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Ch. 8 Mobile and Social Media In Your Career

Journalists in today’s world need to possess many different skills, but two of the most important skills are knowing how to be mobile-first and using social media as a journalistic platform. A study of 1,100 journalism job posts in 2015 showed that “mobile” and “social” were skills requested more at that time than in the past. In 2023, it’s pretty safe to say that a majority of employers are looking for people with those skills, maybe even more are today than when this study was done. If there’s only one thing journalists can take with them to cover a story, a smartphone is going to be that thing. Having solid traditional journalistic skills is still important and will make a journalist a better candidate. However, understanding how many people use their cell phones to get news and knowing how to navigate social media to tell stories and increase audience interaction is a must-have skill. Having an entrepreneurial mindset can also increase a journalist’s chance of landing a job. There are a few common themes journalists will find in almost any job. They need to be good writers, be creative, and be innovative in their approach to journalism (Adornato, 2018).  

The number of people who want to view news on their phone and who want to get news from social media is increasing and with it, new roles and job opportunities are being created. Some media outlets have specific social media or Facebook Live producers, social media video and photo editors, and audience engagement editors. Many also hire people just to monitor social media and web analytics and come up with strategies for how to reach and engage with more people (Adornato, 2018). 

As a journalist, if you can secure an internship, it will help you in many ways. You can watch how working journalists use social media, interact with them in the workplace, and build connections that become your network. Internships also help journalists who are starting out learn what newsroom culture is like, and they show journalists the type of positions they can work in. It’s a mixture of observing, learning, and hands-on experience. There are multiple ways to look for internships and jobs. Going to news outlets’ websites and media company’s websites, doing a general internet search, searching professional organizations, looking at social networking sites, using LinkedIn, asking your journalism professors, going to your college’s career center, and networking with industry professionals are some of the best ways to find these opportunities. It’s important for journalists to work on their brand on social media and their personal websites before hunting for jobs. Journalists should show that they understand how to use their skills and be engaging. It’s fine for journalists to add some of their personal life into their professional presence, but it’s important to keep a balance. Personal websites are great places for journalists to show their portfolios and tell possible employers about who they are (Adornato, 2018). 

I believe that once I get a job in the journalism field, I’ll be using mobile and social media skills multiple times a day. I will probably be asked to cover some stories with a mobile phone, and if I’m not covering the story with my phone I’ll definitely be asked to create content for social media platforms. I may also be asked to provide behind-the-scenes imagery for some stories I cover. I think I’ll also be using mobile and social media platforms to find stories and contacts regularly. So much of people’s lives are lived on their phones, and I’m fairly positive I’ll be asked to engage with audiences across multiple platforms. Overall, I think these skills will help me as I move forward because they’re used by the majority of journalists. I’m sure I’ll enhance these skills once I’m in the workforce and will continue to learn more because learning never really ends.   

Adornato, A. (2018). Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide. Sage Publications.

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Ch. 7 Social Media Ethics and Policies

Ethics have always been and will always be an important part of journalism, but social media has blurred the lines for many journalists and media outlets alike when it comes to deciding how social media should be used. It’s important for journalists to engage with people on social media, and it’s important for media outlets to connect with their audience on social media. It’s crucial for media companies to have ethics guidelines and newsroom policies stated clearly and written out so journalists and other employees can refer to them whenever they need to. These things can also come in handy when ethical dilemmas present themselves. The company’s social media policies should also be easily accessible, written down, and every employee should understand them. It’s not enough for a newsroom to have an unwritten policy that they expect employees to abide by. It should be written, not just said (Adornato, 2018). 

One good place for journalists to start when they’re thinking about ethics when it comes to social media is to think about typical ethical principles they would use in any other area of journalism. Some of these key ethics are to seek the truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently, and be accountable and transparent (Adornato, 2018). 

In regard to social media, it’s up to the individual journalist to decide if she, he, or they want to have separate social media accounts for personal and professional activity. This can also be discussed with the media outlet the journalist works for. There are some basic things journalists should not post on any public page, regardless of if it’s a personal or professional page. They shouldn’t share their personal opinion, political affiliations, or religious beliefs. They should not advocate on behalf of a cause  or issue, they shouldn’t join groups affiliated with particular issues or agendas, share extremely intimate details of their personal lives, or share internal newsroom communication or documents. If journalists stay away from posting these things on social media then they’ll be on the right track. It’s also good to remember that even “private” social media pages are not completely private. Something a journalist posts on a private page can still become public (Adornato, 2018). 

