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Fake News and The Future of Journalism - Edited
Fake News and The Future of Journalism - Edited
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FAKE NEWS AND THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
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Fake News and the Future of Journalism by Pablo Boczkowski examines the rise of fake
the article, Boczkowski highlights the rise of new information sources such as social media and
the internet and how they have contributed to the broader spread of fake news (Boczkowski,
2016). Ideally, the journalist examines the transformations in the media ecosystem, such as the
addition of platforms such as Facebook and Google. Their opaqueness of content selection
algorithms makes it harder for the public to identify information biases. Boczkowski, as such,
argues that fake news is more likely to increase their penetration of the current informational
The influence of fake news on the current informational ecosystem has made it harder to
separate the truth from the falsified information. In the article, he offers that the new information
infrastructure makes it possible to reach more people at a time. He argues that “Facebook […]
reaches more than 1 billion users daily” (Boczkowski, 2016). Therefore, while fake news has
always existed alongside truthful ones, their reach is even more comprehensive. The specific
influence that is worrisome, however, comes from the difficulty in discerning fake news. Given
that people can now create news content and share them alongside the traditional media, the new
Boczkowski also argues that fake news helps to condition the public and divert them
away from some truths. Ideally, he argues that the diversions might be made for commercial
purposes, control, and distraction from the actual events. While he cautions against an
ambivalent stance on the current informational infrastructure, he offers that a call for policing
against the destabilizing capabilities of the new information transmission media might lead to the
FAKE NEWS AND THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
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unintended consequence of curtailing the emancipatory potential that is contained in the very
media. The algorithmic nature of the current media hides the content selection process from the
public. This makes the public numb to the editorial process and harder to decipher the truth from
the false information (Narwal, 2018). Therefore, fake news is more likely to have a larger impact
on the public as compared to the past, where traditional mass media operated alone.
The three effects that Boczkowski perceives as the most damaging to society are the
issues relating to public ambivalence to the new media types, the crisis in the cultural authority
of knowledge, and the wider permeation of the new media infrastructure. Primarily, he argues
that the ambivalence, where the public might seek policing on the negative impacts of new media
only, might lead to the government's general use of the media to control the types of
communication allowed (Figueira, & Oliveira, 2017). At the same time, the lack of knowledge
on the editorial processes of algorithms on platforms such as Google and Facebook makes it
harder to identify truths from false information. This way, information consumption will include
both aspects of false and true information. This desensitizes the public and leads to a higher rate
Boczkowski appears pessimistic about the future of journalism. He offers that while there
is a widespread outcry for technical solutions and commercial sanctions on sites that notoriously
share false information, such solutions would be short-lived. This is because such platforms can
rebrand and re-open under a different domain. Further, strong restrictions could also affect other
news genres such as satire and parody, necessary for democratic discourse. Therefore, he argues
that journalism would have to evolve along with the changes and compete for space by setting up
Fake news in American society has had a devastating impact. For instance, fake news has
had a role in influencing public policies, voting patterns, and political affiliations. For example,
the current rate of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for vaccination
has led a portion of the population to believe that vaccinations are unnecessary. The rapid spread
of false anti-vaccination information has been made possible by digital media. This way, more
information. The main area of contention is in difficulty presented in discerning the real and false
information sources. Therefore, journalism needs to evolve and adapt digital media strategies
References
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-fscj-writingabouttexts/chapter/fake-news-and-the-
future-of-journalism-by-pablo-boczkowski/
Figueira, Á., & Oliveira, L. (2017). The current state of fake news: challenges and
Narwal, B. (2018, October). Fake news in digital media. In 2018 International Conference on
981). IEEE.