The Problem with Facebook

A hot button topic lately in the social media world is the Facebook algorithm. An algorithm can be difficult for those to understand that are not familiar with how they work. I think the misconception is that algorithms are all controlled by artificial intelligence, yet the Slate article clarified that algorithms are actually made by people. If there are problems with it, the people are to blame.

One of the reasons that the Facebook algorithm is currently being challenged is how it handles political advertisements. Right now the algorithm cannot compensate for differentiating what is true and what is not in political ads and that has sparked some debate recently. What the algorithm can do, which surprised me is pick out posts that will make us feel certain emotions. It can calculate what will make us feel happy or sad and spark a reaction out of us.

The idea that social media has such a drastic effect on our emotions is frankly terrifying. In fact, The Guardian reported that 40% of girls who spend more time on social media have higher rates of depression. Social media has strayed past from a friendly way to connect with people and is having detrimental effects on our society.

Something else to consider is the secrecy behind Facebook. This is why there is such a feeling of discomfort around Facebook these days since we do not know much about what it is doing as consumers. Many people blindly give Facebook their information without realizing that it may have long lasting effects. This secrecy was confirmed with Will Oremus’ experience at Facebook. He was even followed to the bathroom when exploring the business, which seems rather suspicious.

The inner workings of Facebook go beyond just individuals. It also affects businesses. The article stated that newspapers are starting to plummet in readership as websites like Vox and Buzzfeed skyrocket. Newspapers just do not have that ability to handpick stories for each individual reader like the Facebook algorithm does.

Facebook originally started as a way to connect college aged students and now it is starting to upheave things essential to our democracy like the press. Such a change as this is wild to think of. However, social media is becoming more and more powerful and it should be investigated.

Saving the World of Print News

One of the main dilemmas of journalism today is what the future of print news is. The popularity of it is declining, and people rarely get a printed newspaper nowadays. A 2017 study found that newspaper consumption went down 10% from the previous year for Sunday papers.

From class discussion, it was obvious that the new generation, especially, is not interested in buying a newspaper subscription. Most news can be accessed for free on the internet, so many young adults do not see a need for a physical copy.

However, a dilemma that was raised in John Oliver’s broadcast from 2016 was that broadcast news relies heavily on print forms of news to get their information. Although they provide credit to the newspaper that they take information from, there is no monetary compensation to the newspaper for its work. Broadcast news gets to use the information for free, and as a result, the print news suffers.

With the lack of willingness of people to pay for a newspaper subscription, the staff of newspapers has suffered. Between 2008 and 2017, it was reported that newsroom employment dropped 23%. With this lack of staff, it can be difficult for people to report on the stories that truly matter. From Oliver’s video, people tend to gravitate to stories they want to hear rather than need to hear.

A movie that Nicco Mele’s business model podcast referenced, as well as the Oliver video, was Spotlight. This movie, from 2015, covered the reporting by The Boston Globe on allegations against John Geoghan, who was accused of molesting over 80 boys.

This movie shows the importance of journalism and a specific type of it, which is watchdog reporting. John Oliver’s video did a parody video of what journalism would be like if it only focused on cutesy stories rather than the real issues. It showed the very real issue of people leaving the news organization, and people focusing on irrelevant stories like a raccoon that looked like a cat.

Journalism is getting harder for the public to trust nowadays with the rhetoric of “fake news.” There are definitely sources out there that do not qualify as true journalism, but many trustworthy news organizations still exist.

America’s press started off with print news and it should stay that way. Without a free press, the democracy of the country is in serious peril. Some newspapers, like The Washington Post, have tried to make their subscriptions as affordable as possible for their consumers. However, it is difficult for newspapers to make their subscriptions too cheap since that is the way they earn a lot of their money. Before, many newspapers earned their money from the ads they sold to go into it. Now, many people choose to advertise online since it is usually cheaper and more likely to reach a wider audience.

Our class discussed some ways that the print news industry could be saved. Although it would not be easy, print news could start charging broadcast news companies to pay for the information that they take from the newspaper. This would be a good way to teach the broadcast news companies about their dependency on print news and how there is a price to keep it in business.

Overall, saving the print news industry will not happen overnight, but it is extremely important if we want to keep real people writing our stories instead of robots like “What is the Future of Journalism in the Digital World,” by Forbes suggests. Hopefully, the need for print news will become apparent and seen as the backbone to withholding the country’s democracy.

Brooke’s Take on JRM 215

This is me in my favorite spot in Kansas City, the Country Club Plaza!

About Me

Hello! My name is Brooke Memoly and I am a sophomore here at Creighton University. I am studying Journalism on the public relations track and Spanish. Some of my interests include theatre and music. My favorite bands or artists are Queen, Enrique Iglesias, and Rex Orange County.

How I Got into Media

I am taking JRM 215 because it is a requirement for the JMC core here at Creighton. My experience with media has been pretty exclusive to social media. I believe it allows everyday people to put their message out into the world. Sometimes that is not always a good thing, but I believe that social media was originally created in hopes that it would be used for the good.

When it comes to where I get my news and information from, I usually turn to social media first and back up the information I received with online news organizations. Typically, I pay most attention to the news organizations in Kansas City, Missouri. I am like what most people expect the Gen Z generation to be like, and I am using some sort of screen almost constantly. I am definitely way too into my phone and if I am not on it, I am most likely on my laptop. It is not the best habit but is, unfortunately, the effect of living in the digital age. I will pick up a newspaper from time to time, but it is hard to beat the convenience of just googling what you want to know.

With the news media, I believe that the most frustrating part about it is how some organizations use fear. I believe that news should be used to inform us, not scare us. This fear is caused by exaggerating certain stories to make certain groups seem like villains. Rolling Stone covered how Fox News does this very thing.

When it comes to what news media and journalists do well, I believe that they make a point to correct their mistakes and to try to provide updates as they go. Doing this is not always easy, but is an essential skill when it comes to accurate storytelling. Most news organizations want to be the first to report something. With this, there can come many mistakes in what information they give to the public. That is why it is admirable for news organizations and journalists to acknowledge when they have made a mistake and to keep their listeners engaged.

As part of my journalism education, I have had to work with many different mediums. Part of that included learning how to code. I took a class called Computers and Scientific thinking last semester and learned some basics about HTML and how to create some interactive web pages with JavaScript.

This is a screenshot of one of the web pages I made that simulates a Magic 8-ball and gives out an answer when a question is entered into the box.

Learning how to build a website is very useful nowadays with how reliant we are on the internet to obtain news. Our world is constantly surrounded by different media inputs. Unfortunately, this is overwhelming and it can be hard to know who to trust with so much information circulating. The benefit of how connected media is today is that it provides several different viewpoints. It is also helpful, in that, I can look up news from around the world and stay fully informed while taking in multiple viewpoints. The main way the world stays connected is through social media. The International Association of Business Communicators adapted these trends into an article showing how connected the world can be.

Whether we like it or not, we all have an impact on the media. Whether we listen to the news, post on social media, or talk about what’s going on with our friends, the media impacts us more than we can imagine. Hopefully, this class will give me insight into just how impacted my life is from it.