Another thing that’s important for journalists to think about when they use social media is the way in which they contact potential sources. It’s important to be upfront and honest with people when contacting them. Let the source know you’re a journalist, why you’re contacting them, and what you want from them. When journalists are dealing with traumatic and sensitive situations they should approach the source with that in mind. Talking over the phone or in person is the best way to communicate with sources in difficult situations. Every effort should be made to find a way to contact the source outside of social media after the first introduction is made (Adornato, 2018). 

When journalists want to use user-generated content that’s found on social media they should verify it. They need to know who originally posted the content and ask for permission to use it. Before using it, journalists need to make sure the media is real and hasn’t been used in the past or doctored in any way. There are many ways to go about this, but using tools like Google Images, metadata, and Google Earth are a few that can be useful. Journalists should always seek permission from the original owner of the content and should understand copyright and fair use laws. Attribution is a must, even when permission to use it has been granted. Looking for media to use from Creative Commons is a good idea, but the licenses should always be checked and the media should always be attributed to whoever created it. Lastly, mistakes happen, and journalists are human so they will make mistakes. It’s important to correct mistakes as quickly as possible, acknowledge the mistake, and tell the audience what was corrected. Don’t delete or just fix the original post. Link the original post to the corrected one so the audience knows you’re being transparent (Adornato, 2018). 

Social media has blurred ethical lines in many newsrooms and for many journalists, but there are ways to make guidelines and policies more clear. When in doubt, journalists should communicate with the outlet they work for before taking an action on social media they aren’t sure if they should. By working together, companies and journalists can navigate the social media landscape and make it a useful tool for newsrooms, while also being able to connect to the audience (Adornato, 2018).

Adornato, A. (2018). Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide. Sage Publications.

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Ch. 6 From the Field: Social Media Engagement and Audience Analytics

Posting on social media platforms is one thing that journalists need to know how to do. It’s not enough to just know the technical side of how to post, though. Journalists need to know what type of content will get the attention of their audiences, what needs to be included in posts to gain the most traction, and how to look at analytics to improve their engagement with their audience. Understanding social media optimization is a good place for journalists to start (Adornato, 2018). 

Social media optimization is a fancy way of understanding how to get the most from social media posts. Some of the things that should be included in posts in order to encourage engagement from the audience are quality visuals, like photos, videos, and graphics, hashtags, and links, if applicable. Hashtags are keywords that are included in the post that help the post be found by people when they’re searching social media for certain information. Links are good to include because they can lead people to more information about the story since social media posts usually only give them the important details. These nuggets are crucial, but when people want to know more they need to be directed to the place that gives them more information, like a separate website. Two other things that are important in order to optimize social media posts are tagging and mentioning people. You can use the @ symbol to mention a person, institution, or organization when you talk about them in a post, and whoever or whatever you’re mentioning will be notified. You can also use the tag function to tag people, institutions, or organizations. The entity tagged will be notified, but tags are usually hidden within the post while mentions are in the body where the reader can see them (Adornato, 2018). 

Another thing journalists should think about when they’re putting together their stories is how the story looks on a mobile device. Most people look at news on their phone instead of using a desktop or laptop. Since it’s a smaller screen, it’s important that journalists know how to make their stories translate to easily be viewed or read on a mobile device. Having short headlines, putting the most important information first, using bullets or lists at the top of the story with the most important information, keeping stories short (between 500-600 words), and using visuals are all ways to make stories more mobile-friendly (Adornato, 2018). 

