditions that led to the iPod’s success. For one, it contributed to the end of an era in which people listened to relatively fixed music collections, such as mixtapes, or albums in their running order. The iPod (and MP3 players more generally) normalised having random collections of individual tracks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427953/original/file-20211022-23-11z1vkk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sony Walkman" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427953/original/file-20211022-23-11z1vkk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427953/original/file-20211022-23-11z1vkk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427953/original/file-20211022-23-11z1vkk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427953/original/file-20211022-23-11z1vkk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427953/original/file-20211022-23-11z1vkk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427953/original/file-20211022-23-11z1vkk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427953/original/file-20211022-23-11z1vkk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It might seem clunky now, but the original iPod was much sleeker than older portable cassette devices such as the Sony Walkman.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then during the 1990s, an MP3 encoding algorithm <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=pGhIDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA445&dq=mp3+fraunhofer&ots=AMSYOhB5UQ&sig=CrnewI4eSiOiWQgMiuiTO8NFRYs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=mp3%20fraunhofer&f=false">developed</a> at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany allowed unprecedented audio data compression ratios. In simple terms, this made music files much smaller than before, hugely increasing the quantity of music that could be stored on a device.</p>
<p>Then came peer-to-peer file-sharing services <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/31/napster-twenty-years-music-revolution">such as Napster</a>, Limewire and BitTorrent, released in 1999, 2000 and 2001, respectively. These furthered the democratisation of the internet for the end user (with Napster <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/31/napster-twenty-years-music-revolution">garnering 80 million users</a> in three years). The result was a fast-changing digital landscape where music piracy ran rife.</p>
<p>The accessibility of music significantly changed the relationship between listener and musician. In 2003, Apple responded to the music piracy crisis by launching its iTunes store, creating an <a href="https://digitalguardian.com/blog/what-digital-rights-management">attractive model</a> for copyright-protected content. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the iPod continued to sell, year after year. It was designed to do one thing, and did it well. But this would change around 2007 with the release of the touchscreen <a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/2604020/the-evolution-of-apples-iphone.html">iPhone</a> and <a href="https://www.androidauthority.com/history-android-os-name-789433/">Android</a> smartphones.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stream-weavers-the-musicians-dilemma-in-spotifys-pay-to-play-plan-151479">Stream weavers: the musicians' dilemma in Spotify's pay-to-play plan</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Computer in your pocket</h2>
<p>The rise of touchscreen smartphones ultimately led to the iPod’s downfall. Interestingly, the music app on the original iPhone was called “iPod”. </p>
<p>The iPod’s functions were essentially reappropriated and absorbed into the iPhone. The iPhone was a flexible and multifunctional device: an iPod, a phone and an internet communicator all in one — a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/29/my-electronic-swiss-army-knife-readers-on-10-years-of-the-iphone">computer in your pocket</a>.</p>
<p>And by making the development tools for their products freely available, Apple and Google allowed third-party developers to create apps for their new platforms in the thousands. </p>
<p>It was a game-changer for the mobile industry. And the future line of tablets, such as Apple’s iPad released in 2010, continued this trend. In 2011, iPhone sales <a href="https://www.macstories.net/news/apple-q4-2011-results-28-27-billion-revenue-17-07-million-iphones-11-12-million-ipads-4-89-million-macs-sold/">overtook the iPod</a>, and in 2014 the iPod Classic was <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019-09-14-this-week-in-tech-history-apple-ipod-classic-discontinued.html">discontinued</a>.</p>
<p>Unlike the Apple Watch, which serves as a companion to smartphones, single-purpose devices such as the iPod Classic are now seen as antiquated and obsolete.</p>
<h2>Music streaming and the role of the web</h2>
<p>As of this year, mobile devices are responsible for <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/277125/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices/">54.8% of web traffic worldwide</a>. And while music piracy still exists, its influence has been significantly reduced by the arrival of streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube.</p>
<p>These platforms have had a profound effect on how we engage with music as active and passive listeners. Spotify supports an online community-based approach to music sharing, with curated playlists. </p>
<p>Based on our listening habits, it uses our activity data and a range of machine-learning <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2959100.2959120">techniques</a> to generate automatic recommendations for us. Both Spotify and YouTube have also embraced <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/19/15833880/spotify-sponsored-songs-playlists-test">sponsored content</a>, which boosts the visibility of certain labels and artists.</p>
<p>And while we may want to bypass popular music recommendations — especially to support new generations of musicians who lack visibility — the reality is we’re faced with a quantity of music we can’t possibly contend with. As of February this year, more than 60,000 tracks were <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/over-60000-tracks-are-now-uploaded-to-spotify-daily-thats-nearly-one-per-second/">being uploaded</a> to Spotify each day.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427952/original/file-20211022-40051-11o18w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427952/original/file-20211022-40051-11o18w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427952/original/file-20211022-40051-11o18w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427952/original/file-20211022-40051-11o18w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427952/original/file-20211022-40051-11o18w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427952/original/file-20211022-40051-11o18w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427952/original/file-20211022-40051-11o18w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427952/original/file-20211022-40051-11o18w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">According to Statista, Spotify had 165 million premium subscribers worldwide as of the second quarter of 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>The experience of listening to music will become increasingly immersive with time, and we’ll only find more ways to seamlessly integrate it into our lives. Some signs of this include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Gen Z’s growing obsession with platforms such as TikTok, which is a huge promotional tool for artists lucky enough to have their track attached to a viral trend</p></li>
<li><p>new interactive tools for music exploration, such as <a href="http://radio.garden/visit/perth/cKenL5sw">Radio Garden</a> (which lets you tune into radio stations from across the globe), the <a href="https://eternalbox.dev/jukebox_index.html">Eternal Jukebox for Spotify</a> and <a href="https://github.com/ShunSawada/Music-information-processing/issues/28which">Instrudive</a></p></li>
<li><p>the use of wearables, such as <a href="https://www.bose.com.au/en_au/products/frames.html">Bose’s audio sunglasses</a> and bone-conduction headphones, which allow you to listen to music while interacting with the world rather than being closed off, and</p></li>
<li><p>the surge in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/legalentertainment/2021/02/09/the-future-of-live-events-ar-vr-and-advertising/?sh=412c20c42b65">virtual music performances</a> during the COVID pandemic, which suggests virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality will become increasingly accepted as spaces for experiencing music performances.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The industry is also increasingly adopting immersive audio. Apple has incorporated Dolby Atmos 3D spatial audio into both its Logic Pro music production software and music on the iTunes store. With spatial audio capabilities, the listener can experience surround sound with the convenience of portable headphones.</p>
<p>As for algorithms, we can assume more sophisticated machine learning will emerge. In the future, it may recommend music based on our feelings. For example, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071581918301654">MoodPlay</a> is a music recommendation system that lets users explore music through mood-based filtering.</p>
<p>Some advanced listening devices even adapt to our physiology. The Australian-designed <a href="https://www.nuraphone.com/">Nura headphones</a> can pick up information about how a specific listener’s ears respond to different sound frequencies. They purport to automatically adjust the sound to perfectly suit that listener.</p>
<p>Such technologies are taking “personalised listening” to a whole new level, and advances in this space are set to continue. If the digital music landscape has changed so rapidly within the past 20 years, we can only assume it will continue to change over the next two decades, too.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/goodbye-ipod-classic-31512">Goodbye iPod Classic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169272/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart James has previously received funding from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC). </span></em></p>The iPod was a marvel: a sleek device that let you pocket your favourite tunes and roam around town. Today it’s more or less obsolete — but its impact has been evident.Stuart James, Lecturer and Research Scholar in Composition and Music Technology, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1625002021-06-28T04:33:50Z2021-06-28T04:33:50ZIt’s complicated: Australian media firms were breaking up with Facebook long before the infamous 2021 news blackout<p>Not so long ago, Facebook was a goldmine for Australian news media. News featured prominently in Australians’ Facebook feeds, and newsrooms across the country saw a growing online audience engage with their stories. </p>
<p>People were liking, commenting and, most importantly, sharing stories, delivering new eyeballs to news outlets. This revolution in news distribution encouraged many of Australia’s biggest news media companies to invest time and money into posting on Facebook.</p>
<p>But the relationship between Facebook and news companies has soured. Facebook famously <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/technology/facebook-news-feed-changes.html">changed its algorithm</a> in January 2018 to reduce “audience exposure to public content from all pages, including news” in favour of posts from family and friends. </p>
<p>Many news media companies (including The Conversation) responded by embracing alternative tactics, such as subscription campaigns, to reach readers directly. But some digital outlets that had lived their entire lives in synergy with Facebook could not adapt to this new environment, and had to lay off staff or reduce their operations. </p>
<p>While commentary during this period, and Facebook’s own <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2018/01/news-feed-fyi-bringing-people-closer-together/">updates</a>, suggested that news content was no longer as prominent on Facebook, there was no hard data to see if this was actually true, particularly at the national level. So we decided to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211024963">investigate</a> how the Australian news sector performed on Facebook during this upheaval. </p>
<p>We began by building a sample of 32 national and metropolitan news organisations. We then used the Facebook-owned <a href="http://crowdtangle.com/">CrowdTangle</a> database to collect engagement data from these organisations’ Facebook pages. Our data set included more than 2 million unique posts, from January 1 2014 to December 15 2020.</p>
<p>Next, we constructed a daily performance score for each news organisation’s page during this period. We removed the 25% best and 25% worst-performing posts, and averaged the remaining 50% across 30-day rolling intervals. We did this three times — once for each of the three dominant Facebook metrics: reactions (likes, hearts and so on), comments and shares. </p>
