DISCUSSION #3
WELCOME to the discussion for WEEK 3. Please respond in complete sentences for each
question, unless directed to do otherwise, demonstrating in your reply that you have read
the material in order to receive full credit.
Topic 1: Fake News
This week, you watched Christiane Amanpour & Chris Anderson How to Seek Truth in the
Era of Fake News (TED Talk video):
https://www.ted.com/talks/christiane_amanpour_how_to_seek_truth_in_the_era_of_fake_n
ews
Discussion:
Amanpour mentioned that she wished that the proliferation of platforms upon which we get
our information meant that there was a proliferation of truth and transparency and depth
and accuracy.
Questions
Explain at least two ways fake news could affect the results of future elections or may have
affected the recent presidential election?
What are three ways you can verify articles and images to avoid being fooled by fake news?
What can companies like Facebook and Snapchat do to stop users from spreading fake
news? What can we, as consumers, do? What do you think would work, especially with
younger users?
Topic 2: The Decline of the Newspaper Industry
This week you read “Current Popular Trends in the Newspaper Industry” by Jack Lule
(Also Attached Below)
https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/mass-communication-media-and-culture/s0704-current-popular-trends-in-the-.html
Discussion:
It is clear that the newspaper industry has undergone major changes. Over the next several
years, the industry will likely continue to experience a complete upheaval brought on by
dwindling readership and major shifts in how individuals consume news. As newspapers
scramble to find their footing in an ever-changing business, readers adapt and seek out
trustworthy information in new ways.
Question #1:
Pick a recent major national event that interests you. Then, select two papers of the six
discussed in the reading and explore the differences in how those newspapers reported on
the story. How does the newspaper’s audience affect the way in which a story is presented?
Minimum Topic Response: Word Count = 70 (per topic). Your response is required to be AT
LEAST 70 WORDS long. If your reply for this question is less than 70 words, you will lose
points. You can use Microsoft Word to count the words in your response to make sure you
have met the requirement.
NOTE 1: Please make sure you answer EACH item and LABEL each item (#1, #2, #3, etc) so
that I can easily check that each item has been answered.
4.4 Current Popular Trends in the Newspaper
Industry
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1 Identify newspapers with high circulations.
2 Describe the decline of the newspaper industry.
Popular media such as television and the Internet have forever changed the newspaper
industry. To fully understand the impact that current technology is having on the
newspaper industry, it is necessary to first examine the current state of the industry.
Major Publications in the U.S. Newspaper Industry
Although numerous papers exist in the United States, a few major publications dominate
circulation and, thus, exert great influence on the newspaper industry. Each of these
newspapers has its own unique journalistic and editorial style, relying on different topics
and techniques to appeal to its readership.
USA Today
USA Today currently tops the popularity chart with a daily circulation of 2,281,831.“Top
10 US Newspapers by Circulation,” Newspapers.com,
http://www.newspapers.com/top10.html. This national paper’s easy-to-read content
and visually focused layout contribute to its high readership numbers. Although the
paper does not formally publish on weekends, it does have a partner paper titled USA
Weekend. USA Today consists of four sections: news, money, sports, and life; for the
ease of its readers, the newspaper color-codes each section. Owned by the Gannett
Company, the paper caters to its audience by opting for ease of comprehension over
complexity.
The Wall Street Journal
Established in the late 1800s, The Wall Street Journal closely trails USA Today, with a
circulation of 2,070,498.“Top 10 US Newspapers by Circulation,” Newspapers.com,
http://www.newspapers.com/top10.html. In fact, USA Today and The Wall Street
Journal have competed for the top circulation spot for many years. An international
paper that focuses on business and financial news, The Wall Street Journal primarily
uses written narration with few images. Recent changes to its layout, such as adding
advertising on the front page and minimizing the size of the paper slightly to save on
printing costs, have not dramatically shifted this long-standing focus. The paper runs
between 50 and 96 pages per issue and gives its readers up-to-date information on the
economy, business, and national and international financial news.
The New York Times
The New York Times is another major publication, with circulation at 1,121,623.“Top 10
US Newspapers by Circulation,” Newspapers.com,
http://www.newspapers.com/top10.html. Founded in 1851, the New York City–based
paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which also publishes several smaller
regional papers. The flagship paper contains three sections: news, opinion, and features.
