Where do people get their news? Who is it? Trust?

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   tsmogposted 2 months ago

   With a recent OP/Topic about ‘X’ my curiosity was piqued and went on an adventure. First I sought what social media sites are popular. I arrived with a Pew Research study/article; Americans’ Social Media Use (Jan 31, 2024).
   
   https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/20 … 01n40SKUAY
   
   The results are:
   
   
   
   The study/article is a deep dive and the graphics are well worth a peek at.
   
   What about where news is gotten from?
   Another Pew Research study/article says for 2023 news comes from four sources. Those are for most often
   
   ** Digital devices = 56%
   ** Television = 32%
   ** Radio = 16%
   ** Print = 9%
   
   Consider digital devices has a strong propensity toward social media sites. At Econsultancy they say 30% get their news from social media. Pew Research says half of Americans get their news on Social Media sites.
   
   News Platform Fact Sheet (Nov 15, 2023)
   https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/ … act-sheet/
   
   But, who do people trust for their news? YouGov did a study; Trust in Media 2023: What news outlets do Americans trust most for information? (May 8, 2023) It has several graphics the first a list in descending order of most trusted, of which The Weather Channel was #1 and the least trusted is InfoWars.
   
   https://today.yougov.com/politics/artic … trust-poll
   
   One graphic is a comparison for Republicans and Democrats. There is also a trustworthiness graphic for social media sites. That one is interesting because they compare Americans 45 and older with those under 45 while show for all.
   
   How about for the world? The Press Gazette published article Top 50 biggest news websites in the world: December sees traffic slumps at ten biggest for second month in a row (Jan 22, 2024) has bbc.co.uk & bbc.com as #1 with 1 billion visits in Dec 2023. It has Newsweek as the fastest growing for Dec 2023.
   
   Do you use social media for news?
   
   Is social media informing the public or indoctrinating them?
   
   Do you use YouTube?
   
   How about listening to Podcasts?
   
   Are you concerned about the affect AI will have with social media and the election coming up?
   
   How about Deep Fakes?
   
   A five year old video by Bloomberg Originals on Deep Fakes (3 min) I purposefully chose a short video on the topic, but there are more videos some being a how-to to create a Deep Fake video.
   
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLoI9hAX9dw

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      Kathleen Cochranposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      Forums and blogs are not news organizations. No one is editing or fact-checking. No one is certainly writing retractions or corrections.
      
      Separating news organizations from influencers is a first step. And within news organizations, separating reporters/anchors from commentators is a second step. After that, you just have people with opinions - take with a grain of salt.

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         Nathanvilleposted 2 months agoin reply to this

         My views exactly

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      2. 84

         tsmogposted 2 months agoin reply to this

         Yup, I, too, consider blogs as untrustworthy. Influencers in social media are out for a buck and  nothing else as I see it. I don't listen to pod casts much about political or world event type of material. In full agreement about pundits commentaries and opinion pieces with online media sites. Yes, at times there is verifiable data give, but the opinions as you suggested have strong biases.

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      Nathanvilleposted 2 months agoin reply to this

      An interesting read: Having studied all the data you’ve provided for America I looked on YouGov for comparison in Britain (as summarised below) – And I found it interesting to see the similarities and differences between our two great nations. 
      
      PERCENTAGE OF BRITS WHO USES SOCIAL MEDIA - YOUGOV POLLS END OF 2023:
      
      1.    YouTube = 78%
      2.    Facebook = 55%
      3.    Instagram = 51%
      4.    iMessage = 46%
      5.    Android Message = 38%
      6.    Pinterest = 37%
      7.    Linkedin = 35%
      8.    Reddit = 31%
      9.    X (Twitter) = 26%
      10.    Snapchat = 23%
      
      WHERE DO BRITS GET THERE NEWS FROM (YOUGOV TRACKER) as at 23rd Oct 2023:-
      
      •    National TV News = 45%
      •    News Websites = 41%
      •    Social Media = 27%
      •    Local TV News = 26%
      •    National Radio = 21%
      •    Friends and Relatives = 14%
      •    National Newspapers = 13%
      •    Local Radio = 12%
      •    Word of Mouth = 11%
      •    Local Newspapers = 5%
      
      WHICH MEDIA OUTLETS DO BRITS TRUST (YOUGOV Article 8th May 2023)
      
      Most Trustworthy – Top 10
      1.    BBC News = 44%
      2.    The Financial Times (British right-wing newspaper) = 40%
      3.    ITV TV News = 39%
      4.    The Guardian (British left-wing newspaper) = 33%
      5.    The Times (British right-wing newspaper) = 30%
      6.    The Independent (British politically centralist newspaper) = 30%
      7.    SKY TV News = 28%
      8.    Reuters = 28%
      9.    The Economist = 28%
      10.    The Telegraph (British right-wing newspaper) = 24%
      
      Least Trustworthy – Bottom 5
      1.    The Star (a local London newspaper that’s a subsidiary of the Mail (Daily Mail) = only 3% of Brits think it’s trustworthy.
      2.    Buzzfeed News (American News Media) = just 5%
      3.    Insider News (American News Media) = just 5%
      4.    The Sun (British right-wing newspaper) = just 6%
      5.    Vice (Canadian/American News Media) = just 6%
      
      https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/ … trust-2023
      
      Q&A
      In answer to your questions:-
      
      1.    Is social media informing the public or indoctrinating them? - Predominantly indoctrinating them.
      
      2.    Do you use YouTube?  Yep, very much so – It’s my main Social Media source.
      
      3.    How about listening to Podcasts? – I never listen to Podcasts.
      
      4.    Are you concerned about the affect AI will have with social media and the election coming up? – Most defiantly.
      
      5.    How about Deep Fakes? – Most defiantly a big risk on Social Media platforms; but fortunately reputable News Media platforms (who fact check their sources) have a good track record of filtering out ‘deep fakes’.
      