<p>Finally, we divided it by the “baseline average” from January-April 2017, which is in the middle of our data set. This means a score of 1 would represent the baseline average, whereas a score of 2 would mean performing twice as well as the baseline, and 0.5 only half as well. </p>
<p>We wanted to see whether our analysis can explain why Australian news organisations had begun moving away from Facebook. We also wanted to see whether some news organisations have been hit harder than others by the dramatic changes Facebook made to its algorithm in recent years.</p>
<h2>A peak and then a collapse?</h2>
<p>The first headline finding from our analysis is that in terms of engagement, Australian news content experienced a clear period of success on Facebook before a subsequent reset. This is especially so in the case of the number of user “reactions” to news content, shown below for the entire sector. </p>
<h3>Sector-wide reactions to news content</h3>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405560/original/file-20210610-17-x58kq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trendline of Facebook Reactions for Australian News Outlets" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405560/original/file-20210610-17-x58kq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405560/original/file-20210610-17-x58kq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405560/original/file-20210610-17-x58kq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405560/original/file-20210610-17-x58kq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405560/original/file-20210610-17-x58kq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405560/original/file-20210610-17-x58kq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405560/original/file-20210610-17-x58kq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sector-wide performance score of Facebook reactions (30-day moving average shown in black; trend line shown in blue).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was a similar story when we looked at “shares” across the whole sector:</p>
<h3>Sector-wide shares of news content</h3>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407813/original/file-20210623-21-s5ty7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trendline of Facebook Shares for Australian News Outlets" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407813/original/file-20210623-21-s5ty7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407813/original/file-20210623-21-s5ty7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407813/original/file-20210623-21-s5ty7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407813/original/file-20210623-21-s5ty7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407813/original/file-20210623-21-s5ty7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407813/original/file-20210623-21-s5ty7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407813/original/file-20210623-21-s5ty7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sector-wide performance score of Facebook shares (30-day moving average shown in black; trend line shown in blue).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sharing of Australian news content peaked in 2014-16, and then declined towards the end of the decade. Remarkably, the sharing performance score in November 2020 was only 15% of the score measured in November 2014. This is striking, because at one stage news sharing was seen as central to the Facebook experience. Clearly, that no longer seems to be the case.</p>
<p>Comments, however, tell a different story. For the sector as a whole, comments peaked near the end of the decade, in May 2019.</p>
<h3>Sector-wide comments on news content</h3>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405563/original/file-20210610-27-9vjkoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trendline of Facebook Comments for Australian News Outlets" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405563/original/file-20210610-27-9vjkoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405563/original/file-20210610-27-9vjkoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405563/original/file-20210610-27-9vjkoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405563/original/file-20210610-27-9vjkoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405563/original/file-20210610-27-9vjkoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405563/original/file-20210610-27-9vjkoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405563/original/file-20210610-27-9vjkoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sector-wide performance score of Facebook comments (30-day moving average shown in black; trend line shown in blue).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The simple narrative of a peak and then a collapse is clouded still further when we look at specific news outlets. While we identified an overall decline in Facebook engagement with Australian news, there have been winners and losers. </p>
<p>The most dramatic fall afflicted digital-native youth outlets such as Junkee, Pedestrian and BuzzFeed, whose reaction performance scores dropped from 3.9 in January 2016 to 0.18 in late November 2020. The sharing score for these outlets also fell dramatically, from a high of 5.8 in November 2015 to 0.4 at the end of 2020.</p>
<p>In contrast, public service outlets the ABC and SBS rebounded towards the end of the decade. Their comments, reactions and shares rose after Facebook’s 2018 algorithm change and only recently returned to our 2017 baseline in late 2020.</p>
<h3>Number of shares, segregated by news category</h3>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407828/original/file-20210623-13-15uet48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trendline of Facebook Shares for Australian News Outlets by Category" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407828/original/file-20210623-13-15uet48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407828/original/file-20210623-13-15uet48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407828/original/file-20210623-13-15uet48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407828/original/file-20210623-13-15uet48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407828/original/file-20210623-13-15uet48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=827&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407828/original/file-20210623-13-15uet48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=827&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407828/original/file-20210623-13-15uet48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=827&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Facebook shares performance score by news category. Jagged lines show weighted 30-day moving average; smooth lines show trend line.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what happened?</h2>
<p>Our data reveal a clear connection between the overall decline in engagement with Australian news content on Facebook, and Facebook’s gradual move away from news. Social news outlets in particular have suffered a heavy toll from this change. </p>
<p>In contrast, public service outlets have been more resilient, perhaps because of the high levels of trust Australians place in these outlets. People may have turned to them for reliable information during crises such as Australia’s Black Summer bushfires and the COVID pandemic. </p>
<p>Our data cannot point to one factor that has caused this decline. Instead, we suggest there may be several. Facebook’s algorithm changes would obviously have had an impact; another related factor is that <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-and-google-used-to-be-the-future-of-news-but-now-media-companies-need-more-strings-to-their-bow-145024">companies are adopting different business strategies</a> and are no longer focused on producing compelling content for Facebook. </p>
<p>It’s also possible Facebook users may be sharing less content overall, and there is also anecdotal evidence of a <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/young-aussies-some-of-the-hardest-hit-by-fb-s-news-restrictions-experts-say">decline in Facebook use among young Australians</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-and-google-used-to-be-the-future-of-news-but-now-media-companies-need-more-strings-to-their-bow-145024">Facebook and Google used to be the future of news. But now media companies need more strings to their bow</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Whatever the case, it is clear the golden years of Facebook news engagement are over. Indeed, Facebook’s dwindling interest in news was further emphasised by the infamous news blackout in February 2021, during tense negotiations with the federal government over its plan to make tech platforms pay to host news content. </p>
<p>The upshot is that news media outlets can no longer rely on Facebook for easy engagement and audience growth. Whether by choice or necessity, they are already courting readers elsewhere. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-has-pulled-the-trigger-on-news-content-and-possibly-shot-itself-in-the-foot-155547">Facebook has pulled the trigger on news content — and possibly shot itself in the foot</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162500/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Meese receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francesco Bailo has received funding from Facebook. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Hurcombe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Facebook used to be a goldmine for news media companies. But since the tech giant changed its algorithm in 2018, news firms have drifted away from Facebook, particularly digital-native publications.James Meese, Research fellow, RMIT UniversityEdward Hurcombe, Research associate, Queensland University of TechnologyFrancesco Bailo, Lecturer, Digital and Social Media, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1595462021-04-27T20:05:35Z2021-04-27T20:05:35ZChildren own around 3 digital devices on average, and few can spend a day without them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396735/original/file-20210423-15-1jmhe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/shocked-schoolkids-looking-into-their-mobile-1805980924">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than nine out of ten parents think digital media and technologies are a negative distraction in their lives. And 83% think their children are also negatively distracted by digital devices. </p>
<p>These are some of the findings from our <a href="https://www.gie.unsw.edu.au/growing-digital-australia-phase-2-results">Growing Up Digital Australia</a> study. In 2020 we surveyed nearly 2,500 parents, grandparents and caregivers across Australia. This yielded data about 5,000 children aged 5-17 on their use of digital devices at home during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Our study shows more than 80% of children in this age group own a screen-based device and that children today, on average, have three different digital devices. Our data show children start owning devices from as early as four years old.</p>
<p>Only 46% of parents said their child could spend a whole day without using a digital device. </p>
<p>One parent told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is addictive. I yearn for more time away from it for me and my family.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But we found positives too. Most parents believe the impact of digital media and technologies on their children’s maths, reading abilities, social skills and friendships is more positive than negative.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-creative-use-of-technology-may-have-helped-save-schooling-during-the-pandemic-146488">How creative use of technology may have helped save schooling during the pandemic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And 90% of parents feel digital technologies make it easier to stay in touch with family and friends.</p>
<h2>Digital dependency</h2>
<p>Learning and working from home during the pandemic made digital tools more common among children and parents. Smartphones and laptops connected to the internet have been a lifeline for many families during the past year or so. </p>
<p>At the same time, our research shows, most families seem to suffer from drawbacks associated with being dependent on digital media at home. </p>