Once the social media post or story is out there, journalists must remember that they’re not done. The audience will interact with the post, and the story will oftentimes become a conversation. In order for journalists to understand how well all of their work is being received they have to pay attention to analytics. Understanding your audience and being able to adjust when and how you post to get the most out of your posts are important pieces to becoming a successful journalist who knows how to use social media. Each social media application has its own analytics that journalists can look at. Website-building applications also have their own analytics so journalists can see who visits their personal website and how often. The analytics to pay the most attention to are likes, reach, page views, posts, impressions, engagements, audience demographics, unique visitors, and session duration. Every category might not be covered in the analytics of every app, but most of them are. Each one tells the journalist something different about their audience. Analytics should be monitored at least once a week in order to understand how your audience is interacting with your posts and give you ideas on how to change your posts to get more from them. In the social media and mobile world, these are some of the key things journalists can think about to give their audience the best and most useful content they possibly can (Adornato, 2018).

Adornato, A. (2018). Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide. Sage Publications.   

[jenileeborek]

Ch. 5 From the Field: The Mobile Journalist

In today’s world, journalists have to know how to do everything. They have to think about producing stories that are mobile and social media first. It’s much rarer for there to be a team of five or ten people needed to bring forward a quality story. Now, one journalist is sent out on his, her, or their own and is expected to be able to create video, audio, written, still, and social media content. They do this by using cell phones instead of the old industry equipment, usually iPhones (Adornato, 2018). 

Smartphones are capable of anything a full-blown computer is nowadays. Journalists can find stories and sources, distribute the news, create multimedia stories, and engage with audiences all from a small device that fits in their pocket. Even though most of the work can be done on the phone, it’s necessary to have a go-bag with tools to help make stories look as professional as if they were shot with a ten-person crew. The most important tools, besides the actual phone, to take into the field are a selfie stick, mini tripod, iOgrapher filmmaking case, iPad Mini, XLR cable, headphones, iRig Pre XLR adaptor, microphone, car charger, and portable charger. These items help ensure the journalist will get quality video, audio, and still photographs. A couple of them will ensure the phone’s battery stays charged and any material gathered can be edited and get back to people in the newsroom (Adornato, 2018). 

The other main thing mobile journalists will need is a variety of apps to make editing for various platforms as easy as possible. Video editing apps like iMovie and Videolicious can help create broadcast-ready video packages. Photo editing apps like Adobe Photoshop Express and Snapseed can help produce stills that can be used in tandem with web stories or posted on social media. Making sure the audio gathered is of professional quality is one of the most important aspects of a story as well. Apps like Ferrite Recording Studio and Soundcloud help maximize how the story is heard by the audience (Adornato, 2018). 

All of these tools are important, but sticking to the technical rules a journalist would use if he, she, or they had the big and expensive equipment is just as important. Each story requires something different. Some require live-tweeting and live-streaming onto social media platforms. Others require video packages or stills. Some stories also require multiple audio sequences. Most stories will have to have a combination of these elements for the audience to fully understand the story. The most important thing for mobile journalists to remember is that planning, being able to shift, and having a good workflow will be key to allowing them to be a successful one-person team (Adornato, 2018).

Adornato, A. (2018). Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide. Sage Publications.   

[jenileeborek]

Ch. 4 Mastering Social Media and Mobile Apps for Reporting

Social media can be used to share the stories journalists work on, but it can be used for much more than just that. It’s a place where journalists can find story ideas, sources, and information. They can also crowdsource and interact with their audiences. The key is understanding how to use the search function to find what you’re looking for as a journalist. It’s important to understand some of the basic functions most social media apps have. Even though they may function in a slightly different way depending on what platform you’re on, most platforms have basic similarities. Handles are used as a way to identify yourself and others. You can usually tag a person or organization by using their handle in the written part of a post or by attaching it directly to media like a photograph or video. Hashtags are used as keywords that group topics together. They make it easy for people to find posts about specific topics just by searching the hashtag(s). Most social media applications allow you to add your location to a post as well (Adornato, 2018). 

The most popular social media applications journalists use are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Snapchat (Adornato, 2018). 

Twitter is a tool that’s used mainly for writing a shorter text about things you want to talk about. The character limit has been increased from 140 characters to 280, giving people the ability to be a little more expressive. Photos and videos can also be used in Tweets, with photos and memes being a little more popular because only very short videos can be posted. One thing that’s popular on Twitter is Twitter polls where you can survey people about things. One way to sift through all the noise on Twitter is to create Lists. You can add accounts you follow or even some you don’t to a list you create about a specific topic, and you’ll only see those posts in the feed. It’s a more focused way to see news about different topics (Adornato, 2018). 