      My views are aligned with Kathleen’s on this subject.

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         tsmogposted 2 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks! Interesting with the popularity of social media sites it mirrors the US with YouTube at #1 followed by Facebook then Instagram. With both 'X' is at the bottom. That surprised me. In other words, the effect on the public as a whole isn't noteworthy.
         
         I get a daily news letter from the BBC and feel they are trustworthy. Allsides rates them politically center at the edge of left.
         https://www.allsides.com/news-source/bb … media-bias
         
         I use Allsides as a guide and have for so long I know the main actors today.
         
         I did other research like which TV news sources are most watched. Were they cable news or network agencies. What about local. How about streaming.
         
         I have some doubt that only 11% get their news by word-of-mouth. It may come down to definition. I say that because word-of-mouth (WOM) is used with marketing products as a strategy.
         
         From Business Insider comes, "92 percent of people trusted recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising when making a purchasing decision". I see politics paralleling that. The old gather round the water cooler at work to discuss this and that.

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            Nathanvilleposted 2 months agoin reply to this

            Yep, absolutely; Word of Mouth is very important to business (personal recommendations), and as you said, discussing politics is also important.  As you said, the low score on YouGov may be down to ‘definition’, or related to the way the question was phrased?
            
            As you raised an interesting question, I asked Google what YouGov has to say on the topic, and I came up with this link:  https://business.yougov.com/content/481 … l-products

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   tsmogposted 2 months ago

   Deep Fakes 2023 and the threat for 2024 and forward.
   
   Two YouTube videos to watch
   
   How AI and deepfakes are changing politics YouTube by CBS News (5:38 min) First broadcast 6 months ago.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZl3cQTL6U0
   
   Trump deepfakes on social media prompt warnings of AI risks by ABC News (9:40 min video) First broadcast 10 months ago.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GDvuMkMOXM
   
   How does Deepfake affect America's political atmosphere?
   
   ** 68% of US adults say made-up news and information greatly impacts Americans’ confidence in government institutions (Pew)
   ** 54% of US adults say made-up news and information is having a major impact on our confidence in each other (Pew)
   ** 73% see a lot of made-up news and information being generated around two major topics: politics and elections (Pew)
   ** 63% of Americans say made-up or altered videos and images create a great deal of confusion about the facts of current issues and events (Pew)
   ** 77% of both Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and Democrats and Democratic leaners favor restrictions on altered videos over protecting the freedom to publish and access them (Pew)
   
   Deepfake Crime by the Numbers by Edsmart
   https://www.edsmart.org/deepfake-statistics/
   
   A Pew Research study from back in 2019. (8 page deep dive report) Many Americans Say Made-Up News Is a Critical Problem That Needs To Be Fixed Politicians viewed as major creators of it, but journalists seen as the ones who should fix it (June 5, 2019) Deep Fakes and fake news is a growth industry fueled by both the almighty buck and the games people play.
   
   https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/ … -be-fixed/

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3. 88

   IslandBitesposted 2 months ago

   Russia’s 2024 election interference has already begun
   
   Moscow is spreading disinformation about Joe Biden and other Democrats to lessen U.S. military aid to Ukraine and U.S. support for NATO, former U.S. officials and cyber experts say.
   
   Russia is already spreading disinformation in advance of the 2024 election, using fake online accounts and bots to damage President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats, according to former U.S. officials and cyber experts.
   
   The dissemination of attacks on Biden is part of a continuing effort by Moscow to undercut American military aid to Ukraine and U.S. support for and solidarity with NATO, experts said.
   
   A similar effort is underway in Europe. France, Germany and Poland said this month that Russia has launched a barrage of propaganda to try to influence European parliamentary elections in June.
   
   With Donald Trump opposing U.S. aid to Ukraine and claiming that he once warned a NATO leader that he would "encourage" Russia to attack a NATO ally if it didn't pay its share in defense spending, the potential rewards for Russian President Vladimir Putin are high, according to Bret Schafer, a senior fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy of the German Marshall Fund.
   
   “Not that they didn’t have an incentive to interfere in the last two presidential elections,” said Schafer, who tracks disinformation efforts by Russia and other regimes. “But I would say that the incentive to interfere is heightened right now.”
   
   U.S. officials and experts are most concerned that Russia could try to interfere in the election through a “deepfake” audio or video using artificial intelligence tools or through a “hack and leak,” such as the politically damaging theft of internal Democratic Party emails by Russian military intelligence operatives in 2016.
   
   The type of pro-Russia online propaganda campaigns that thrived on Twitter and Facebook ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election is now routine on every major social media platform, though it’s rare for individual accounts to go as viral now as they once did.
   
   Those influence operations often create matching accounts on multiple sites, which vary drastically in their moderation policies. Accounts from one pro-Russia campaign that Meta, the owner of Facebook, cracked down on late last year, an English-language news influencer persona called “People Say,” are still live on other platforms, though some are dormant.
   
   A must read.
   
   A lot more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigat … rcna134204

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