<p>One parent said about her teenage daughter:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am concerned at the amount of time my daughter spends on her phone. She is no longer interested in the activities she used to enjoy before she had a phone.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.gie.unsw.edu.au/growing-digital-australia-phase-1-results-how-screen-based-technologies-are-impacting-school-students">earlier research</a> showed 84% of Australian teachers observed students being distracted by digital media and technologies. And three out of five believed students weren’t ready to learn when they came to school.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396733/original/file-20210423-15-hexdlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two young kids (boy and girl) watching something on an iPad." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396733/original/file-20210423-15-hexdlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396733/original/file-20210423-15-hexdlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396733/original/file-20210423-15-hexdlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396733/original/file-20210423-15-hexdlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396733/original/file-20210423-15-hexdlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396733/original/file-20210423-15-hexdlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396733/original/file-20210423-15-hexdlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children start owning digital devices at the age of four.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-siblings-lying-on-sofa-home-599467337">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our new data suggest a relationship between young people’s educational performance and how frequently they sleep with a device. Almost 60% of parents whose child was struggling with school say they always allow them to use digital devices in bed. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/students-less-focused-empathetic-and-active-than-before-technology-may-be-to-blame-136249">Students less focused, empathetic and active than before – technology may be to blame</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>About one-third of Australian parents said their children go to bed with a smartphone or other device every night. This was more common in lower-income families. In general, children in low-income families use digital devices more, with less parental guidance. </p>
<p>Many parents also told us they hoped schools would focus more on children’s digital well-being and cybersafety.</p>
<p>One parent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a parent I need to know how to work the programs and sites the kids access to be able to protect them. I do not assume they are safe.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What parents say about their own use</h2>
<p>Most families use digital devices as a babysitter to help them get things done at home. Our survey shows more than half of parents mainly use digital devices to entertain their kids, and only one in five use them mostly to support learning.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396732/original/file-20210423-20-lkiy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Infographic from the study." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396732/original/file-20210423-20-lkiy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396732/original/file-20210423-20-lkiy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396732/original/file-20210423-20-lkiy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396732/original/file-20210423-20-lkiy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396732/original/file-20210423-20-lkiy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396732/original/file-20210423-20-lkiy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396732/original/file-20210423-20-lkiy0z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Each child owns around three devices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Growing up Digital study infographic</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>Around 72% of parents said they recognise their own digital habits influence those of their children. </p>
<p>Parents often have different views about their children’s use of digital devices. 65% of parents said they find themselves disagreeing with their partner about how best to set limits and regulate their children’s use of technology.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/banning-mobile-phones-in-schools-can-improve-students-academic-performance-this-is-how-we-know-153792">Banning mobile phones in schools can improve students' academic performance. This is how we know</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>This is what we all can do</h2>
<p>With physical distancing affecting our social interactions, time spent on watching TV and using other digital devices has significantly increased. For example, the <a href="https://www.rchpoll.org.au/polls/covid-19-pandemic-effects-on-the-lives-of-australian-children-and-families/">Royal Children’s Hospital’s National Child Health Poll</a>, found half of Australian children had spent more time on digital screens for entertainment in June 2020 compared to the same period before the COVID-19 pandemic. And 42% of children spent less time being physically active.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396736/original/file-20210423-13-196o35z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Children playing soccer outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396736/original/file-20210423-13-196o35z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396736/original/file-20210423-13-196o35z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396736/original/file-20210423-13-196o35z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396736/original/file-20210423-13-196o35z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396736/original/file-20210423-13-196o35z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396736/original/file-20210423-13-196o35z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396736/original/file-20210423-13-196o35z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children are less physically active than before.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/company-glad-children-playing-football-on-1913585059">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is not a simple challenge to solve. Certainly, one-size-fits-all solutions like turning off the home wi-fi or hiding digital devices from children rarely work. </p>
<p>But there are some small steps all families can try. The key is that we all must take those steps together.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Take an honest look at current digital habits and screen time in your family. Agree on some concrete actions that would limit the time each family member spends with their digital device</p></li>
<li><p>have at least two hours without digital screens before going to bed. Keep all smartphones and other mobile devices away from bedrooms</p></li>
<li><p>focus on overall digital wellness by finding a healthy balance between time on digital gadgets and social time with family. Have digital-free weekends and holidays whenever possible.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Most parents included in our study felt they needed help to find healthier ways to live with digital media and technologies with their children. Close collaboration with schools can be a significant help in promoting a healthy relationship with technology.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the second phase of the Growing Up Digital study, researchers surveyed nearly 2,500 parents, grandparents and caregivers about children’s use of digital media and technologies.Pasi Sahlberg, Professor of Education Policy, UNSW SydneyAmy Graham, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1548782021-04-19T15:56:25Z2021-04-19T15:56:25ZUniversities in Nigeria must rethink how journalism is taught<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391665/original/file-20210325-19-154e95t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A student going through his work at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Changes in the journalism profession have made journalism education challenging. For instance, the growth of the internet has given everyone the ability to generate and distribute information. This includes news materials and photographs, shared across public platforms without any professional or editorial scrutiny.</p>
<p>As a result of this democratisation, journalists are struggling to adapt to this new reality, where they compete daily with a larger society that has blurred the lines between creators and consumers of news.</p>
<p>Constant changes in the profession have raised interest in the quality and relevance of journalism education. In these times, university journalism education is becoming increasingly important in shaping journalism practice. Every year, there are more people who take on journalism, armed with formal education and degrees. </p>
<p>There are countless debates about how journalism should be taught and learned in formal spaces. Policy makers, journalism professionals, students, educators — everyone is asking questions about the way forward.</p>
<p>Stakeholders are becoming more interested in how journalism is taught and learned in the university. </p>
<p>A number of journalism <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Global-Journalist-in-the-21st-Century/Weaver-Willnat/p/book/9780415885768">studies</a> show that tertiary qualifications are important for journalists around the world. Advancement in tech have brought rapid and radical changes to journalism. This has ramped up pressure on journalism training institutions, as schools struggle to keep up with industry changes. </p>
<p>The challenge is this: while the media industry is very welcoming to fast changes, journalism training institutions are primarily conservative spaces, stuck in their ways.</p>
<p>In 2019, communication educators, media and communication professionals, and industry regulators submitted a new curriculum for Nigerian communication studies to the National Universities Commission. </p>
<p>This was done for quality assurance purposes. This proposal was created to unify and standardise a consistent curriculum for communication and journalism education. The submission received widespread support and backing from industry professional groups and all the relevant regulators.</p>
<p>The grand plan was to unbundle what was known as “mass communication”. This will give way to seven degree-awarding departments in all universities. They include Journalism and Media Studies, Public Relations, Advertising, Broadcasting, Film and Multimedia Studies, Development Communication Studies, and Information and Media Studies. While this proposal holds promise in upgrading media education, many local universities are yet to adopt and implement it.</p>
<p>Over the years, multiple <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1464884917743174">studies</a> focusing on improving journalism training institutions have been conducted. The core focus is usually to design a way for these institutions to adapt to today’s reality. The aim is to quickly upskill, embrace new industry developments and maintain their relevance to the journalism industry. But most of the studies were incomplete. They approached the problem by prioritising the perspectives of the educators and professionals. Students, the recipients of these changes, were never consulted.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25741136.2021.1876513">My study</a> aimed to fill this gap. These are uncertain times for journalism. The industry keeps changing fast. What is the place of formal journalism education? Especially when traditional media jobs are shrinking as digital media soars.</p>
<p>Only 53 (18.2%) out of 292 student participants in my study identified a connection between their studies and the reality of the industry. They were up against 66.1%, who stated that their learning institutions were deficient. The interviewed students pointed out the gaps in skills, equipment and the overall understanding of what journalism means.</p>
<p>This in no way suggests that a university journalism education is worthless. All the students agreed that they still placed a high premium on the knowledge acquired in the university.</p>
<h2>The paradox</h2>
<p>Tech-enabled digitisation is radically altering global media spaces. Newsroom jobs continue to disappear. The relationship between journalists and their audience is an uneasy one. More people are content creators today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391650/original/file-20210325-13-1npfzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men speaking into a recording phone camera set up." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391650/original/file-20210325-13-1npfzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391650/original/file-20210325-13-1npfzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391650/original/file-20210325-13-1npfzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391650/original/file-20210325-13-1npfzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391650/original/file-20210325-13-1npfzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391650/original/file-20210325-13-1npfzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391650/original/file-20210325-13-1npfzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A journalist recording a protest in Lagos Nigeria using an iPhone, and supporting gear.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto/Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet my study results uncover an inherent paradox in journalism education. </p>
<p>Multiple studies and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1931243113484314">reports</a> show that digital is the dominant medium in today’s media ecology. This growing influence is underpinned by the sporadic growth and yearly increase in digital media revenue.</p>
