By Duncan West
Media fraud is a growing problem in our world today. The Media is very powerful. It can be used to do great things, but there are times it is used for not so great things, like the manipulation of its audience. Media Fraud can be a scam on the internet where someone says they are your buddy and need money and can be as pivotal as faking news. I think the root of this problem is that us, the users, believe anything and everything we see on the internet. People have incredible power via social media but this power can be manipulated. Take this case for instance, “In 2002, the U.S. invaded Iraq based on reports that Saddam Hussein’s government was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction… As of late 2011, U.S. troops are still in Iraq.”(Biegelman, 2013, p. 11) In this instance, even our own president was manipulated through fraudulence.
We have all heard of fake news in broadcasts but this fake news can appear in the form of internet fraud. Fake news is used to create distrust in the government or in government officials. This political misinformation is a very dangerous thing. When the main stream media gets ahold of this information it can spread like wildfire. Political misinformation has been used in many campaigns to attack his/her contender. For instance, let's examine the Birther theory. The “birther” rumor is a well-known example of intentional misinformation in the political arena. The United States Constitution requires that the president be a natural-born citizen. President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961, and during the 2008 presidential campaign he released a scanned image of his birth certificate.”(Biegelman, 2013, p.131) His birth certificate has also been validated by the state of Hawaii. This rumor still has many U.S. citizens questioning if president Obama was of native birth. When these rumors get leaked they are nearly impossible to correct. In president Obama’s state of union address in 2009 “deficit of trust, deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works… Washington may think that saying anything about the other side, no matter how false, no matter how malicious, is just part of the game.”(Biegelman, 2013, p.133) President Obama addresses this problem and why the public has distrust in the government. When a high percentage of the public don’t trust the government this seems like an alarming problem to me.
In my words I would describe much of this fake news as propaganda. Propaganda is defined as, information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. There is no easy way to avoid this fake news. The best way to manage the information you receive via social media is to obtain it only from credible sources. References
- Biegelman, M. T. (2013). Faces of fraud: Cases and lessons from a life fighting fraudsters. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.1-11, 128-40 Retrieved from Communication and Mass Media Complete database.
Duncan,
ReplyDeleteBit of mixed bag here. On the one hand, this is certainly a timely and relevant topic for the class weblog. As you note, concerns over "fake news" aren't new, but they have reached something of a fever pitch in recent years.
On the other hand, your formatting is off (font style, size, color). Moreover, you've got a few punctuation errors around your quotes. And it isn't at all clear where the second quote from Biegleman begins.
Likewise, there's far too much "white space" between the end of the post and your references. Finally, I don't see a word count.
Furthermore, you've identified a useful source to discuss fraudulent media, but your use of this material is underdeveloped and sometimes plain mistaken.
For instance, the Bush administration pushed the Iraqi WMD narrative. The media ran with it and didn't look back. Also, you might note that none other than Donald Trump promoted the "birther" rumor early and often.
Coupled with glaring errors in formatting, it is clear there's little proof reading on your part, or quality control on the part of the group.
23/30 pts.
Duncan,
ReplyDeleteProfessor Howley pretty much covered it, but I'll give some tips for some of the less substantial errors in your post.
1. To avoid the capitalization of byline, simply space down one (via the ENTER key)
2. Make sure your spacing after sentences (as well as quotes) is apparent. Things are a bit muddled and hard to read at times.
3. Include a few more labels; I'd aim for 4-5 in your posts.
Many of these errors can be prevented by previewing your post before uploading it the blog. However, this first blog shows potential - I'm looking forward to seeing your second blog post.
Duncan,
ReplyDeleteI think this post has a lot of potential with the caveat that there are a good handful of grammar as well as formatting errors. The information you provide about fake news and media fraud is certainly a relevant topic in our class and I think you did a good job covering it overall. I would double check a few things you say throughout your post because I am not sure if they are all 100% factual. Other than that, make sure you use normal, helvetica font and black lettering. If you can fix a few of those minor errors, I believe you should have a fantastic post put together. Good job!