News Deserts

Before taking my Media Law and Literacy class at High Point University, I can honestly say I never heard of news deserts. I am assuming many of you are in the same boat as me, especially if you are apart of the younger generation. So what is a news desert you may ask? Well, a news desert occurs in a community that no longer has local news coverage by a newspaper. The University of North Carolina's Hussman School of Journalism and Media provides a more robust definition stating that news deserts are "a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level." The term became prevalent when many local newspapers across the United States closed beginning in the twenty-first century.

Prevalence 

Poynter, a reputable news site, reported on the prevalence of news deserts using data collected from a study conducted by the University of North Carolina. According to the article, around 20% of all United States' newspapers have merged or completely gone out of business since 2004. This has left 1,300 communities without any type of local news coverage. Additionally, many of the remaining newspapers have drastically scaled back reporting creating what some are calling "ghost newspapers."

Image taken from Columbia Journalism Review

Columbia Journalism Review created an interactive map for readers to see how many newspapers remain in their communities, which you can find here. I have inserted a still image of the map to give you a general idea. The white counties represent communities with zero local newspapers. As the red color gets darker, that represents an increase in the number of local newspapers. I encourage you to click the link to access the interactive map to see if you are living in, or near a news desert.

Implications 

News deserts can have dire consequences. The media is an important part of the checks and balances of democracy and our government, even being called the "watchdog." Without an abundance of news reporting, citizens could potentially be taken advantage of simply because they are not informed. Additionally, local news reporting helps create a sense of community by reporting feel-good stories. For example, you won't hear about the local high school football team that just won a state championship, or the local police department donating meals to the homeless on the national news. It is the personal touch of local news reporting that makes them stand out from national networks. Lastly, PBS ran a news segment on the implications of news deserts, which you can watch to gain more information.

The Future 

While I would like to be optimistic about the future of local news reporting and news deserts, the nature of online sources makes the future scary. Newspapers were the foundation of American media. It would be a true shame to see newspapers completely go away. However, we must be realistic about the times. I would rather see local newspapers all turn to online publications than see all newspapers go away completely. I think it is important for all of us, especially the younger generation, to support our local news outlets to ensure that they are here for future generations.

Privacy & Your Personal Data

Image taken from Blue Coat Photos on Flickr

Online privacy has become a hot button issue in the news. We now hear about companies accessing our data and selling it to third parties. It's certainly a scary thought. While it can be easy to just blame tech companies for our lack of privacy, I truly believe privacy is a two-way street. I recently watched a TedTalk by Juan Enriquez where he talked about our online presence as an 'electronic tattoo.' If you think about a tattoo and what it means, it means permanent. What we choose to post online will always be there. We do not have a magic erase button to eliminate an online mistake. Additionally, this means that our lives are a whole lot less private because we choose to share such intimate information.

I think it is important to ask the question: what is the difference between giving up your privacy on social media versus a tech company selling data that you willingly provided? The main difference is that many people do not realize their simple on-line searches and postings provide their personal data to a third party. The things you Google, your online purchases, and the obvious, social media, are all components that make up your personal online information. It is necessary for everyone to educate themselves on what personal data is because it is one of the first steps to understanding your privacy in the world of online messaging. An article by Louise Matsakis on Wired provides an amazing breakdown of what personal data is, and how it is used.

So, the moral of the story - be more aware. Pay attention to the little things. Read those terms and conditions. Yes, read those things that you simply check the box for in order to move on to a site to purchase a new pair of shoes. Chances are, you will find information on how your personal data will be used and how 'private' a site truly is.

Online Footprint

Image Taken from Families First Law Firm

This week's lesson has been eye-opening. In today's world, it can be easy to forget about our online footprint, and the effects it can have on our image and future employment. I currently have accounts on Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Each one of my platforms serves a different purpose. For example, I utilize Facebook to stay in touch with my family, whereas I use Instagram to keep up with my friends. While I do my best to ensure that I am only posting appropriate content, my biggest concern is what other people may tag me in. 

It can be difficult to catch everything your friends post especially when they post a story that is only visible for twenty-four hours. I believe that we should all be more cognizant of the content we post of other people. We may not know, for example, that they are currently in the hiring process for a job. If we all look out for one another, hopefully, we can ensure that not only ourselves but also those we are closest to have appropriate online footprints. I think the article "I’m 14, and I quit social media after discovering what was posted about me" is a great example of why it is necessary to ask for consent before posting a picture of someone else. You do not always know how a friend may feel about a particular picture, or if they would even want it posted.