Although its articles tend to be narrative-driven, the paper does include images for many
of its articles, creating a balance between the wordier layout of The Wall Street Journal
and the highly visual USA Today. The New York Times publishes international stories
along with more local stories in sections such as Arts, Theater, and Metro. The paper has
also successfully established itself on the Internet, becoming one of the most popular
online papers today.
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times—currently the only West Coast paper to crack the top 10
circulation list—has also contributed much to the newspaper industry. First published in
1881, the California-based paper has a distribution of 907,977.“Top 10 US Newspapers
by Circulation,” Newspapers.com, http://www.newspapers.com/top10.html. Perhaps the
most unique feature of the paper is its Column One, which focuses on sometimes-bizarre
stories meant to engage readers. Known for its investigative journalistic approach, the
Los Angeles Times demands that its journalists “provide a rich, nuanced account” of the
issues they cover.Los Angeles Times, “L.A. Times Ethics Guidelines,” Readers’
Representative Journal (blog), http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/readers/2007/07/losangeles-tim.html. By 2010, the paper had won 39 Pulitzer Prizes, including 5 gold
medals for public service.Los Angeles Times, “Times’ Pulitzer Prizes,”
http://www.latimes.com/about/mediagroup/latimes/la-mediagrouppulitzers,0,1929905.htmlstory.
The Washington Post
First published in 1877, The Washington Post is Washington, DC’s oldest and largest
paper, with a daily circulation of 709,997.“Top 10 US Newspapers by Circulation,”
Newspapers.com, http://www.newspapers.com/top10.html. According to its editors, the
paper aims to be “fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public
men.”Washington Post, “General Information: Post Principles,”
https://nie.washpost.com/gen_info/principles/index.shtml In this vein, The
Washington Post has developed a strong investigative journalism style, perhaps most
exemplified by its prominent investigation of the Watergate Scandal.
The paper also holds the principle of printing articles fit “for the young as well as the
old.”Washington Post, “General Information: Post Principles,”
https://nie.washpost.com/gen_info/principles/index.shtml In 2003, The Washington
Post launched a new section called the Sunday Source which targets the 18- to 34-yearold age group in an attempt to increase readership among younger audiences. This
weekend supplement section focused on entertainment and lifestyle issues, like style,
food, and fashion. Although it ceased publication in 2008, some of its regular features
migrated to the regular paper. Like the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post holds
numerous Pulitzer Prizes for journalism.
Chicago Tribune
One other major publication with a significant impact on the newspaper industry is the
Chicago Tribune, wielding a circulation of 643,086.“Top 10 US Newspapers by
Circulation,” Newspapers.com, http://www.newspapers.com/top10.html. First
established in 1847, the paper is often remembered for famously miscalling the 1948
presidential election with the headline of “Dewey Defeats Truman.”
Figure 4.10
The Chicago Tribune’s inaccurate declaration of the results of the tight 1948
presidential election has become one of the most famous headlines of all time.
Despite this error, the Chicago Tribune has become known for its watchdog journalism,
including a specific watchdog section for issues facing Chicago, like pollution, politics,
and more. It proudly proclaims its commitment “to standing up for your interests and
serving as your watchdog in the corridors of power.”Chicago Tribune, “On Guard for
Chicago,” http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-on-guard-forchicago,0,3834517.htmlpage.
Declining Readership and Decreasing Revenues
Despite major newspapers’ large circulations, newspapers as a whole are experiencing a
dramatic decline in both subscribers and overall readership. For example, on February
27, 2009, Denver’s Rocky Mountain News published its final issue after nearly 150 years
in print. The front-page article “Goodbye, Colorado” reflected on the paper’s longstanding history with the Denver community, observing that “It is with great sadness
that we say goodbye to you today. Our time chronicling the life of Denver and Colorado,
the nation and the world, is over.”Rocky Mountain News, “Goodbye, Colorado,”
February 7, 2009, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/27/goodbyecolorado/.