Facebook is another tool journalists use. Finding and looking through Facebook groups can be a great way to discover important topics communities are talking about and find sources as well. Signal, which is only available to journalists on Facebook, allows journalists to search more thoroughly for what they’re looking for. You must have a professional Facebook page to be able to sign up for Signal. Facebook is a place where more people attach photos and videos to their posts. It’s also a place where people “broadcast” live events or moments by using Facebook Live. Sometimes people capture very newsworthy moments through Facebook Live (Adornato, 2018). 

Instagram is mainly a visual platform. It’s all about photos and videos. The addition of Stories that last only 24 hours and Reels that are quick montages have expanded just how visual you can get on this platform. It’s a place where hashtag use is a must (Adornato, 2018). 

LinkedIn is a professional social media application that people primarily use to post their resumé, portfolios, and talk about what’s happening in their professional life. It can be a great place for journalists to find out the latest news about specific companies and to find experts in particular fields. It’s also a place journalists can find former or current employees that are or were with certain companies if they want to interview them for a story about the company they currently work at or used to work for (Adornato, 2018). 

Snapchat is a place where journalists can find younger audiences. Stories can be created in “snaps” that disappear in 24 hours, similar to Instagram Stories. People can scan a journalist’s Snapcode, and it’ll help them connect to that journalist on Snapchat (Adornato, 2018). 

One of the easiest ways to search and organize all of the information you get from all of your social media outlets is to use a tool like Hootsuite, which is like a hub that shows all your feeds. You can see what’s going on throughout all of your social media accounts, search all of your feeds, and schedule posts for any platform (Adornato, 2018). 

The key to being successful as a journalist on social media is to use search functions to listen to people. You can search by topic, person, location, and time to find story ideas, sources, photos and videos of events as they unfold, and information that will be pertinent to your story. Lastly, use audience interaction and crowdsourcing to make stories even better. Let your audience know what you need from them and what you’d like them to do in order to get more detailed information for stories. The more people participate in the storytelling process, the more they’ll want to engage with you and with the outlet you work for (Adornato, 2018).

Adornato, A. (2018). Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide. Sage Publications.  

[jenileeborek]

Ch. 3 Your Social Media Brand: Who Do You Want to Be?

It’s important for journalists to create a brand early on in their career so they can build trust with their audience and become a reliable source of information for them. Another reason it’s important is it helps new journalists secure their first jobs. It allows them to showcase their work, represents who they are professionally and personally, and showcase some of their skills. It could also be beneficial to the media outlet that hires them if they already have a following of people who trust and rely on their information. Social media and other technology tools allow journalists to build their brands and profiles in a variety of ways (Adornato, 2018). 

The first thing journalists should do is take some time to search themselves through a couple of different search engines like Google or Yahoo. This will give them a sense of what information is already on the internet about them. Everything people post or that gets posted about them leaves a digital footprint. Since most people now have spent a good portion of their lives with and on the internet, and since social media has been around for over a decade, a lot of people’s lives can be revealed through simple searches. Professional journalists, especially those who are just getting into the field, should take some time to see what’s already out there about them. They should go through social media accounts and delete information that makes them look like they have a questionable or untrustworthy character. They should also contact any websites that have incorrect information about them or unauthorized photos of them and ask for that type of material to be taken down. Even though nothing disappears forever if journalists make an effort to delete anything that might be harmful to them as they pursue their careers, it’s likely the material won’t be found unless someone did some deep digging, which many times has to be provoked for a particular reason (Adornato, 2018). 

Once journalists know what’s already out there about them and do some “housekeeping” to clean things up, it’s time to build. It’s important to start with a professional-looking website. This can be thought of as the hub for a journalist. It’s where their portfolio lives, it’s where people and potential employers can learn more about who they are as a person, it’s where their resumé can be found, it’s where anyone can find any social media platform they’re on, and where they can be contacted directly. It’s important to make sure the design and content look professional, including the initial photographs people see on the home page. The person’s personality can come out more in photos on subsequent pages and on social media, but the landing page should be a professional first impression. After getting a solid start with a website it’s time to branch out and create consistent social media channels on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and whatever others are popular. Keep bios, handles, profile photos, and content consistent across all of the platforms, but also cater some content to each specific platform since they’re all different and have audiences who interact in different ways. Journalists can be creative with their brands. They can create blogs where they curate information focused on a particular beat, they can showcase original reporting, can repost and promote other journalists’ work, and figure out other ways to show they are there to provide information to people all the while showcasing their journalistic skills. It’s really up to the individual journalist how they uniquely approach their brand, but it’s always good to remember employers, colleagues, and the world as a whole are watching and tuning in (Adornato, 2018).    