<p>The internet has been a game-changer. Google and Facebook now control almost all media advertising. The ad-dependent traditional media business structure is struggling, as revenues fall and vanish. According to a recent <a href="https://www.pwc.com/ng/en/press-room/nigeria-will-be-the-worlds-fastest-growing-e-m-market-pwc-report.html">report</a>, between 2015 and 2018, online advertising revenue recorded an unprecedented 25% to 39% growth. According to the report, even though this growth will slow down in the coming years, online advertising in Nigeria will generate $133 million in revenue.</p>
<p>Here’s the paradox: despite the recorded and predicted influence of digital technologies, over half (51%) of the participating students in my study still wanted careers in traditional media houses. These students chose to study mass communication in Nigeria, expecting to work in the traditional media organisations. They had dreams of finding jobs in television, radio, newspapers and magazines. </p>
<p>Only a meagre 9.6% of students nursed dreams of working in digital media organisations. </p>
<p>It shows that in spite of digital media’s supremacy, Nigerian students still believe in the traditional conception of journalism. This suggests a deficiency in journalism education in the country.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>As media jobs shrink globally, students need to be adequately prepared for real-world success. My study shows that the first step is for educators to focus on changing student attitudes towards digital media. The world is in a state of media convergence. All the lines are blurring. Journalism education needs to reflect that.</p>
<p>The future of journalism is online, backed by rapidly improving tech and content formats. Journalism training institutions in Nigeria should focus on student orientation. And with that, teach skills that will make these students compete favourably upon graduation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154878/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Oguche Emmanuel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the internet continues to alter traditional journalism practices, Nigerian universities must adapt to the times.Nathan Oguche Emmanuel, Invited User, Kogi State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1575162021-03-24T12:19:12Z2021-03-24T12:19:12ZFuture of journalism: study explains why some news stories get more clicks from social media than others<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391142/original/file-20210323-21-dxuy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5444%2C3586&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To click or not to click?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hadrian via Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Few industries have suffered more disruption from the internet than the news media. Over two decades or more, journalism has been hit by a “<a href="https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2018/02/16/the-perfect-storm-thats-blowing-up-media">perfect storm</a>” due to the loss of geographical monopolies that national and regional news organisations once enjoyed as well as the emergence of amateur content producers such as bloggers.</p>
<p>Perhaps what is the most disruptive element of this assault on news organisations is the “<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346394853_The_Unbundling_of_Journalism">unbundling</a>” of content production and content aggregation – or, in layperson’s terms, the fact that most people aren’t getting their news directly from news sites but via social media or other places on the internet. </p>
<p>This has led to more than a decade of argument between media companies and news aggregators such as Apple News, Google and Facebook. News aggregators tend to post headlines and short extracts of articles, linking through to the site on which they were originally published. Every click brings <a href="https://www.journalism.org/2014/03/13/social-search-direct/">additional traffic</a> to the news producer’s site – and the all-important advertising revenue.</p>
<p>Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has been particularly outspoken on news aggregators, referring to them as <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/online/rupert-murdoch-begins-blocking-new-aggregators-search-engines/">“parasites”</a>. His company News Corporation and other media organisations <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2009/apr/06/google-wallstreetjournal">have accused them</a> of preventing readers from going to their sites – “stealing” advertising revenues by “free riding” on their content. More than 11 years ago, in an interview with Sky News Australia, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/nov/09/murdoch-google">news mogul said</a> he would consider removing the content from his news sites from Google’s search index. It never happened.</p>
<p>In February, the Australian government <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-56163550">passed</a> legislation, the first of its kind in the world aiming to make the likes of Apple, Google and Facebook pay for news content. After a short stand-off between Facebook and Australian news organisations, during which Facebook refused to post any Australian news content on subscribers’ newsfeeds, a deal was struck, setting up a <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Revised%20explanatory%20memorandum.pdf">bargaining code</a> for publishers and aggregators.</p>
<h2>Symbiotic relationship</h2>
<p>A central debate on news aggregators is whether they are harmful to news producers by <a href="https://www.tse-fr.eu/sites/default/files/TSE/documents/doc/wp/2018/wp_tse_912.pdf">raking off advertising revenues</a> or beneficial by reducing search time and costs for consumers. Our <a href="https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2237">research examined</a> whether news producers and aggregators can have a beneficial symbiotic relationship. We developed news aggregator apps for the iPhone and iPad and carried out our own field experiments.</p>
<p>The apps aggregated news from 13 major news publishers in Switzerland (with their permission) and were available for download by anyone in that country. The two-week field experiment with the iPhone app involved more than 2,000 users who viewed extracts of almost 5,000 articles a total of more than 32,000 times. The iPad app ran for 16 weeks, during which we had close to 1,400 users viewing extracts of almost 30,000 articles more than 65,000 times.</p>
<p>We varied the amount of text in the extracts, and experimented by accompanying some extracts with an image. We also looked at whether it made a difference if there were a number of other competing articles on the same issue. What we wanted to find out was how likely readers were in various different scenarios to click through to read the full article at the news publisher’s site.</p>
<h2>How the app works</h2>
<p>The default length of the snippet of text in our experiment is 245 characters – which we found was the average number of characters of the snippets in Google News. </p>
<p>We then reduced or increased the number of characters in increments of 20%. The longest snippet we used was 343 characters (+40%) because of the constraint of our copyright agreements with the news providers. The shortest snippet on our iPhone app is 98 characters (-60%). In our iPad app, we sometimes show no snippet at all (only the headline and corresponding image). </p>
<p>We found that as the extracts grew longer, people were less likely to click through to the article on its original site. It appeared that an article’s headline could often provide all the information the audience needed. Any additional information provided by the aggregator, in the form of snippets of text or images, actually decreased click-through rates.</p>
<p>There is massive difference in click-through from iPhone and iPad. The iPad has a richer interface and is the closest to a web browser – which means the limitations of the mobile phone interface may increase the click-through rate. Nevertheless, decline in click-through rates is consistent across both platforms.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the opposite happens when the snippets of several related articles of the same story compete for readers’ attention. Aggregators tend to group these snippets together, which creates direct competition for readers. We found that in cases like this, 30% of readers do not click through to any article and 66% of readers click through to only one article – paradoxically, it’s the snippet with longer text and accompanying images that gets the clicks.</p>
<p>The results of this experiment present a dilemma for news publishers. On the one hand they know that the more information they allow an aggregator to reproduce in terms of text and images, the less likely readers are to visit their site. On the other hand, by limiting the amount of text or images that an aggregator is allowed to reproduce they risk losing out to their competitors who might not follow the same strategy. </p>
<p>Our research leaves us with two insights: one is that news organisations will need to keep experimenting with ways to get people to their sites. The other is that the news industry as a whole needs to negotiate with news aggregators to ensure fair treatment for all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157516/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juliana Sutanto does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>News organisations are wracking their brains on how to get people to their sites.Juliana Sutanto, Professor of Information Systems, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1514752021-02-03T18:20:22Z2021-02-03T18:20:22ZIn an age of digital disinformation, dropping level 1 media studies in NZ high schools is a big mistake<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382090/original/file-20210202-19-yblanw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3834%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Primary and secondary school teachers engage with students who are constantly on devices — consuming, sharing and jointly creating texts, photos, videos and memes.</p>
<p>Across social media, hate speech, conspiracy threads and health disinformation swamp evidence-based material. Fabrications and fragmentations of reality cannot be challenged in real time.</p>
<p>Despite this massive influence on young minds, the government intends to remove one of the few teaching opportunities that might equip students to navigate their online world. </p>
<p>Along with several other subjects, secondary school media studies will be <a href="https://www.education.govt.nz/news/ncea-level-1-subject-changes/">dropped from the level 1 curriculum</a> of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (<a href="https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/">NCEA</a>) from 2023.</p>
<p>This is a backward step. Making sense of today’s hyper-mediated world depends on the availability of robust media studies courses in primary and secondary schools.</p>
<p>Young inhabitants of this world serve only to reproduce an “attention economy” shaped by the business models of social media and mass media corporations. They need the critical skills to understand this aspect of their lives.</p>
<p>Furthermore, recent medical research suggests excessive smartphone and social media use among adolescents is <a href="https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/smartphones,-social-media-use,-and-youth-mental-health">associated with mental distress</a>. The social implications of this are disturbing.</p>
<h2>Media studies may disappear</h2>
<p>At present, level 1 media studies students learn about regulation of media content, analyse media coverage of current events, examine and compare media genres and production technology.</p>
<p>Over the next two years, they evaluate media texts and representations, develop a range of journalism skills across different media and explore the workings of particular media industries.</p>
<p>The entire three-year curriculum advances critical thinking and foundational media literacy. Students appreciate how media texts are constructed and disseminated and how different experiences and viewpoints shape the readings of such texts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-publish-or-not-to-publish-the-medias-free-speech-dilemmas-in-a-world-of-division-violence-and-extremism-153451">To publish or not to publish? The media's free-speech dilemmas in a world of division, violence and extremism</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>After secondary school, media studies students are equipped for tertiary-level courses in communication studies, film production, journalism, radio, visual media, art and design, general humanities and the social sciences.</p>
<p>Without level 1 courses, the risk is that some schools may abandon the subject altogether. Fewer media studies courses will reduce the number of qualified teachers available. Media studies pathways will, inevitably, disappear.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1334572784400232449"}"></div></p>