Readership Decline
The story of Rocky Mountain News is neither unique nor entirely unexpected. For nearly
a half-century, predictions of the disappearance of print newspapers have been an
ongoing refrain. The fear of losing print media began in the 1940s with the arrival of the
radio and television. Indeed, the number of daily papers has steadily decreased since the
1940s; in 1990, the number of U.S. dailies was just 1,611. By 2008, that number had
further shrunk to 1,408.Newspaper Association of American, “Total Paid Circulation,”
http://www.naa.org/TrendsandNumbers/Total-Paid-Circulation.aspx. But the numbers
are not as clear-cut as they appear. As one report observed, “The root problems go back
to the late 1940s, when the percentage of Americans reading newspapers began to drop.
But for years the U.S. population was growing so much that circulation kept rising and
then, after 1970s, remained stable.”Project for Excellence in Journalism, “Newspapers:
Audience” in The State of the News Media 2004,
http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2004/narrative_newspapers_audience.asp?cat=3&me
dia=2. During the 1970s when circulation stopped rising, more women were entering the
workforce. By the 1990s when “circulation began to decline in absolute numbers,” the
number of women in the workforce was higher than had ever been previously
experienced.Project for Excellence in Journalism, “Newspapers: Audience” in The State
of the News Media 2004,
http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2004/narrative_newspapers_audience.asp?cat=3&me
dia=2. With women at work, there were fewer people at home with leisure time for
reading daily papers for their news. This, combined with television journalism’s rising
popularity and the emergence of the Internet, meant a significant decrease in newspaper
circulation. With newer, more immediate ways to get news, the disconnect between
newspapers and consumers deepened.
Compounding the problem is newspapers’ continuing struggle to attract younger
readers. Many of these young readers simply did not grow up in households that
subscribed to daily papers and so they do not turn to newspapers for information.
However, the problem seems to be more complex “than fewer people developing the
newspaper habit. People who used to read every day now read less often. Some people
who used to read a newspaper have stopped altogether.”Project for Excellence in
Journalism, “Newspapers: Audience” in The State of the News Media 2004,
http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2004/narrative_newspapers_audience.asp?cat=3&me
dia=2.
Yet the most significant challenge to newspapers is certainly the Internet. As print
readership declines, online readership has grown; fast, free access to breaking
information contributes to the growing appeal of online news. Despite the increase in
online news readers, that growth has not offset the drop in print readership. In 2008, the
Pew Research Center conducted a news media consumption survey in which only
39 percent of participants claimed to having read a newspaper (either print or online)
the day before, showing a drop from 43 percent in 2006. Meanwhile, readership of print
newspapers fell from 34 percent to 25 percent in that time period.Emily Dilling, “Study:
Newspaper Readership Down, Despite Online Increase,” Shaping the Future of the
Newspaper (blog), March 3, 2009,
http://www.sfnblog.com/circulation_and_readership/2009/03/study_newspaper_read
ership_down_despite.php.
The study also observed that younger generations are primarily responsible for this shift
to online reading. “The changes in reader habits seem to be similar amongst both
Generation X and Y demographics, where marked increases in consulting online news
sources were observed.”Emily Dilling, “Study: Newspaper Readership Down, Despite
Online Increase,” Shaping the Future of the Newspaper (blog), March 3, 2009,
http://www.sfnblog.com/circulation_and_readership/2009/03/study_newspaper_read
ership_down_despite.php. Baby boomers and older generations do, for the most part,
still rely on printed newspapers for information. Perhaps this distinction between
generations is not surprising. Younger readers grew up with the Internet and have
developed different expectations about the speed, nature, and cost of information than
have older generations. However, this trend suggests that online readership along with
the general decline of news readers may make printed newspapers all but obsolete in the
near future.
Joint Operating Agreements
As readership began to decline in the 1970s and newspapers began experiencing greater
competition within individual cities, Congress issued the Newspaper Preservation
Act authorizing the structure of joint operating agreements (JOAs). The
implementation of JOAs means that two newspapers could “share the cost of business,
advertising, and circulation operations,” which helped newspapers stay afloat in the face
of an ever-shrinking readership.David Milstead, “Newspaper Joint Operating
Agreements Are Fading,” Rocky Mountain News, January 22, 2009,
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/22/newspaper-joas-fading/. The
Newspaper Preservation Act also ensured that two competing papers could keep their
distinct news divisions but merge their business divisions.
