COMP 2903 A31

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COMP 2903A31 False Reporting on the Internet
and the Spread of Rumors

• Danny Silver
• JSOCS, Acadia University

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Paul Hitlingnovis, April26, 2004

• B.A. Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.
• M.A. from Georgetown University's Communication,
  Culture, and Technology program
• gnovis is a peer-reviewed journal and academic
  blog run by graduate students in the
  Communication, Culture, and Technology program at
  Georgetown University
• The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence
  in Journalism (PEJ) dedicated to understanding
  the information revolution
• Hitlin supervises PEJ's content coding
  operations, assists with the design of content
  analysis research, and helps to write the weekly
  New Media Index

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The Internet The New Rumor Mill

• Stephen OLeary (2002)
• the social functions of rumor are virtually
  indistinguishable from the social functions of
  real news people are trying to make sense
  of their world
• Every medium of news has had a history of
  misreported stories
• However, the internet allows a far greater number
  of persons to be involved in the production/
  editing/dissemination of news

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Internet Errors Die Hard -1

• How are errors in Internet journalism corrected
  online?
• Jim Hall (2001) feels they are not addressed
  properly
• Errors are buried and never is really corrected
• Because they propagate so rapidly
• Interesting but erroneous story becomes folklore
• This article examines Halls assertion, the
  reasons why Internet reporting leads to errors
  and 3 case studies

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Reasons for Cyberjournalism Errors

• 1. The need for speed
• Always-on news means the new deadline is now
• Timeliness trumps accuracy (Drudge Report)
• Less time for fact-checking
• 2. Desire to attract website visitor hits
• News is infotainment (Hall, 2001)
• People can get there news from anywhere

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Reasons for Cyberjournalism Errors

• 3. Political Gains
• Rumors are sometimes premeditated
• To advance particular ideology
• 4. Attraction to Scandal
• A report that a plane was brought down by a
  missle is more exciting than a mechanical failure
• The spectacular catches reader attention
• We all love a scandal

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Internet Errors Die Hard - 2

• The complete replacement of an erroneous story
  with a correct one is unique to electronic
  publication
• Works only for those who come to the site after
  the correction no audit trail, no notice of
  correction
• Social cacade - an error can propagate quickly
• Information can become entrenched even if it is
  incorrect - legitimacy through comm. and
  repetition
• Online participants of new media are more likely
  to be influenced as compared to newspaper readers

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Three Case Studies

• The Crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996
• Sidney Blumenthal versus Matt Drudge Internet
  Libel
• The Suicide of White House Aide Vince Foster
• !!! Break into teams and examine each of these.

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Conclusions

• The Internet is a significant channel for rumors
  versus news
• How can the positive democratizing aspects of the
  Internet be balanced with the potential for false
  reports and social cascades?
• The most probable method is to promote the use of
  traditional standards of journalistic conduct
  (check the facts, ensure multiple sources)
• Else reliability/quality of Internet will be
  questioned