The Chicken or the Egg?

The reading this week in the Social Role of the Mass Media class included an article headlined “Cultural production of ignorance provides rich field for study.”

My mind immediately leapt to Facebook and how people use it to propagate such ignorance.

Field.  Boone County, Arkansas.  Photographed by Stephen Milligan (June 25, 2014).

A glance at recent activity on Facebook provides a sampling of the material people fertilize that field with to make it even richer:

“‘Fire of God’ Is Coming!—Warning Signs in America 2015”

“Christians Look to Torah Portion to Prove Solar Eclipse Is the ‘Shadow of God’”

“Obama Hasn’t Congratulated PM Netanyahu—but He Congratulated Erdogan, Sisi, Rouhani…and Putin!”

“Obama refuses to renew 40-year-oldemergency oil supply pact with Israel”

“Russian companies prepare employees fornuclear war”

How can people actually believe this stuff?

It didn’t take much time to find out more about the sites posting this material: one admits to publishing straight news along with conspiracy theory and prophesy; one claims to have neither a conservative or liberal perspective but a Biblical one; one promises to tell the truth about Israel and Judaism; one has a definite conservative republican slant (this one actually appears to be the most believable of the bunch); and one proclaims a Christian, conservative, orthodox worldview.   

How can people actually believe this stuff?  Oh, wait…I’ve already asked that question.  Trying to find any common sense here is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Now, there may be some kernel of truth hidden somewhere in these stories (it’s always good to start with a little truth for that realistic touch), but there’s an obvious pattern to their subject matter.  Of course, I admit I knew exactly where to look for these stories—some Facebook friends share them with such frequency and in such quantity, it doesn’t take long to figure out their political or religious feelings. 

Interestingly, more than one of these websites proudly proclaims to be publishing the truth that the mainstream media doesn’t.  If only people would examine these stories and sites more carefully before posting—if your source publishes hard news and conspiracy theory, perhaps it’s not the most credible place for gathering information.  That’s a horse of a different color, though—one I’m afraid many people aren’t willing to ride.

Instead, they’re going to go for the pig in a poke: They’re going to read what they want to read, believe what they want to believe, and post what they want to post.  Journalism of Affirmation appears to have a hand in the cultural production of ignorance…or is it the other way around…?   

The Choice of a New Generation

The reading this week in the Social Role of the Mass Media class has primarily focused on cybermedia from the journalist’s point of view: ethics, legalities, mobile reporting, effective use of social media, verification, and so on.

But who’s consuming all of this cybermedia?  Of course, we know from weeks past it’s all of those Millennials, a fact highlighted in this piece from the Associated Press.

Independence Examiner (April 13, 1945).  Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum & 
Library.  Independence, Missouri.  Photographed by Stephen Milligan (June 28, 2014).

To maintain credibility, transparency, and all of those other honest, forthright characteristics of a good journalism teacher, I must admit I didn’t some across this story after hours of in-depth research for this class.  No, while I was trying to grade my way out from under a pile of papers in time for this week’s third marking period report card deadline, this article appeared in my e-mail inbox from none other than John, the lawyer who doesn’t watch local news but instead gets his news from Google and phone alerts—he of student bus driving fame (see my Week 6 blog post).

The story even uses Tom Rosenstiel as a source—he of Blur and The Elements of Journalism fame (see just about every week of this class).

The piece details the results of a survey showing most Millennials get their news online, mostly from cybermedia like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and YouTube.  The results also show this method of consumption is trickling up into older generations. And news consumers are using up to three or four cybermedia sites for their news.

Still, though, some of those who gather their news from social media have a use for newspapers and television, but they are growing tired of those talking heads spouting off opinions—bad news for those purveyors of journalism of affirmation.

Possibly another nail in affirmation journalism’s coffin: Well over half those who get their news via cybermedia say they subscribe to multiple viewpoints in their feeds.  If only everyone could or would be this open minded!

We can’t have our cybercake and eat it, too, though—most of those surveyed admit to receiving their news through passive consumption instead of actively seeking it out, attending to the stories that pop up in those feeds.  In teaching a new generation of students news literacy, journalism educators can stress the value of active consumption.

A little bit of icing on that cybercake is that even when respondents encountered news randomly on social media, some conducted further research into the topic of their own volition.  Healthy skepticism!  What better way to educate oneself and make an informed judgment?

And a big dollop of whipped cream on that cake: News consumption and cybermedia engagement are increasing in all age groups studied.  Surely this will lead to a more informed, engaged populace

Perhaps there is hope for this new generation—and for the generations ahead of it.