“Churnalism” Detector

23 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Media Literacy, Psychology

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An interesting web capability called Churnalism was recently introduced in the United States, brought to us by the British Media Standards Trust.  In short, just as plagiarism software operates, the Churnalism site will compare journalism with known press releases and attempt to identify the source of the information. This capability will also allow the user to determine if quotes have been taken out of context. It should be a great way to detect churn and spin while increasing media literacy.

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Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives and the “Digital Lord of the Flies” Effect

26 Tuesday Mar 2013

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As an addendum to my last post, Scot Terban, author of the blog Krypt3ia which often discusses the intersection of information security and media psychology, recently wrote about the topic of digital immigrants and digital natives. But Scot goes a bit further to remark about digital natives, their online actvities and what he has termed the Lord of the Flies effect. Continue reading →

Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives

24 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in Media Literacy, Psychology

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As both digital immigrants and digital natives, we are witnessing an evolution in technology brought about at a much faster rate during our lifetimes due to changes in technologies which build upon on one another.  This is something we typically didn’t see much of in the past because early adoption of new technologies happened in scientific communities, in the military and among the wealthy. Now, capitalism drives early adoption to the lowest level – the consumer – in order to increase profit, which in turn increases the demand for innovation, and so on. iPads, for example, seem to come out at least once a year these days, if not more often. Continue reading →

A Media Literacy Teaching Point

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

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Effective media literacy demands that an individual be aware and cautious about the amount of personal information they post on the internet or maintain on their computers. This information can be easily gathered and used to build a profile that involves personnel activities which can then further be used in predictive analysis for both good and nefarious reasons.

Created by Febelfin (“Fédération belge du secteur financier”)
 

Potter recommends seven strategies to protecting your online privacy:

  1. Search for information about yourself
  2. Correct inaccuracies
  3. Be careful what you post about yourself online
  4. Be skeptical about requests for information
  5. Study privacy policies
  6. Download software to protect your computer from threats to your privacy
  7. Set up your Internet browsers to disallow cookies as a default (Potter, 2013).

(…besides, sugar is bad for you…)  😉

References

Potter, W. J. (2013). Media Literacy. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

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Chris Hedges on Media Psychology

01 Friday Mar 2013

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“We are entranced by electronic hallucinations which peddle fantasy, which most Americans believe.  These systems of propaganda and brainwashing and miscommunication are very, very sophisticated. If we sever ourselves from a print based culture, and we rely on these systems (which many people do already for their understanding of reality) then we are in essence captives.”

–  Chris Hedges, Death of the Liberal Class, Q&A.

Al-Jazeera America – Coming to a Cable Channel Near You, Part Two

16 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Psychology, Public Diplomacy

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Media channel Al Jazeera has an unprecedented chance to increase its psychological impact on Americans, if it doesn’t appear to be just another partisan outlet, but that chance may be floundering. In 2011 Wadah Khanfar, Director General of the Al Jazeera Network, left the channel after having built it up to represent an independent and fairly objective news resource in the Middle East. He was replaced by Qatari royal family member Sheikh Ahmed Bin Jassim Al Thani, an engineer specializing in gas and oil projects, as the royal family owns the channel which has resulted in further internal changes. This article in Germany’s Der Spiegel captures some of those issues and the hemorrhaging of talent while also keeping in mind that Al Jazeera is about to gain a foothold in America through its recent purchase of Current TV (Kühn, Reuter, & Schmitz, 2013).

Al Jazeera's Global Reach

Der Spiegel

Never before has another countries’ attempts at statecraft and influence had such an opportunity to communicate with Americans through media in their own homes. Even Britain’s BBC Network has found that challenging. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave the station a huge plug when she stated that the United States was losing the international information war. Al Jazeera, she said, was “literally changing people’s minds and attitudes” and, like it or hate it, “it is really effective … In fact viewership of Al Jazeera is going up in the United States because it’s real news” (Gornall, 2011).

References

Gornall, J. (2011, June 24). Arab Spring Brings   Al Jazeera to Full Bloom. Retrieved Jan 12, 2013, from The National:   http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/arab-spring-brings-al-jazeera-to-full-bloom

Kühn, A., Reuter, C., & Schmitz, G. P. (2013,   Feb 15). After the Arab Spring: Al-Jazeera Losing Battle for Independence.   Retrieved Feb 16, 2013, from Spiegel Online:   http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/al-jazeera-criticized-for-lack-of-independence-after-arab-spring-a-883343.html#ref=rss

10 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by in Psychology

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An interesting and insightful read which examines a fallacious technique of propaganda known as the straw man. Psychologically, the straw man concept breaks things down to a simplistic level in which context is lost and decisions are relegated to “yes/no” choices, or extremes, which are more difficult to defend. This technique can be refuted by clarifying one’s original position.

P.O.P.'s avatarThe Propaganda Professor

straw man

Once upon a time when I was a teenager and didn’t know any better, I got into a discussion (i.e. argument) with a relative on a topic that he had strong beliefs about. That topic was the hazards posed by certain chemicals used in growing and processing food — a hazard which, he was convinced, was nonexistent, but was merely a fraud concocted by devious scientists, or the government, or some other “them” who couldn’t be trusted. At one point, he said to me, ” if it wasn’t for chemicals, you couldn’t live.” Although I wasn’t even familiar with the term at the time, this was my first real awareness of the straw man tactic, which is the sixth in our series of propaganda techniques.

A straw man is an oversimplified substitute for an actual issue or another person’s actual position on an issue.  Although the term’s origins are unclear…

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Media Psychology and ‘Call of Duty’ Video Game Impact, Part 1

05 Tuesday Feb 2013

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The influence of popular violent video games, such as the Call of Duty series, has penetrated into the global consciousness and culture as an example of the media psychology. Last year Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 grossed $1 billion dollars in sales within 15 days of its release and $500 million dollars in the first 24 hours (LeJacq, 2012). Averaging $60 per game, that’s more than 1.5 million copies sold in 15 days. Its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, sold 8.8 million units in the United States alone in its first month (LeJacq, 2012). Two recent examples seem to point to it becoming a cross-cultural phenomenon. The first example being of an Agence France-Presse (AFP) photo of a French soldier during combat operations sporting a facemask that resembles a character in the game known as “Ghost” to protect himself from dust. Continue reading →

Social Media

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

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“If you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold” – blue_beetle, 2010.

The Manti Te’o Hoax: What the Hell Were Thousands of Media Professionals Thinking?

21 Monday Jan 2013

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What an entertaining ride for the fans! This has to run the full psychological gamut, from reactions of sympathy and admiration for his performance in tribute to his “dead girlfriend” to betrayal, not only his, allegedly by Tuiasosopo, but by the media who didn’t do their job. It’s interesting as well that this “story” continues to hold the fan’s attention. It’s just another soap opera but this time with a sports twist. Standby for Katie Couric’s interview on the 24th.