Mainstream Media

Fake news is a global concern says BBC survey

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Communication, Mainstream Media, Online Media, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Trends, Web

To many people, the phenomenon known as fake news is something that’s moved beyond just a news item itself and into the realm of trust. With so much reporting and commentary about fake news, it’s no surprise that we’re placing greater importance on verifying the truthfulness of what we read, listen to and watch that is called ‘news.’ Whether it’s online or via the traditional mainstream media, or from companies, governments and others, we want to feel assured that what we encounter as news is real and not fake or propaganda. Take the image above, a snapshot from the news I saw earlier today in the BBC News app on my Android tablet. To me, some of the news items […]

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Add your views on fake news to SNCR research survey

Neville Hobson 1 Comment Advertising, Business, Communication, Mainstream Media, Marketing, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media, Society, Technology, Trends, Web

Marketers, do you know where your ads are running? In early August, the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) of The Conference Board announced a new research initiative to tackle the problem of fake news, and investigate how to combat it. SNCR Advisory Board member Jeff Pundyk leads the SNCR Fellows research team (of which I am a member). Our project begins with an important first step – benchmarking marketers’ awareness, attitudes and intended actions as advertising technology and fake news collide. If you have responsibility for or are involved in managing advertising, paid content marketing, paid social, native and programmatic advertising, please take our short survey (5-7 minutes long). Your answers will be anonymous and we’ll use them in […]

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SDF podcast 9: Either back to the future or fast forward to a new normal

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Business, Communication, Mainstream Media, Marketing, Politics, Public Relations, Small Data Forum, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Technology, Trends, Web
Thought / via Pixabay CC0

In the latest episode 9 of The Small Data Forum podcast, hosted by Thomas Stoeckle in conversation with regulars Sam Knowles and me, we enjoyed a wide-ranging, lively conversation over the course of 45 minutes on topics as diverse as the 2017 general election campaign (what went wrong for Theresa May and the Conservatives with a clear focus on the politics) and the latest global communications report from the Annenberg School of Communications (we focused especially on PR and AVE). Writer of the show notes for this episode is Sam: News is neither a fixed nor a finite entity. There are some periods in history when it feels like there’s just more happening than at others. I’m not talking about […]

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How to play your part in fighting fake news

Neville Hobson 2 Comments Communication, Mainstream Media, Online Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Software, Technology, Trends, Web
Facebook News Feed

One of the scourges of modern connected times is the rise of so-called fake news, a phenomenon that’s invasive and pervasive and a driver of distrust about what you read, see and hear online as well as fear, uncertainty and doubt about the sources that publish it. And not only such reactions upon immediate discovery, but also the unwitting spread of fake news by those who publish, talk about or share such content without knowing it’s false. It’s not new by any means – in the pre-internet days, it was called propaganda. Today, though, with the vast connectedness with others we enjoy via the global internet, it is so easy to amplify falsehoods, wittingly or unwittingly, with a quick retweet […]

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Addressing privacy and fake news on the web: Tim Berners-Lee’s call to action

Neville Hobson 1 Comment Business, Communication, Ethics, Innovation, Mainstream Media, Marketing, Online Media, Politics, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Technology, Trends, Web
Tim Berners-Lee

The recent rise and spread of so-called fake news is a topic that’s generating a great deal of opinion on what to do about it. I’ve weighed in, too, in a recent episode of the Small Data Forum podcast. Now, on the 28th anniversary of the founding of the World Wide Web, its creator Tim Berners-Lee offers compelling perspectives on this contemporary phenomenon, outlining three challenges for the web and, as he puts it, what we must do to ensure it fulfils his vision of an equalizing platform that benefits all of humanity: We’ve lost control of our personal data. The current business model for many websites offers free content in exchange for personal data. Many of us agree to this but […]

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