Month: April 2020
Week 7 dis/misinformation and health
This week I was drawn to the recommended viewing of the Netflix series, ‘The Goop Lab’ I’ve heard about this organisation founded by Gwyneth Paltrow. The Goop Lab explores psychedelic’s, energy works and wide array of wellness topics. I only watched the first episode but my initials thoughts were not super positive. It led me to think a lot about how dangerous it can be for people who consume medical information via the internet or become influenced by public figures. It made me question how prevalent misinformation of medical advice online is around celebrities and public figures. For example I tend to often search a lot about skin care on YouTube from ‘influences’, it is so important for people to take advice with caution.
Although I do think that the show creates a space to explore and experiment people to try things to improve their wellness I do think they are extreme and are not fully aware of the consequences of a viewer potentially obtaining this information. Although there is a warning at the beginning of the show I do not feel they provide enough warning of how these are experimental and not necessarily medically approved.
One things I do give the show praise for it how the show creates a safe space to talk about mental issues and wellness for mainly women however in many ways I find they say they are not trying to give medical advice but at the same time they influence viewers. Even though they do go out and provide evidence of the benefits and research conducted by interviewing scientists of experts I still find they are taking advantage of the valuable viewer who may be in desperate need of therapy or assistance.
Even though I understand where the show is coming from in attempting to open up a conversation for women the show is dramatised and normalising treatments that should not be taken lightly.
Source: The Goop Lap. 2020. Los Angeles: Netflix.
Fact Check Assignment 2 By Georgia Bertolino
Fact Check Assignment 2 by Georgia Bertolino
Week 4: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/georgia-bertolino/2020/04/15/week-4-finding-experts/
Week 5: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/georgia-bertolino/2020/04/03/week-5-fake-news-and-new-media/
Week 6: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/georgia-bertolino/2020/04/10/week-6-propaganda-disinformation/
Assignment 2 reflection: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/georgia-bertolino/2020/04/17/assignment-2/
Assignment 2 Reflection & Graphic
Original Fact check: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-06/fact-check-liberal-women-in-parliament/9796976
A2 Graphic
Completing assignment two made me think about how an individual receives information depending on how engaging the form of media, it can affect the way individuals retain information. I really enjoyed putting together this image and having the ability to present claims in a different way that can be more engaging for readers.
Making these graphics opened my eyes to potentially using a different format of fact checked news. It creates a more engaging article and summaries the claim, which could perhaps create more accessibility for readers and social media users. What I would have liked to creative was a graphic that was bright and visually aesthetic. I think for a future draft I would have preferred to add smaller cartoon images that accompanied the text.
From the research conducted, many of the organisations around the world prefer to use the form of an article. Fact checkers such as Fullfact, IFCN or Faktisk use the form of articles, format is clear and creates full contexts and details of the fact checked claim. One organisation that I discovered that uses a close form to graphics and images is African Check. Using the form of ‘Fact sheets’, some of their articles are presented in a simplified and legible version. What was interesting about the form of a fact-sheet was similar to the graphics they are simplified and formed in a way to make the story or claim easier to read. They presented the story in a summary form rather than in depth detail. I find for both graphics and fact-sheets for smaller stories that require less detail are easier for readers to digest the content.
I tried to incorporate details of the article that were simplified but easy enough to read, when creating graphics it’s important to include versatile elements to the poster to make it interesting such as, having the fonts in different sizes to highlight key points of information.
The graphics created, would appeal in wide range of environments like university campuses as well as social media platforms. The poster would work best on Facebook for example, instead of ABC fact check sharing a link to the article they could potentially use the info-graphic as a teaser to what the article is about and along the way inform readers with accurate information.
Using the form of posters, images or graphics to present information in way that is engaging could potentially aid in decreasing the spread of misinformation. Definitely not its entirety but most certainly can assist to ensure people have accurate information. This may not be quickly form to communicate information quickly but defiantly is more appealing for readers.
Overall, this assignment has opened my eyes to creating more accessible ways to reading fact checked claims or stories. Throughout the creative process I have been able to summaries claims that are summarised and made easy to read. Completing this assignment has allowed me to think of alternatives to reading accurate information in a more engaging way.
References
ABC News. 2020. Fact Check: Is The Level Of Liberal Women In Parliament Lower Now Than It Was In 1996?. [online] Available at: <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-06/fact-check-liberal-women-in-parliament/9796976> [Accessed 15 April 2020].
Africa Check. 2020. Africa Check | Sorting Fact From Fiction. [online] Available at: <https://africacheck.org/> [Accessed 15 April 2020].
Faktisk. 2020. Faktisk. [online] Available at: <https://www.faktisk.no/> [Accessed 15 April 2020].
Full Fact. 2020. Full Fact – Full Fact Is The UK’s Independent Fact Checking Organisation. [online] Available at: <https://fullfact.org/> [Accessed 15 April 2020].
Poynter. 2020. International Fact-Checking Network – Poynter. [online] Available at: <https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/> [Accessed 15 April 2020].