<p>This bleak scenario was outlined to me by a senior media studies teacher from the National Association of Media Educators (<a href="https://www.name.org.nz/">NAME</a>). For her, the government’s decision is short-sighted and contradictory:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I find it hard to believe that Chris Hipkins, as minister of health and COVID response minister, can warn how everyone must avoid misinformation with regard to dealing with COVID, but then as education minister agree to remove the subject that most equips students with the skills to avoid misinformation — there is such a dissonance happening here.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I would add that Prime Minister Jacinda Adern’s accurate distillations of COVID-19 science <a href="https://www.waikato.ac.nz/study/success-stories/jacinda-ardern">reflect her own media education</a> — a communications degree from Waikato University. This strengthens the case for robust media studies courses at secondary level.</p>
<h2>No political debate</h2>
<p>The Education Ministry’s rationale is certainly hard to fathom. Its December press release was headlined: “NCEA Level 1 changes give students a broader foundation” — the implication being media studies are a narrowly defined pathway.</p>
<p>Such an assumption ignores the disparate origins of media studies research and the range of knowledge available to student learners.</p>
<p>The growing pervasiveness of mass media and digital media communication has brought together the insights of journalism, history, literary studies, political studies, economics, sociology, anthropology and psychology. These are the raw materials for secondary school and tertiary media studies programs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/googles-and-facebooks-loud-appeal-to-users-over-the-news-media-bargaining-code-shows-a-lack-of-political-power-154379">Google's and Facebook’s loud appeal to users over the news media bargaining code shows a lack of political power</a>
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<p>Alas, media educators’ criticism of the government’s proposals has not generated party-political debate. Rather, Hipkins’ unsupportable claims are complemented by National Party leader Judith Collins’ derogatory <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel/audio/2018767169/judith-collins-too-many-woke-subjects-in-schools">remarks</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The problem with secondary schools now is there’s too much photography and too much media and other woke subjects.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Clearly the government and opposition are of one mind — student media literacy is not a high priority.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W8w6wUoZB2U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Eggplant: a government-funded project to help young New Zealanders navigate the internet safely.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Losing historical memory</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, New Zealand primary school pupils use digital technology throughout the curriculum to develop their knowledge, skills and cognitive understanding. No complaints here — immersive digital learning recognises the omnipresence of networked screens, online platforms and computational intelligence.</p>
<p>However, an historical appreciation of communication technologies is also required. Phonetic alphabets, manuscripts, printing presses and telegraph/telephone networks necessarily prefigure the internet and social media.</p>
<p>Without this background knowledge primary school pupils risk becoming ciphers of a hyper-mediated present in which transitory information and imagery annul historical memory.</p>
<p>Without a sense of past and present pupils will struggle to separate verifiable journalism from clickbait, infotainment and orchestrated propaganda.</p>
<p>Yes, there is digital education available for both parents and pupils, including <a href="https://www.netsafe.org.nz/staying-safe-online/">internet safety programs</a> to counteract stalkers, scanners, cyberbullies and porn merchants. While crucial, this kind of media literacy is insufficient.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-misinformation-on-chinese-social-media-lessons-for-countering-conspiracy-theories-150718">COVID-19 misinformation on Chinese social media – lessons for countering conspiracy theories</a>
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<h2>Greater media literacy is vital</h2>
<p>The fundamental reality is that social media are not a neutral means of communication, content creation or information transfer. From late primary school, digitally aware students should be investigating the origins, motivations and tactics of disinformation networks such as QAnon and COVID or climate change denial.</p>
<p>Classroom activities might reveal how we spread disinformation inadvertently by sharing videos, using hashtags and adding to comment threads. As a recent <em>Scientific American</em> <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/everyone-is-an-agent-in-the-new-information-warfare/">editorial</a> reflected, “Each one of us is a node on the battlefield for reality.”</p>
<p>Correspondingly, students might share their experiences of Google and Facebook advertising and consider why users are encouraged to spend more time on sites. Final-year secondary students will, ideally, have answers to the following questions:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>why did Twitter belatedly terminate Donald Trump’s account?</p></li>
<li><p>how does Facebook profit from extreme violent content?</p></li>
<li><p>how does one obtain reliable information about the COVID-19 pandemic?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Finally, a question for the education minister and his officials on behalf of media educators everywhere: should aspiring citizens be more or less media-literate than they are now?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151475/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wayne Hope does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Schools are back, but NCEA level 1 media studies soon won’t be — at a time when media literacy is more vital than ever.Wayne Hope, Professor of Communication Studies, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1500612020-12-29T20:42:05Z2020-12-29T20:42:05ZAh, memories of 2020. Why it’s important to remember our COVID holidays, good or bad<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371681/original/file-20201127-13-5lb1kc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C1000%2C661&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mosaic-pictures-image-different-places-landscapes-162131621">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Charles Dickens’ famous 1843 ghost story, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm">A Christmas Carol</a>, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come.</p>
<p>However, we do not need supernatural powers or a ghostly escort to travel in time to holidays past, present and future, at least not in our minds. </p>
<p>The ability to remember our past and imagine our future relies on the uniquely human gifts psychologists call <a href="https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/phenomenology-in-autobiographical-thinking-underlying-features-of">retrospective</a> and <a href="https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/phenomenology-in-autobiographical-thinking-underlying-features-of">prospective memory</a>.</p>
<p>What memories are we thinking of as we head towards a holiday season unlike any we’ve had before? What memories will we think back on when our break is over? Will we recall our COVID Christmas fondly or will we hope to put 2020 behind us?</p>
<h2>What use is memory anyway?</h2>
<p>Memory serves many important <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00219/full">psychological and social functions</a>. It helps us navigate everyday situations, such as remembering gifts we need to buy or where we’ve parked our car in a crowded shopping centre. It helps define who we are as people, our values, rituals and beliefs. It allows us to learn from the past, then predict and navigate the future. Finally, it helps shape and deepen personal and social bonds with friends, families and communities.</p>
<p>For many people, holidays are a time when we do our favourite things — holiday rituals, family traditions, longed-for getaways — the kinds of things we’ve always done at this time of year. </p>
<p>We organise our life stories — our autobiographical memories — according to reliable patterns of life events or “life scripts”. But this year, we can’t do some things in the same way. We can’t travel to all the places we usually would; family and friends might not be able to visit; and important events may be postponed or restricted.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-remember-our-youth-as-one-big-hedonistic-party-78995">Why we remember our youth as one big hedonistic party</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The good news is any new rituals, traditions or holiday experiences we adopt this year may be especially memorable and meaningful. That’s because we’re <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn1052">particularly likely</a> to remember novel, rather than routine, events. </p>
<p>For instance, in ten years’ time, we may be more likely to remember the holiday season when we shared embarrassing family stories via Zoom than ten years of “normal” Christmases before or after.</p>
<h2>Memory builds resilience</h2>
<p>Of course, these holidays will still have their challenges. We might be inclined to forget 2020 and our summer break entirely. But there is value even in memories of stressful events.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10615806.2020.1768375">trial</a> published earlier this year, Macquarie University psychologist Monique Crane and her colleagues asked people over 50 to reflect on stressful or challenging events during a busy Australian Christmas period in 2018.</p>
<p>In this type of reflection, known as guided self-reflection, the researchers asked study participants to recall stressful experiences and then analyse what happened and how they behaved. People in the study were also asked to consider how they would tackle a similar situation in the future.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373728/original/file-20201208-23-1ho1pq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman screaming wearing Santa hat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373728/original/file-20201208-23-1ho1pq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373728/original/file-20201208-23-1ho1pq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373728/original/file-20201208-23-1ho1pq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373728/original/file-20201208-23-1ho1pq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373728/original/file-20201208-23-1ho1pq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373728/original/file-20201208-23-1ho1pq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373728/original/file-20201208-23-1ho1pq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Christmas can be stressful. But remembering and reflecting on these experiences can actually help us in the future.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-portrait-worried-stressed-overwhelmed-young-516789388">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The researchers found self-reflection led people to rate themselves more resilient (agreeing with questions like “I tend to bounce back quickly after hard times”), and feeling less stressed and more positive during the previous two weeks. This is compared to people in a control group, who talked about resilience but did not recall and reflect on their own experiences. </p>
<p>In other words, stressful events during Christmas became an opportunity for positive growth when people reflected on memories of their experiences and used them as building blocks for more resilient responding in the future.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-tips-to-make-your-holidays-less-fraught-and-more-festive-88866">Ten tips to make your holidays less fraught and more festive</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Benefits of remembering together</h2>
<p>Whether good or bad events, the very act of recalling memories delivers other important benefits when we remember together. Across a series of studies, my colleagues and I show talking with family and friends about life events supports or “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1046496417712439">scaffolds</a>” individual memories.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368119301603?via%3Dihub">study</a> published earlier this year, we arranged for families of mothers, fathers and their two primary school-aged children to complete a Halloween-themed obstacle course in a park. </p>
<p>A few weeks later we asked them to reminisce about this event in mother-child, father-child and sibling-sibling pairs. Although mothers and fathers were most successful in helping their children to remember, even our littlest participants asked questions and offered their own memories in ways that encouraged and supported their memory partner’s recall.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-power-of-our-song-the-musical-glue-that-binds-friends-and-lovers-across-the-ages-73593">The power of 'our song', the musical glue that binds friends and lovers across the ages</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Remembering together is just as valuable, perhaps more so, as we age and if our memories start to fade. In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09658211.2019.1673428">second study</a>, we asked long-married couples — people married on average for 50 years — to recall their wedding day. We first asked husbands and wives to remember separately. A week later, we asked them to remember together. Couples recalled many new details when they remembered collaboratively compared to alone.</p>