At its peak, 28 newspaper JOAs existed across the United States, but as the industry
declines at an increasingly rapid rate, JOAs are beginning to fail. With today’s shrinking
pool of readers, two newspapers simply cannot effectively function in one community. In
2009, only nine JOAs continued operations, largely because JOAs “don’t eliminate the
basic problem of one newspaper gaining the upper hand in circulation and, hence,
advertising revenue.”David Milstead, “Newspaper Joint Operating Agreements Are
Fading,” Rocky Mountain News, January 22, 2009,
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/22/newspaper-joas-fading/.
With advertising playing a key role in newspapers’ financial survival, revenue loss is a
critical blow. Additionally, “in recent years, of course, the Internet has thrown an even
more dramatic wrench into the equation. Classified advertising has migrated to Internet
sites like craigslist.org while traditional retail advertisers … can advertise via their own
websites.”David Milstead, “Newspaper Joint Operating Agreements Are Fading,” Rocky
Mountain News, January 22, 2009,
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/22/newspaper-joas-fading/. As
more advertisers move away from the newspaper industry, more JOAs will likely
crumble. The destruction of JOAs will, in turn, result in the loss of more newspapers.
Newspaper Chains
As newspapers diminish in number and as newspaper owners find themselves in
financial trouble, a dramatic increase in the consolidation of newspaper ownership has
taken place. Today, many large companies own several papers across the country, buying
independently owned papers to help them stay afloat. The change has been occurring for
some time; in fact, “since 1975, more than two-thirds of independently owned
newspapers … have disappeared.”Free Press, “Media Consolidation,”
http://www.freepress.net/policy/ownership/consolidation. However, since 2000,
newspaper consolidation has increased markedly as more papers are turning over
control to larger companies.
In 2002, the 22 largest newspaper chains owned 39 percent of all the newspapers in the
country (562 papers). Yet those papers represent 70 percent of daily circulation and 73
percent of Sunday. And their influence appears to be growing. These circulation
percentages are a full percentage point higher than 2001.Project for Excellence in
Journalism, “Newspapers: Ownership” in The State of the News Media 2004,
http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2004/narrative_newspapers_ownership.asp?cat=5&m
edia=2.
Among the 22 companies that own the largest percentage of the papers, four chains
stand out: Gannett, the Tribune Company, the New York Times Company, and the
McClatchy Company. Not only do these companies each own several papers across the
country, but they also enjoy a higher-than-normal profit margin relative to smaller
chains.
Recent Ownership Trends
In addition to consolidation, the decline of print newspapers has brought about several
changes in ownership as companies attempt to increase their revenue. In 2007, media
mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation purchased The Wall Street Journal with an
unsolicited $5 billion bid, promising to “pour money into the Journal and its website
and use his satellite television networks in Europe and Asia to spread Journal content
the world over.”Frank Ahrens, “Murdoch Seizes Wall St. Journal in $5 Billion Coup,”
Washington Post, August 1, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/07/31/AR2007073100896.html. Murdoch has used the
buyout to move the paper into the technological world, asking readers and newspapers to
embrace change. In 2009, he published an article in The Wall Street Journal assuring
his readers that “the future of journalism is more promising than ever—limited only by
editors and producers unwilling to fight for their readers and viewers, or government
using its heavy hand either to overregulate or subsidize us.”Rupert Murdoch,
“Journalism and Freedom,” Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2009,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107104574570191223415268.html
. Murdoch believes that the hope of journalism lies in embracing the changing world and
how its inhabitants receive news. Time will tell if he is correct.
Despite changes in power, the consolidation trend is leveling off. Even large chains must
cut costs to avoid shuttering papers entirely. In January 2009, the newspaper industry
experienced 2,252 layoffs; in total, the U.S. newspaper industry lost 15,114 jobs that
year.Rupert Murdoch, “Journalism and Freedom,” Wall Street Journal, December 8,
2009,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107104574570191223415268.html
. With the dual challenges of layoffs and decreasing readership, some in the journalism
industry are beginning to explore other options for ownership, such as nonprofit
ownership. As one article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy puts it, “[i]t may be time for a
more radical reinvention of the daily newspaper. The answer for some newspapers may
be to adopt a nonprofit ownership structure that will enable them to seek philanthropic
contributions and benefit from tax exemptions.”Vince Stehle, “It’s Time for Newspapers
to Become Nonprofit Organizations,” Chronicle of Philanthropy, March 12, 2009,
http://gfem.org/node/492.