I also need to be more mindful of how much personal information I am providing on my social media profiles. I know that many can gather I am a college student at High Point University. It is not only evident based on the location of my posts, but it also is included in my bio on Instagram. Additionally, viewers easily discover where I call home because I have several posts that are located in my hometown, even giving specifics of events that I have attended.  

Is this information I want people to know about me? I assume only my friends and family are viewing me on social media platforms, but that is far from the truth.  The reality of the internet and social media is that any person could find this personal information. Sad to admit, but our parents are often right on so many levels.  I can hear my Dad in my head saying "Do not post anything while we are on vacation...we don't want to go home and find someone has broken into our home because they realized we were on vacation because you posted something on your phone!"

For my generation, we are an immediate, conversational, in-the-moment, need to share group of people.  It may be difficult, but we need to hit the 'pause' button and think about what we truly want to share, not just with our friends and family, but ultimately those beyond our familiar circle.  The world has access to more than we know.   

Diffusion of Innovations

Image taken from Pixabay

Using the diffusion of innovations theory, created by Everett Rodgers, I would like to explore one of the more recent social media platforms: Snapchat. The innovators period began when Snapchat was created by three Stanford University students Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown, and Bobby Murphy in 2011. The premise of Snapchat was a social media app where content disappeared within moments. The original name for the platform was Picaboo, but the name was quickly changed to Snapchat in September of 2011.

Image taken from Wikipedia

Today, Snapchat has 360 million users each month. Clearly, the platform has made it big, but how did it get there? Using the diffusion of innovations theory, the early adopters of the platform were college and high school students in and around Stanford University and the
Los Angeles area. Eventually, the app's popularity began to spread to other geographic areas with the early majority of users still comprising mostly high school and college students. An article by Forbes discussed the importance of timing in the success of Snapchat. If you think about 2011, many smartphones came out with a camera on the front screen, which allowed users to easily take selfies. This separate innovation, in my opinion, propelled the popularity of Snapchat.

Snapchat is almost ten years old, but the platform continues to evolve to attract more users. It's hard to say if Snapchat's popularity will eventually decline. If other social media sites are any indication, it truly depends on how Snapchat chooses to adapt to the other innovations in technology. For now, the founders of Snapchat can be pretty proud of the platform's success.

Links:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/16/how-snapchat-gained-success-by-going-viral-at-high-schools-across-los-angeles/#75d494173b36
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/history-of-snapchat

Values of Free Expression

Free expression is a fundamental cornerstone of the United States. The right to freely express your thoughts, distastes, or even radical ideas has been given to the American people since the founding of our nation. While there are eight values of free expression, I believe that the most important one is the check on governmental power. The media's ability to check the government has become known as the "watchdog role."

Image taken from Zapiro

The watchdog role is the most important value of free expression because, without it, the other values would not exist. In theory, the government has the ability to limit the media. If the government were able to limit the free expression of the media, what would be stopping them from limiting the free expression of all citizens? The answer is simple, nothing. Therefore, with the media reporting on the government's every move, it makes it nearly impossible for the media to be silenced because the American people would not support the decision. This watchdog role ensures that the other seven values of free expression still exist.

We can take this idea of the watchdog all the way back to our nation's founding fathers. An article by James Bikales in the Harvard Political Review quoted Thomas Jefferson from a letter written in 1787. Jefferson said, "were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." I find it telling that one of the most influential people in the construction of our government and a future president of the United States would rather have the media without a government. I believe this highlights the importance of the media's checks on the government.

Why does all of this matter? It can be easy to go about our daily life not thinking about the rights that we, fortunately, have as citizens of the United States. However, this passive approach to our fundamental rights is how they can be easily taken away. The media provides citizens with the ability to read and watch what our government is doing. Without the media watching our back, the government could easily begin limiting our freedoms because we often are not paying attention to them ourselves.

I hope this serves as a reminder to pay attention to your fundamental rights. While it is nice to rely on the watchdog media, it is also our duty as citizens to check and balance our government.

Links
https://www.zapiro.com/961022so
https://harvardpolitics.com/united-states/the-nations-watchdog/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002716295537000010