<p>Remembering together strengthens personal and social connections. In a year that has challenged these connections and isolated many of us, telling stories and sharing memories with our loved ones — even of these difficult and unusual times — may support and protect both our psychological and cognitive health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Barnier has received funding in the past from the Australian Research Council, Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation and Macquarie University.</span></em></p>Memories of past holidays shape this one and ones years in the future.Amanda Barnier, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Performance) and Professor of Cognitive Science, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463862020-09-24T20:08:20Z2020-09-24T20:08:20ZYour personal data is the currency of the digital age<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359442/original/file-20200922-14-8zrbtf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1353%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many online users give consent for use of their data without worrying about the implications.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The commodification of the internet in the early 1990s brought western societies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15506878jobem4604_9">into the digital age</a> and has changed the way consumers interact with commercial enterprises.</p>
<p>The digital industry companies have one thing in common: the use of the user’s personal data through <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95273-4_1">technology</a> to gain competitive advantage.</p>
<p>Spotify, Amazon, eBay, Apple, Google Play: these corporations have reached a level of product and service customization never seen before. Spotify’s algorithm, for example, offers you artists and playlists based on your age, gender, location and listening history.</p>
<p>Management researchers are interested in these new forms of commerce for two main reasons: they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/CR-04-2014-0008">mark a break with conventional business models</a> and tend to <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/data-not-digitalization-transforms-the-post-pandemic-supply-chain/">do better during crises</a>.</p>
<h2>New business models</h2>
<p>Recent research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicates that in June 2020, at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/modern-business-models-will-drive-the-post-pandemic-world/">digital firms had an average return on investment of 10 per cent, while traditional firms were still negative at -14 per cent in August</a>. The authors’ conclusion is unequivocal: 21st century organizations must adopt these new business models at the risk of perishing.</p>
<p>However, this business model is not without risk for the consumer. I have been writing about this phenomenon for a little over five years. My research has led me to propose a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/CR-04-2014-0008">new model for generic management</a> of this new industry and to look at the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/info-08-2014-0035">consequences</a> that <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2017.17059abstract">users face</a>.</p>
<p>The new business models propose a fundamental break with those typically taught in business schools. Whereas the industrial age placed capital (and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/08/26/big-difference-between-money-and-capital/#3e17155c3dc0">mainly money</a>) at the centre of all <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoneco.2005.04.006">transactions</a>, the digital age favours <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.03.003">information as a source of liquidity</a>.</p>
<p>This disruption of the medium of exchange in a commercial transaction is particularly salient in certain industries. Readers of a certain age will surely remember printed maps. To get updates such as street name changes, you had to <a href="https://www.ebay.ca/i/113877845580">buy a new map</a>. Google, for example, offers its users GPS functionality updated in real time for free.</p>
<h2>A personalized experience</h2>
<p>Some firms use dual monetization in their product or service. This is particularly true in the mobile gaming industry. For example, some games use a <em>freemium</em> approach based on <a href="https://medium.com/udonis/mobile-game-monetization-trends-best-strategies-to-monetize-your-game-in-2020-fe2de42d4463">monetizing user data</a> and then <a href="https://www.gamedesigning.org/learn/mobile-monetization/">inserting paid elements</a>. In short, the best of both worlds!</p>
<p>This type of model is not bad in itself and even has advantages for the consumer, including the <a href="http://cs-sys-1.uis.georgetown.edu/%7Esz303/sigir2014-pir-workshop/proceeding/PIR14-papers.pdf#page=34">personalization</a> of their experience and access to <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2017.17059abstract">free offers and trials</a>.</p>
<p>For example, when you search for a restaurant on Google Maps, you hope to get results based on your location, and when you shop online, products are suggested based on your purchase history. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359895/original/file-20200924-18-1v5szwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hand holding up a mobile phone with the Google maps logo in a busy pedestrian area" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359895/original/file-20200924-18-1v5szwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359895/original/file-20200924-18-1v5szwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359895/original/file-20200924-18-1v5szwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359895/original/file-20200924-18-1v5szwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359895/original/file-20200924-18-1v5szwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359895/original/file-20200924-18-1v5szwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359895/original/file-20200924-18-1v5szwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Searching for restaurants on Google Maps will pull up addresses near your location.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The customer is the product</h2>
<p>These benefits to the consumer can also backfire. Several researchers note an increase in the complexity of the customer relationship. Studies have shown that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/info-08-2014-0035">overload of information available in the Canadian</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/CR-04-2014-0008">telecommunications industry</a> can be used as strategic leverage by the seller.</p>
<p>For example, a user may be required to create a Pinterest account — recording personal information such as name, email address and birthday — in order to view the site’s content. Other sites will deny access to content if the user has blocked <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/cookie">cookies</a> or <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/what-is-a-web-tracker/">trackers</a> for advertising.</p>
<p>Consumers also have the right to wonder if they are becoming the product. For example, Google uses <a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/start/">AdSense</a> to collect the personal data of their users in order to monetize them to third parties, generally for advertising purposes. Similarly, Google benefits from offering services at no cost, because the more consumers use its services, <a href="https://adage.com/article/digital/google-flips-switch-its-next-big-money-maker-maps/2163976">the more information it collects about them</a>.</p>
<p>It is in Amazon’s best interest to encourage us to browse its site — even if we don’t buy anything. The history of items viewed, keywords used or time spent on a page <a href="https://fortune.com/2012/07/30/amazons-recommendation-secret/">can all be monetized</a>. </p>
<p>The market for targeted online advertising is very lucrative. According to the annual Interactive Advertising Bureau 2017 report, online advertising generated revenues of <a href="https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/IAB-2017-Full-Year-Internet-Advertising-Revenue-Report.REV_.pdf">US$88 billion in the United States alone in that year</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359898/original/file-20200924-18-17nt24s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graphic of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet and a mobile phone all showing online ads." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359898/original/file-20200924-18-17nt24s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359898/original/file-20200924-18-17nt24s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359898/original/file-20200924-18-17nt24s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359898/original/file-20200924-18-17nt24s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359898/original/file-20200924-18-17nt24s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359898/original/file-20200924-18-17nt24s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359898/original/file-20200924-18-17nt24s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Online advertising is a huge industry that continues to grow in scope, size and sophistication.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reducing your digital footprint</h2>
<p>It’s hard to be totally invisible in the digital age! Indeed, it is rare that an individual is not part of any social network, does not have a cell phone or does not use the web on a daily basis. What’s more, the erosion of privacy has been so gradual that most people are not aware of <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1100/RR1187/RAND_RR1187.pdf">the amount of information they reveal every day</a>. Nevertheless, solutions exist to reduce one’s digital footprint.</p>
<p>Before entering their data, consumers may ask themselves if they really need the product or service, even if it is free. Is it really essential, for example, to create an account to consult a document or view an image on a site to which you will never return?</p>
<p>Firms that collect consumers’ personal information must first obtain their consent. These consent forms are often very long and <a href="http://rua.ua.es/dspace/handle/10045/54178">written in jargon</a>. Most people simply click on “I agree” without worrying about the implications.</p>
<p>In extreme cases, this simple gesture <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10115-009-0278-z">authorizes the firm to install spyware</a> on your device. Sites like <a href="https://tosdr.org/">Terms of Service; Didn’t Read</a> provides an overview of user agreements and identified the elements that could have a negative impact on the user.</p>
<h2>All requested information?</h2>
<p>When the consumer creates an account, they must also question the relevance of giving all the information requested. Although it is important to indicate an actual birth date on a credit application, is it really necessary to give this information on a discussion forum?</p>
<p>It is also important to avoid using the same username (often email) and password for different accounts. Some firms use modules to collect data that link several services. Even if information is missing from one of the accounts, the module can cross-reference that account with those registered with other providers. In addition, if there is a data leak, it becomes easy for fraudsters to test the email and password combination on different platforms.</p>
<p>The provider promises to secure the personal data of its user. Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/93147-freepik-photo-sharing-company-discloses-security-breach-impacting-83-million-users">several cases</a> of <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/2130877/the-biggest-data-breaches-of-the-21st-century.html">recent leaks</a> show us that <a href="https://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/worlds-biggest-data-breaches-hacks/">this is not</a> always <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/2020/08/5-biggest-data-breaches-of-2020-so-far/">the case</a>. </p>