I’ve started building my personal brand around sports and areas related to sports, like fitness. Having a long history of being a dancer and having a career as a professional dancer made that door naturally open itself to me. I post some dance throwbacks so people can connect to me on a more personal level and learn some of my history, I showcase the fantasy football show I co-created and co-hosted for three seasons, I reveal original stories I’ve covered, I promote my blog which is a newer project, and finally, I display work I’ve done that has nothing to do with that beat to show my versatility. I believe reading this chapter reminded me of some of the key things that are important like having consistency and auditing your content routinely. It made me want to update some of my current branding. I don’t feel like I’m far off from how I want to represent myself, but I can definitely change a few things to make things reflect who I am even more. One thing that sticks out to me is that I need to do a professional photoshoot. I haven’t done a photo shoot in a long time, and my old shoots were dance, commercial, or modeling related. So, it’s time to schedule a photo shoot where I wear some business attire. The positive feeling I had after reading this chapter was that after a few adjustments, I think I’ll be where I need to be in order to find my first long-term job as a journalist. 

Adornato, A. (2018). Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide. Sage Publications. 

[jenileeborek]

Ch. 2 Managing Change: The Mobile-First Newsroom

One area media outlets have had to put more focus on in the internet, mobile, and social media era has been their business models. Shifting into the digital landscape has made it more challenging to remain competitive and be able to survive financially. Many traditional newsrooms that focused on print, television, and radio news decided to transition to a digital-first motto when the Internet became more popular. This meant that it became important for these outlets to publish their content on websites first and then think about how they wanted to distribute it in the traditional ways. Now, many newsrooms think about being mobile-first. The difference between digital-first and mobile-first is the idea of creating content audiences can easily view and interact with on a mobile device, whether this be websites, apps, or social media sites. Younger audiences, in particular, have grown up with smartphones and are used to having news and information at their fingertips. This isn’t likely to change as they get older, and younger generations will be used to even newer trends that are still to come in the future (Adornato, 2018). 

Newsrooms have had to do some soul-searching in order to survive. It’s not enough to be just a newspaper, a television news program or station, or a talk radio station. Modern-day newsrooms combine everything and hire staff who are technologically advanced and who can transform stories to meet every need of their audience. This means journalists must know how to write a story in a more traditional format, take and edit photographs, shoot and edit videos, and create audio clips. They also must know how to navigate social media feeds, including understanding how to do things like live feeds, Instagram stories, and TikTok reels. The outlets that make money and stay relevant do it all (Adornato, 2018).

Every media outlet, new or old, has had to figure out how to make money in the digital age. Paywalls, subscriptions, creating individual apps, and online advertising are just a few ways they’re going about it. Newspapers have seen revenue from advertising diminish, and most of them have slowed their printed editions down because of cost. Even though people still watch local television news stations and those stations still benefit from commercials, studies show that the trend is changing with the younger generation. Streaming and cord-cutting are making television stations re-think their business models as well. Radio stations have fallen behind and still depend on spot advertising, but some are catching up by either offering their own streaming apps or by partnering with streaming services. Some are incorporating podcasts as well, which have taken off in recent years. Digital-only sites rely heavily on investors, online advertising, and subscriptions. Innovative business models are important to every type of news outlet (Adornato, 2018).

One key thing to survival for media outlets outside of business models is their editorial side. The more trustworthy an outlet is the better quality content they provide, and the more engaging and authentic experience it can provide its audiences, the more likely they are to succeed. It takes a lot of work for journalism to thrive in a mobile-first environment, but it’s a field that’s had to adapt many times before and will continue to for years to come (Adornato, 2018).

Adornato, A. (2018). Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide. Sage Publications.   

