12 Nov 2018 Integrity in news coverage
The world’s leading newspapers are struggling to maintain their place as voices of conscience in society when via social media everyone is free to express alternative views and opinions....
05 Nov 2018 When media, politics and sexual violence collide
How media report on sexual violence when political interests are at play is a litmus test for how serious they are about professional ethics.
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29 Oct 2018 ‘Fake news’ is undermining Brazilian rights
During Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964-85), the people’s ability to exercise some of their most fundamental human rights was severely curtailed. In addition to engaging in torture, extrajudicial killings, and repression against opposition groups, the successive military governments that governed Brazil during this period relentlessly restricted...
22 Oct 2018 Beware propaganda from the wireless industry
There has always been a suspicion that radio waves do more harm than good. With the arrival of the Internet of Things – wireless computing devices embedded in such everyday objects as fridges, washing machines and coffee makers – the scenario easily slips into one...
15 Oct 2018 Media bread and circuses
On 7 September 2018, former President Obama delivered a pointed critique of the Trump presidency. Speaking to students at the University of Illinois, he urged political awareness and action, saying:
...08 Oct 2018 Genocide in the news: On media elitism and racism
Why do some genocides make the news and others hardly? Let me rephrase: Why do international news media give grossly disproportionate attention to different yet similarly grave ‘deliberate and systematic destructions of a racial, political, or cultural group’ (Miriam-Webster definition)? ...
01 Oct 2018 When did you last take a break from social media?
According to a 2018 research report from the Pew Research Centre on trends in social media use in the United States, 74% of Facebook users in that country visited the platform at least once a day, and 51% did so several times a day. ...
24 Sep 2018 Protecting privacy in a world of digital communications
“New technologies will enable high levels of social control at a reasonable cost. Governments will be able to selectively censor topics and behaviors to allow information for economically productive activities to flow freely, while curbing political discussions that might damage the regime.China’s so-called Great Firewall...