<p>Websites like <a href="https://haveibeenpwned.com/">Have I Been Pwned</a> lists data leaks including email addresses and other information that may have been leaked. If your address has been leaked, it is strongly recommended that you change your password and check your accounts using the same address.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146386/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guillaume Desjardins ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Our current digital era and reliance on technology favours information as a form of capital.Guillaume Desjardins, Associate professor, Industrial Relations, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1436112020-08-02T08:34:04Z2020-08-02T08:34:04ZHow apps on mobile phones are changing Zimbabwe’s talk radio<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350380/original/file-20200730-17-1ol2tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artist Kudakwashe Chigodo poses for a portrait with his smartphone in Harare.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jekesai Njikizana/AFP/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Africa, radio still has wider geographical <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/worldradioday-why-radio-is-still-going-strong-in-africa/a-52355828">reach</a> and higher audiences than any other information and communication technology, including television and newspapers. </p>
<p>Like the rest of the world, African radio is breaking away from being an analogue communication tool that relies on top down information flows to one that relies on multiple feedback loops. The main driver of this is digital media technologies.</p>
<p>It’s a trend I examine in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13696815.2018.1551125?journalCode=cjac20">a paper</a> called Mobile Phones and a Million Chatter: Performed Inclusivity and Silenced Voices in Zimbabwean Talk Radio. I wanted to observe what is really happening at the convergence between radio, smartphones and related mobile-based applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. </p>
<p>I found that apps like WhatsApp have indeed grown public discourse by connecting more voices to participate in live talkback radio – but this came with new challenges as newsrooms experience an oversupply of digital information from audiences.</p>
<h2>A radio station in Harare</h2>
<p>I set out to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13696815.2018.1551125?journalCode=cjac20">study</a> a local radio station in Harare, the capital of <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/world-radio-day-2020-radio-and-diversity">Zimbabwe</a> through live studio ethnography and sustained interviews with radio producers and 21 audience members, the latter largely working class Harare residents. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, both producers and audiences found the convergence between radio and mobile phones is stretching out the communicative space. It allows more inclusive, seamless and real time debate between radio hosts and audiences. There was a strong feeling that radio continues to inculcate a sense of imagined community. One producer said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Because we have a dedicated mobile line for WhatsApp, our programme has grown a bit in popularity and we know some of our listeners in person. Some of them visit us during the day just to explain a point discussed in the previous show or even to give us story leads.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And one of the listeners told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I tune in to radio through my mobile phone while I am selling vegetables on the market. I know that my neighbour is listening to this show also.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Apps like WhatsApp have become so pervasive and immersed in our everyday lives that many more people can now easily communicate with larger numbers of contacts than before. In the context of live talk radio, mobile phones are allowing more people to cheaply and conveniently access studio debates.</p>
<p>Prior to the emergence of digital media technologies, land lines were expensive and not nearly as widely domesticated as mobile phones are today. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/radio-in-ghana-from-mouthpiece-of-coup-plotters-to-giving-voice-to-the-people-131709">Radio in Ghana: from mouthpiece of coup plotters to giving voice to the people</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By 2017, WhatApp was already by far the <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1114551/in-zimbabwe-whatsapp-takes-nearly-half-of-all-internet-traffic/">most popular</a> app in Zimbabwe. It accounts for up to 44% of all mobile internet usage in a country where 98% of all internet usage is mobile. According to Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, promotional WhatsApp and Facebook <a href="https://www.techzim.co.zw/2017/01/econet-wireless-zimbabwes-new-data-whatsapp-facebook-bundles-prices/">access bundles</a>, marketed by the country’s mobile operators, are helping drive up use of these platforms.</p>
<h2>The digital downside</h2>
<p>However, there’s also a downside to the advent of digital media technologies and digitalised newsrooms. Observing live studio shows I witnessed a number of structural constraints.</p>
<p>For example, while radio audiences may celebrate the possibilities of easily sending critical questions via WhatsApp to studio hosts, an apparently unintended consequence was that the journalist managing live studio debates struggled to read out all the messages received. The studio WhatsApp number commonly becomes congested. </p>
<p>Some messages and comments are left unread and get buried under an avalanche of newer ones popping up on the screen, in turn buried under even newer ones. Once this happens, it’s hard to tell how many quality contributions have been lost by not being read. So not all voices reaching the studio get a fair chance of being heard. </p>
<p>I call these unintended constraints, though, because they are not necessarily a result of failure by journalists and producers. They are more a technical setback in which an oversupply of information via dedicated WhatsApp lines eluded even the most astute radio presenter.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-community-radio-has-contributed-to-building-peace-a-kenyan-case-study-141622">How community radio has contributed to building peace: a Kenyan case study</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>In addition, some messages reaching the studio WhatsApp channel were so badly typed that they would be set aside, the journalist preferring to read out only well-typed messages. Newsroom pressures and deadlines associated with broadcast media mean that there isn’t the luxury of spending too much time on one question. </p>
<p>In mass communication studies, these are seen as exclusionary practices in live radio talkback shows.</p>
<h2>Democratising the airwaves</h2>
<p>Democracy is normatively seen as thriving in environments where all voices, opinions and views across <a href="https://medium.com/center-for-media-data-and-society/radio-gains-in-diversity-in-most-of-africa-fdeb03669d08">diverse</a> population profiles are respected and given a fair chance of representation.</p>
<p>My study showed that, at least in terms of volume, the convergence between radio and mobile phones is stretching out the public sphere to accommodate more voices. </p>
<p>Digital technologies are allowing for new participants to engage actively with radio.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143611/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stanley Tsarwe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Apps like WhatsApp have connected more voices to participate in live talk radio - but this comes with new challenges.Stanley Tsarwe, Journalism Lecturer, University of ZimbabweLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1435052020-07-30T09:24:53Z2020-07-30T09:24:53ZBig advertisers are boycotting Facebook but it’s not enough to #StopHateforProfit – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350185/original/file-20200729-29-kn9eq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/falling-on-top-chips-like-heart-595210961">Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Facebook has faced a lot of criticism over the years for failing to moderate hate speech. Its policies have come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks thanks to the <a href="https://www.stophateforprofit.org/">Stop Hate for Profit campaign</a>. Started by civil rights groups in the US, the campaign has led to some of Facebook’s biggest customers pulling their ads from the social media platform for the month of July.</p>
<p>As much as 99% of Facebook’s <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/268604/annual-revenue-of-facebook/">US$70.7 billion</a> (£55 billion) in revenues come through advertising and the boycott initially resulted in an <a href="https://www.scommerce.com/facebook-ad-boycott-costs-mark-zuckerberg-72-billion/">8% knock to Facebook’s market value</a> (amounting to US$72 billion). Yet, even with the hundreds of companies that signed up and big names like Adidas, Coca-Cola, Diageo and Unilever on board, the likelihood of this bringing about significant changes at Facebook is still slim. </p>
<p>This is because Facebook has a vast <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/FB/facebook/cash-on-hand">cash cushion</a> to ride out the campaign. Plus, despite having lots of household names involved in the campaign, these large companies account for less than <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/analyst-sees-less-than-5-revenue-hit-for-facebook-as-diageo-and-starbucks-join-list-of-companies-halting-ads-2020-06-29">10% of all Facebook advertising revenues</a>. So, while the campaign had an immediate hit on Facebook’s stock market value, its stock price has since recovered. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349982/original/file-20200728-17-1b6qzt5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph of Facebook's stock price." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349982/original/file-20200728-17-1b6qzt5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349982/original/file-20200728-17-1b6qzt5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349982/original/file-20200728-17-1b6qzt5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349982/original/file-20200728-17-1b6qzt5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349982/original/file-20200728-17-1b6qzt5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349982/original/file-20200728-17-1b6qzt5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349982/original/file-20200728-17-1b6qzt5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Facebook’s stock price has rebounded since the Stop Hate for Profit campaign started.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/FB#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-">Yahoo! Finance</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, there is real potential to force Facebook to change its policies if more advertisers join the campaign. Facebook is not oblivious to these dire consequences. It organised a call with a number of advertisers through the Interactive Advertising Bureau trade body and senior executives said Facebook recognised it was suffering from a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a6410a72-6e30-4f6d-9f5b-adaba1c1588e">“trust deficit”</a>, while expressing eagerness to listen to the concerns of clients.</p>
<p>But, even as the ad boycott continued to grow, Facebook showed no signs of backing down and acquiescing to the campaign’s demands. CEO Mark Zuckerburg is <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53262860">also reported to have told staff privately</a>: “My guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough.”</p>
<p>He has good reason to believe this. The balance of power between Facebook and advertisers is very much in Facebook’s favour. The options to advertise in the digital space are quite limited, given that Facebook also controls Instagram.</p>
<h2>United front</h2>
<p>To put real pressure on Facebook to change its content moderation policies requires an unparalleled level of unity across the advertising world. This includes ad agencies as well as the advertisers themselves. While the content of ads tends to be created by advertising agencies in conjunction with the companies that are being advertised, the location of where these ads appears is mostly decided by the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e4e03f62-1c2b-11e6-a7bc-ee846770ec15">ad agency</a>.</p>
<p>Hence, advertising agencies are a pivotal cog in the system. Without agencies joining the boycott in large numbers, there is very little that the campaign will be able to achieve. Some have joined, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/25/goodby-joins-facebook-stophateforprofit-boycott.html">including Goodby Silverstein</a>, which brought its clients with it, including Adobe, BMW, Doritos and Pepsi. But it seems to be the only agency to make this kind of statement.</p>
<p>While most advertising agencies have expressed <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/adland-open-letter-calls-solidarity-action-death-george-floyd/1685073">public support</a> for the Black Lives Matter movement, how they are advising their clients in relation to Facebook is more mixed. A recent survey by the trade magazine <a href="https://www.prweek.com/article/1687815/brand-client-joining-facebook-ad-boycott">PR Week</a> found that less than half of respondents were advising their clients to walk away from Facebook. As one of the biggest names in advertising, Martin Sorrell, <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/martin-sorrell--facebook-boycott-advertising-social-media-tech-conference-51594324889">put it</a>: “If they [the clients] ask for my view, I say I don’t think that boycotting is the solution.” </p>