Week 4 Finding Experts
This week researching and looking at political interviews with politicians, I came across this video of Tony Abbott from 2015 when his leadership was in jeopardy as Party members were questioning his leadership. A video from the ABC with their weekly program 7:30 report Leigh Sales journalist, attempts to discuss the future of his leadership of the party.
Common occurrences of political interviews is pressing the politicians about their politics and past statements they may have made. Other common characteristic of an interview is the divergence of questions and repetition.
One of the many elements of an interview with a politician I noticed and is common knowledge is how frequent the divergence of direct questions occurred with Tony when asked about his leadership to the Liberal party and weather he was in jeopardy one example occurred when Sales asks “… a significant block of your party has lost confidence in your leadership..(8.28)” Abbott goes on to explain how “everyday the confidence and trust grows” he goes on to discussing the many good things that have happened under his leadership. The point being is Sales calls to his actions of previous statements in order to find clarity in his statements. In many ways this is a form fact checking to a certain extent. Journalists interviewing politicians to figure out exactly what politicians are trying to say. By doing this is assists voters to find information and allow voters to make informed decisions. At the time of the interview many hands were being raised about the faith and trust of the Liberal party and having these types of interviews it assists audiences to understand the views and values of the politicians.
Finally, political interviews are a useful way of getting a one on one interview with politicians and asking the detailed questions. This is vital to have access to politicians to ask them the questions of Australian citizens as well as finding clarity of their statements being made.
Sources:
ABC, 2020. Exclusive: Leigh Sales Interviews PM Tony Abbott On 7.30. [image] Available at: <https://youtu.be/AUXxfTuX2oA> [Accessed 27 March 2020].
Week 6 Propaganda & Disinformation
This blog post focuses on the weeks reading
Disinformation and the media: the case of Russia and Ukraine
This week’s reading really interested me, although I do not know a lot about the conflict between Russia and The Ukraine this article intrigued me to know about how social media and media can dramatically affect the politics in a country. There some interesting quotes that caught my attention, one important one was at the beginning of the article which stated “the way media channels remain relevant is by crafting messages that fit the expectations and ideologies of their target audiences.”(p.1032) Thinking about the content that a broadcaster chooses to air, the statement is worded to have readers think that a lot of Ukraine’s media had a strong Russian influence and they prefer capitalising on audiences fear of mistrust by broadcasting authorities which have a strong influence through politics. Along with this is makes me think about the influence social media had on society within Ukraine and how the internet gave power to the people. However, with this it makes me think with all this power citizens by default are given the power to misinform other users of social media as they do not have a true accurate source of information. There was a quote that linked to this train of thinking but focused on the political parties and how the interest can benefit their desire to misinform citizens. “The point is not that the Internet plays no role in exposing wrongdoing and raising awareness, but that in spite of that, authorities have figured out how to use it to their advantage,” (p.1032) in my personal opinion this comes across as political parties use the internet to benefit their ruling of ideologies whether they be true or not is irrelevant as long as they are not called to action or damage their profile that they become powerful. Overall, this article points out that social media cannot always take the entire blame for the spread of fake news simply because citizens who have been misinformed share their opinions with other users which then becomes the way people accumulate their own news.
Source:
Mejias, U. and Vokuev, N., 2017. Disinformation and the media: the case of Russia and Ukraine. Media, Culture & Society, 39(7), pp.1027-1042.
Week 5 Fake News and New Media
The reading this week delved into the ideas behind fake news and solutions for the spread of fake news on social media. From my personal opinions Bakir and McStay have some ideas I think that would be worthwhile to help prevent the spread of fake news. I found it interesting that much of the fake news that was created in 2016 when the rise of fake news began was due to the president election in America. What fascinated me was, the writers mentioned that much of the fake news created in 2016 was not based in American but rather Macedonia with computer science students attempting to make a profit from clicks and people reading fake news articles. This to me intrigue me, as it made me think about how easily it can be for people to create something through social media and then have such an extraordinary effect on social media users. The article mentioned how fake news can “manipulate public sentiment”.
Another point raised about the spread of fake news a personal thought I had about fake news is that the reason why so much fake news is spread, is due to two important aspects. One is that many of the stories created are outrageous and so over the top that people are so captured by a title that they click and share and then becomes this vicious cycle. Many of the stories are so extreme it becomes a matter of playing with people’s emotions, the stories effect readers because it either a line with their political views or they are challenge their beliefs.
The several suggested solutions to preventing the spread of fake news were very thoughtful however, the one that I agreed to be the most logical was the third-party verification. People are more likely to read something that a reliable source has checked and verified rather than using a label, people would scroll pass and may not bother to have a second look. Using a widget created by Duke University and JigSaw is a practical way of identifying fact checked article.
From the rise of fake news, it has created more work for journalist to fight for information that is correct outsource ways to ensure readers are being distributed correct facts. In a world that relies so heavily on facts and strategies it so evermore important that citizens are informed correctly about their news and ensure they know what is happening in the world around them.
Source: Bakir, V. and McStay, A., 2017. Fake News and The Economy of Emotions. Digital Journalism, 6(2), pp.154-175.