It is clear that the newspaper industry is on the brink of major change. Over the next
several years, the industry will likely continue to experience a complete upheaval brought
on by dwindling readership and major shifts in how individuals consume news. As
newspapers scramble to find their footing in an ever-changing business, readers adapt
and seek out trustworthy information in new ways.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Some key players in the U.S. newspaper market include the USA Today, The Wall Street
Journal, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and the
Chicago Tribune.
• Although readership has been declining since the invention of the radio, the Internet has had
the most profound effect on the newspaper industry as readers turn to free online
sources of information.
• Financial challenges have led to the rise of ever-growing newspaper chains and the creation
of JOAs. Nevertheless, newspapers continue to fold and lay off staff.
Discussion #4
WELCOME to the discussion for WEEK 4. Please respond in complete sentences for each
question, unless directed to do otherwise, demonstrating in your reply that you have read
the material in order to receive full credit.
Topic 1: Copyright
This week you read about copyright and some of the laws governing digital rights
management.
https://www.dmca.com/Solutions/view.aspx?ID=712f28a5-93f2-467b-ba923d58c8345a32&%3fref=sol08a2
Discussion:
Copyright protection is available for original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible
form, whether published or unpublished. The categories of works that can be protected by
copyright laws include paintings, literary works, live performances, photographs, movies,
and software.
Question:
Make an argument for or against the following statement: “Copyright is the only way for
musicians, artists and filmmakers to protect their integrity. What’s important is not profit,
but protecting creative content from unfair use. Copyright should remain an important part
of our law”. Justify your response with support from the reading.
Topic 2: Customer Location Data
This week you read the article “Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint Suspend Selling of
Customer Location Data (web page).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/06/19/verizon-willsuspend-sales-of-customer-location-data-after-a-prison-phone-company-was-caughtmisusing-it/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b8d983625d10
Discussion:
Verizon, AT&T and Sprint will no longer share its customers' location information
with several third-party companies who failed to handle the data appropriately.
Question:
Do you agree with phone companies sharing their customers’ information with third party
companies? Why or why not? Support your answer.
Topic 3: The Curly Fry Conundrum
This week you watched The curly fry conundrum: Why social media "likes" say more than
you think by Jennifer Golbeck.
https://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_golbeck_the_curly_fry_conundrum_why_social_media_
likes_say_more_than_you_might_think
Discussion:
The goal of Golbeck's Ted Talk presentation is to make people aware that (a) data is being
collected about you, (b) companies are profiting from this data, (c) you don't have a lot of
power to prevent your data from being collected, and (d) you SHOULD have control over
how your data is being used and who is using it. She also brainstorms ways users could
regain control of their data through the legal system or by having companies modify their
data collection policies.
Goldbeck's discussion of Target is very relevant. Target is renowned in the industry for its
data collection practices. Target maintains a customer relationship management database
which includes information from in-store purchases (they link all of your purchases to a
unique identifier) and data they collect externally (e.g. data from Facebook and other
sources). Combine the two data streams and Target can predict, with very good certainly,
what your gender is, where you live, how far you travel to work, your relationship status,
and they can even tell if you are pregnant, and if so, when you are due. The amount of
money spent each year in pregnancy-related purchases is tremendous. In efforts to win the
market share in this profit area, Target has hired a team of statisticians to perform
predictive analysis. The goal, in this particular situation, is to predict which women are
expecting (or soon to be), without asking them directly, by analyzing their purchasing
behavior (e.g. cribs, baby clothes, prenatal vitamins, etc). This way Target can "target" this
particular demographic (with coupons, discounts, and other offers) early in the process,
thus getting a jump on the competition. Goldbeck mentioned an example where a father
stormed down to Target to complain about his young young daughter receiving pregnancyrelated coupons in the mail only later to find out his daughter was pregnant.
Question:
What are your thoughts about companies collecting data about you? Do you feel this type of
data collection is a beneficial or detrimental? Why? Do you feel you have a right to know
what data companies are collecting about you? Does this concern you as a consumer?
Minimum Topic Response: Word Count = 70 (per topic). Your response is required to be AT
LEAST 70 WORDS long.
NOTE 1: Please make sure you answer EACH item and LABEL each item (#1, #2, #3, etc) so
that I can easily check that each item has been answered.
Purchase answer to see full
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