EOTO Reacts- Mediasphere

     One of the groups taught our class about different elements of the mediasphere. The first that was discussed, but necessary to note, is what an MSM really is. It stands for mainstream media, which is a type of journalism that is being mass published to the public. The benefits of having such an accessible outlet give us access to current news updates that can reach a global audience. Mainstream media also provides us with news on political events but is usually manipulated and unreliable information, in which can not be trusted. We need to be involved in our government, but with biased reports trying to divert their audience during the presidential elections, we can not base our beliefs off of the biased news online. 

    Different from mainstream media, alternative media creates its own content and then distributes it themselves. Companies falling under this branch tend to target a very specific audience, with unique styles to attract their specific consumers. As alternative media is a lot less popular, people consider information from their "conspiracy theories". People feel since they do not have a large audience following their statements, that they can not be a reliable source for them, which can sometimes be the opposite case. 

    In the media field, people have strong opinions and belief systems and interact with people of similar interests. An echo chamber is a group of people that share all the same ideas and only listen to the people among them. These kinds of people tend to be more closed-minded, but since they are so hyper-focused on one set of beliefs, they usually have a lot of evidence to back it up. Since there is only one belief, though, the group only sees from one perspective, which disables them from exploring life around them for what it really is. 

The Age of AI

The youtube documentary, The Age of AI digs into the genuine concern for our future with artificial intelligence. This powerful technology serves us with outstanding data that we humans could not fully comprehend without it.  AI is a set of tools to help you optimize an objective function, sometimes for selfish reasons. The companies owning the AI technology ultimately really only care about how to make money off of the user most effectively. 

The world will get adapted to u before you have gotten adapted to these new 

Technologies. It is out of our hands now. We are the users of social media and it's actually using us. Google is searching for information about us without our consent, which is becoming scary. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a book written by Shoshana Zuboff which claims private human experiences are a free source of raw material fabricated into predictions of human behavior. As other businesses have found out about this new way of gathering data so easily, they have adopted it as well. They want to know what we did, what we are doing right now, and what we will do later, to gather as much data as possible. They want to gather as much information about us so that they can predict our behavior. They do this so they know what ad we would click on what we would buy and what we would search. They can find out if we are happy, sad, or sick and be able to adjust what to sell me or even manipulate me during an election, due to their constant surveillance.

 

Google's new business models for predicting users' future were picked up by other companies, like Facebook. They realize there is so much more data they don’t have and go to buy all the data.  They do this because behavioral prediction is taking uncertainty out of life. Until now, we gave technology a place in our life that made everything easier and better and developed trust with it. We as users are allowing them to take this information from us, because if we don’t want them watching, then we shouldn’t use it. As AI is pushing us towards a new age of prosperity, we still need to be aware of the information that is being stolen from us without our direct consent. 

New Deserts: Through the Lens of the Diffusion Theory

     The diffusion of innovations is the theory explaining how and why new ideas spread and mature the way they do. Newspapers and local news outlets have shaped our society today, but with those companies on the decline, I would like to look into the diffusion of local reporting. People began getting their news from their local papers and watching the local news even on TV. Now, since there is so much information at our fingertips on the internet, we don't need to go through the process of going out and getting a paper copy. It made it easier and faster to access reports, but it did bring in untrustworthy sources and dangerous surveillance operations that most people disregard. 

We never had to worry about these issues here when we were dealing with paper. These issues do push people away, mostly older people who only used paper their entire life. These older people who are comfortably accustomed to classic ways and have no interest are considered the laggers. On the other side, those who have used it religiously and have since the beginning are early adopters. 

Diffusion of Innovations 

The critical mass phase for all local news companies was in the 1990s when around 85% of the world had easy access to local news outlets. After its peak, in around 2004, the numbers have dropped tremendously and have been constantly at a concerning rate. The shift from paper to online caused this decline, causing so many news deserts to pop up all over the country. If I were to guess, I would say now in 2022, the internet is in its saturation phase, as there is a literal never-ending amount of sources we can get information from. 
 
The intent has had its positive and negative effects on this world. Yes, we can communicate with anon in the world whether we want with the click of a button. With such freedom comes a large responsibility to use to intent in a smart and safe manner. A lot of information out there is biased or false, which means each person has to be cautious of what they do and how they listen to. 

