Rethinking broadcast news

Source: Jahaura Wilson, WordPress At 6pm on any given day on the ABC-affiliate WCVB/Boston, the following thirty minutes have nearly the same structure: within the first fifteen minutes, reporters cover an average of six stories, typically about house fires, car crashes, drug-busts. After a commercial break, the news anchors jump into the lead story, maybe …

Not-so-lonely bowling: civic engagement in the age of social media

Image source: American Leadership Forum "If the United States is to avoid becoming two nations, it must find ways to expand the post-9/11 resurgence of civic and social engagement beyond the ranks of affluent young white people."  So write Thomas Sander and Robert Putnam in their 2011 article "Still Bowling Alone? The Post-9/11 Split.” In …

Towards a More Civically Engaged Classroom

In recent years, the policy that has become most popular in improving civics classes has been requiring all students to pass a U.S. citizenship exam before they can graduate. This standard has been adopted by 17 states, yet it does very little to measure a student’s comprehension of materials. Civic engagement is more than passing …

Psychographic profiling as ‘psychological warfare tool’

Source: Jesse Witt / Fastcompany In 2016, after the data-analysis firm Cambridge Analytica bought tens of millions of Americans’ Facebook data to create pro-Trump targeted advertisements, the now-former CEO Alexander Nix claimed that his company had “an integral part in President-elect Trump’s extraordinary win.” Although Cambridge Analytica is now defunct, other data-analysis and consulting firms …

The problem with “Fair and Balanced” news

Major far-right news outlets are claiming objectivity, even as their stories are proven to be false. Image source: Gary Waters/Ikon Images/Getty Images I recently came across the National Journalism Center student internship program, whose mission is “to train aspiring journalists in the values of responsible, balanced, and accurate reporting.” The list of guest speakers, however, …