<p>It will take the big full-service advertising agencies such as WPP and Publicis, which are the real decision makers in terms of where their clients’ advertisements appear, to publicly back the boycott for it to have more of an impact.</p>
<h2>Turning the tide</h2>
<p>The other major nut to crack is small advertisers. If they do not join the boycott in throngs, the financial impact on Facebook because of the campaign is going to be very limited. This will prove difficult.</p>
<p>Small businesses make up the <a href="https://financialpost.com/technology/facebook-ad-boycott-gains-steam-small-business-cant-quit-easily">vast majority of Facebook’s revenue</a>. They really value the platform because they can target their customers much more precisely, at a reasonable cost – something that was not possible a decade ago. </p>
<p>And with COVID-19, these small businesses are really strapped for cash. Some may even see this boycott as an opportunity to actually increase their footprint on Facebook and Instagram. If ad rates fall due to the number of big advertisers pulling out, they will get more bang for their buck. </p>
<p>The Stop Hate for Profit campaign makes the point that businesses do not want their ads to <a href="https://www.adl.org/blog/hate-conspiracy-theories-and-advertising-on-facebook">appear next to hate speech</a>. But small businesses are well aware that they don’t have much control over where their adverts appear on Facebook, beyond the target market they have chosen. If the campaign can demonstrate more clearly that ads on Facebook are actually not preferred by the target market of these small businesses or do not fit with their own business ethos, they may join the boycott. But the costs for them are much greater than for big businesses. </p>
<p>Ultimately, it is only through collective action involving both large and small advertisers in substantial numbers – along with the entire advertiser community – can this tide really turn.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paurav Shukla does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most of Facebook’s revenue comes from the millions of small businesses that advertise on the platform.Paurav Shukla, Professor of Marketing, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1386102020-05-14T06:58:14Z2020-05-14T06:58:14Z9 reasons you should be worried about the closure of BuzzFeed News in Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334962/original/file-20200514-77239-1xnk1fn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C0%2C3777%2C2438&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/may/13/buzzfeed-pulls-plug-on-uk-and-australian-news-operations">closure of BuzzFeed’s news operations in Australia</a> is more evidence the advertising-supported media landscape is broken.</p>
<p>It’s a sad end for a news organisation that launched in 2014 with an ambition to shake up Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-australias-level-of-media-ownership-concentration-one-of-the-highest-in-the-world-68437">hyper-concentrated media market</a>.</p>
<p>Here are nine things Australians who care about journalism, and the state of our democracy, should know. </p>
<h2>1. BuzzFeed is not the only online outlet to flounder here</h2>
<p>Some, <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/huffpost-go-wrong-487008">such as HuffPost</a>, started strong but then struggled. Others, such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/30/global-mail-website-to-close">The Global Mail</a> and <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/the-hoopla-closes-citing-competitive-market-as-news-corp-launches-women-centric-challenger-282935">The Hoopla</a>, failed pretty quickly.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-closure-of-aap-is-yet-another-blow-to-public-interest-journalism-in-australia-132856">The closure of AAP is yet another blow to public interest journalism in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But other digital offerings are surviving: these include Crikey, which came along in 2000, Mamamia (2007), The Conversation (2011), Guardian Australia (2013), The Saturday Paper (2014) and The New York Times (2017).</p>
<h2>2. By grouping popular viral content and excellent journalism together, BuzzFeed created a disconnect</h2>
<p>Due to the co-location of its popular and quality journalism, at the same time as BuzzFeed was being nominated for Pulitzer Prizes in the United States and the Walkley Awards in Australia, it also struggled with trust. The 2019 Canberra University <a href="https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/nmrc/digital-news-report-australia-2019">Digital News Report</a> survey found BuzzFeed was the country’s least trusted news brand.</p>
<h2>3. BuzzFeed had been on shaky ground for a while</h2>
<p>BuzzFeed cut <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jan/24/buzzfeed-to-lay-off-200-staff-in-latest-round-of-cuts">about 200 staff</a> globally in January 2019 amid a worldwide savings push. The Australian arm of BuzzFeed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jan/29/buzzfeed-loses-11-staff-in-australia-amid-global-job-cuts">lost 11 of its 40 staff</a> at the time. </p>
<h2>4. BuzzFeed News in Australia has been home to many high-profile journalists</h2>
<p>Since launching under founding editor Simon Crerar, it has employed its fair share of talented (and sometimes controversial) journalists who have broken significant stories and covered issues in innovative, unusual ways. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1260746666467930114"}"></div></p>
<p>Lane Sainty was nominated for a Walkley Award for her coverage of the marriage equality debate, while Gina Rushton’s work on abortion is seen as contributing to last year’s decriminalisation in NSW. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1260764320167649281"}"></div></p>
<p>Before recently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/apr/27/ft-suspends-journalist-mark-di-stefano-accused-listening-papers-zoom-calls-independent-evening-standard">running into trouble</a> at the Financial Times, Mark Di Stefano was noted for his innovative coverage of Australian politics, including interviewing former foreign minister <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/emoji-plomacy">Julie Bishop by emoji</a>. </p>
<h2>5. It needed advertising dollars to survive</h2>
<p>Like other digital natives, BuzzFeed relied on advertisements for its funding. It also leaned heavily on digital platforms (such as Google and Facebook) for website referrals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/newsrooms-not-keeping-up-with-changing-demographics-study-suggests-125368">Newsrooms not keeping up with changing demographics, study suggests</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>BuzzFeed used social media posts extensively as a means of reaching audiences, and has over 2.5 million Facebook “likes”. As Australia’s 2019 <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/digital-platforms-inquiry-final-report">Digital Platforms Inquiry</a> reported, when Facebook changed its algorithm to prioritise posts from family and friends, BuzzFeed Australia really felt the change.</p>
<h2>6. It went after younger readers</h2>
<p>Although BuzzFeed attracted sneers from traditional news lovers for its fun “listicles” and viral videos on social media, it set out to attract a youth market. </p>
<p>It also won respect from peers in traditional media outlets. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1260679753339568129"}"></div></p>
<p>Even Australian journalism royalty Laurie Oakes <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-30/buzzfeed-job-cuts-not-end-of-digital-journalism-in-australia/10759322">noted in a speech at the University of Sydney</a>: “I’m not going to complain if cat videos support serious journalistic aspirations.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334965/original/file-20200514-77276-y1mve4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334965/original/file-20200514-77276-y1mve4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334965/original/file-20200514-77276-y1mve4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334965/original/file-20200514-77276-y1mve4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334965/original/file-20200514-77276-y1mve4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334965/original/file-20200514-77276-y1mve4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334965/original/file-20200514-77276-y1mve4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">BuzzFeed interviewed former foreign minister Julie Bishop via emoji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>7. But those younger readers didn’t pay</h2>
<p>There’s an old news adage that audiences will take more of what they <em>need</em> to know from those that give them what they <em>want</em> to know. </p>
<p>By providing non-news content alongside their journalism, BuzzFeed won attention from youth audiences to stories in a way other news outlets couldn’t. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, audiences prefer to pay for streaming services rather than news, as the <a href="https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/nmrc/digital-news-report-australia-2019">2019 Digital News Report</a> found. </p>
<h2>8. BuzzFeed covered stories others would not do, or did them in a way others would not</h2>
<p>It recognised the importance of covering federal politics for young people. And it broke major stories, such as former employment minister <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/aliceworkman/afp-raids">Michaelia Cash’s office</a> tipping off the media about union raids. </p>
<p>Although this also came at a cost. It reached an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-29/emma-husar-settles-defamation-case-against-news-site-buzzfeed/11359756">out of court settlement</a> with former Labor MP Emma Husar in 2019, after she sued BuzzFeed for defamation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334964/original/file-20200514-77251-u83w19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334964/original/file-20200514-77251-u83w19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334964/original/file-20200514-77251-u83w19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334964/original/file-20200514-77251-u83w19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334964/original/file-20200514-77251-u83w19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334964/original/file-20200514-77251-u83w19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334964/original/file-20200514-77251-u83w19.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Labor MP Emma Husar sued BuzzFeed for defamation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Braven</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It should not have been as innovative as it was, but BuzzFeed also specifically employed Indigenous journalists <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/buzzfeed-australia-appoints-amy-mcquire-indigenous-affairs-reporter-452364">Allan Clarke and Amy McQuire</a> to cover Indigenous issues. </p>
<h2>9. This is the last thing Australia needs</h2>
<p>As many noted on Twitter as the news broke, the last thing Australia needs right now is fewer media outlets, especially those that focus on stories overlooked by everyone else. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1260678631128395777"}"></div></p>
<p>On days like today, we should be mindful that <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Future_of_Public_Interest_Journalism/PublicInterestJournalism/Report">recent parliamentary</a> and <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/digital-platforms-inquiry-final-report">government inquiries</a> have recommended other ways of supporting independent journalism.</p>
<p>These include adequate funding for public broadcasting, expanding tax deductible provisions for donations to media outlets and forcing Google and Facebook to <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-more-negotiating-new-rules-could-finally-force-google-and-facebook-to-pay-for-news-136718">compensate media outlets</a> for using their content.</p>
<p>If we don’t figure out how to pay for strong independent journalism in Australia, our nation will most certainly be the loser. </p>
<p><em>Correction: This article has been amended to clarify that only BuzzFeed Australia’s news operations are closing. A spokeswoman for BuzzFeed said while the news team in Australia had been “furloughed”, there was still a “content team” of entertainment and shopping writers in Sydney.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138610/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Wake does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>BuzzFeed was more than just listicles and funny quizzes. It also produced quality journalism in innovative ways.Alexandra Wake, Program Manager, Journalism, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.