Ted Talks- Privacy

    The Internet is a place where anyone, anywhere, at any time could access a universal search engine.  As the internet becomes more and more popular, more problems are arising. People can be anonymous, and may not always have the best intentions. Growing up with the internet, cyber safety has been a huge element in my life, and promoting proper online safety protocols is important, as there are many dangerous people out there.

    Christopher Soghoian discussed the importance of the spread of secure online usage in his Ted Talk on How to Avoid Surveillance... with your phone in your pocket. He went into the deceptive decisions that technology companies are making and how they can personally affect each and every one of us, Servalance used to be done manually before the internet was created. 

Technology companies mended surveillance features into the very core of their networks which means the networks we go through on a daily, had created their product to solely be wired for surveillance. Anything you do on your phone can be tapped into through telephone companies. so anyone who knows how to access that can access all of your information. Sometimes no matter how safe you try to be, though, many bad things can still go wrong due to the amount of power the internet holds now. 

    Another TED Talk spoken by Darieth Chisolm went into depth on her own personal situation with revenge porn and the dangers of online harassment. Our cyber civil rights are at stake at this point due to how easily dangerous people can utilize them. Some people can't reach you in person and can't physically hurt you, so they will turn to a powerful streaming outlet such as the internet, and attack you there. With no consent and little she could do, Darieth fought all she could to get her explicit photos taken down. Her battle was the first international case under the news that goes against the DMCA. 

 The DMCA (digital millennium copyright act) is a law that regulates digital material and content protection for both the Copywrite owner and the consumer. With all the decisions and dangers on the internet, I am glad to see people spreading awareness of these issues. Right now, I am very concerned about the way our society is taking advantage of these tools. Yes, we have to use them, but we need to be aware of cyber security and safe online practices. 

EOTO- News Deserts

     When was the last time you, personally, read the local newspaper? What about your parents? I bet if it were 10-20 years ago, most of you would be thinking very recently.  New York Times describes a news desert as communities lacking a news source that provides meaningful and trustworthy local reporting on health, government, and the environment. With so many opinions in his world, who do we trust? This is where the crisis begins, and where information can be misconstrued for the worse. 

News Deserts in the U.S

Online sources for information started in the early 2000s, which shifted people from looking at their daily newspapers to keeping up with the mainstream channels being broadcasted all over the country on the TV, the web, or social media. Local channels were not making enough money due to the decrease in viewers, which put a lot of companies out of business, as their frequent viewers and readers strayed elsewhere.

 Based on the diffusion of innovation, I can assume the critical mass phase for local news was right before 2004 when around 85% of the world had easy access to local news outlets. It waS at its peak, but the shift from paper to online became increasingly prevalent. 2004 comes around and people are ditching their local community sources for larger production streams. About 70% of newspapers have gone out of business, since 2004.  A more recent study done in 2018 revealed that well over 1300 communities have lost local coverage in the US., leaving many communities in isolation. 

Diffusion of Innovations 

A video uploaded on youtube explains what a new desert is and the importance of informing people on this current, growing issue. It gives a quick rundown on how rural and urban cities around the nation have to stay cautious online and make sure we engage with the right sources. While we have been so busy with online sources, the local, unbiased sources are dying out each day. 

A recent study revealed that two or more local coverings are constantly disappearing every week, skyrocketing the number more and more each month. The art of journalism is being neglected by our communities, which is really hurting us socially. The lack of reliable news sources is leading to a division between uneducated and educated people. We have to spread awareness of new deserts to be able to combat its percussions. Increasing everyone's knowledge is the only way we can slow down the number of communities that lack sufficient news, and we can actively raise awareness of this nationwide crisis.

A Newspaper Box 

     In this day and age when a lot of broadcasted information is false, it is easy for people to get a false sense of what is really happening in the world. Today, local news is in its saturation phase, as there is an influx of news sources out there, especially on the internet that covers almost any topic you could think of. The internet homes a majority of biased information, spreading all kinds of fake news. If this trend continues, then the critical journalism that we have appreciated and admired for so long will diminish completely.