[jenileeborek]

Ch. 1 Forces at the Gate: An Active Audience

The world of journalism and what it means to be a journalist have always evolved, but the field has been evolving even faster with the emergence of mobile devices and social media. The printing press allowed news and information to be spread to the masses. Radio and television helped increase the speed at which news and information traveled. The Internet, smartphones, and social media have made accessing information instantaneously. Journalists have had to adjust every time technology advances shift the industry, and it’s no different now. It’s possible that journalists have to adapt even faster these days since newer technology is released faster each year (Adornato, 2018). 

One of the major ways journalism has changed is how power is distributed. Media outlets used to be the gatekeepers, deciding what news was newsworthy, what angle was important, and who it should be distributed to. It was a type of communication that went in one direction. It was one-way from the media and journalists to the audience. For the most part, the audience’s job was to digest what they were hearing, reading, and seeing. Now, it’s much more of a two-way conversation. Audiences have a lot of power because their attention can be pulled in multiple directions, and they choose which outlets they feel are most worthy of their attention. Through social media, people can post and discuss what’s important to them instead of being told what should be important to them. They share their everyday life experiences and content, and oftentimes, journalists rely on social media sites to find stories, sources, and user-generated content that can be used in stories or to expand stories. The audience participates in the process of deciding what’s important and what should be discussed by more people. They also have the ability to interact directly with media outlets and journalists, which keeps the conversation going both ways (Adornato, 2018). 

Most journalists rely on social media for news gathering, distributing the news, and interacting with their audience. Searching the city they’re in is one way for journalists to find out what people are talking about and what information city departments are releasing in breaking news scenarios. It’s a place where journalists can distribute different pieces of their stories, from live updates to full print articles to packages that are made to air on television. Finally, it’s a place where journalists can respond to their audience as they’re reporting, show people behind-the-scenes moments, and give people glimpses into who they are as a person. It’s without a doubt that mobile phones and social media have changed journalism’s landscape, and it’s something that will most likely continue to make journalism evolve (Adornato, 2018). 

Adornato, A. (2018). Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide. Sage Publications.    

[jenileeborek]

Is the Media Conservative, Liberal, or Balanced?

“The media is so liberal.” That’s a common phrase you hear nowadays when you hear people discuss the media, news, and political reporting. Many people believe the news they read, watch, and hear is one-sided, but most of the time people say it leans toward the left. I have a slightly different view. I believe that if you add up “the media” altogether it’s balanced. However, when you start breaking the pieces down, each has flaws and leans a certain way for different reasons. Conservative outlets usually have the largest audiences, and their coverage tends to lean more toward the extreme right than toward the center. Liberal outlets usually have smaller audiences individually, but if you add up all of the outlets that are considered left or left-center they probably outnumber the outlets that are considered to be conservative, and all of their audiences combined might slightly outnumber how many people make up conservative audiences. However, their coverage tends to be more balanced, as more of these “liberal” outlets lean toward the center versus the majority of conservative outlets. 

So, let’s look at some of the numbers. 

The top ten television news programs all reside on FOX News, which is considered a conservative channel (A Look Into Broadcast). FOX News Talk also has the most radio listeners than any other station, with 17.8 million a week (Radio: Listeners/Viewers). NPR Radio, which is just left of center is number two with nine million listeners a week (Radio: Listeners/Viewers). The top five broadcast television stations are NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and FOX News Channel (A Look Into Broadcast). NBC is considered to be left-center, ABC is slightly left-of-center, FOX is right-center, and FOX News Channel is very right (A Look Into Broadcast). The top three radio stations for news are FOX News Radio at number one, NPR: National Republic Radio at number two, and MSNBC at number three (Radio: Listeners/Viewers). The top five newspapers are the right-center-leaning Wall Street Journal (42 million viewers/month), the left-leaning New York Times (9.33 million viewers/month), the left-center leaning USA Today (50 million viewers/month), the left-center leaning Washington Post (58 million viewers in December 2022), and the left-center leaning L.A. Times (4.1 million views/week) (Newspaper/Magazine - Associate Print & Digital Sites). 

Ownership becomes a little more interesting because a few large companies own most of the broadcast television networks (A Look Into Broadcast). Comcast owns NBC, including MSNBC, National Amusements owns CBS, Disney owns ABC, and the Murdoch Family owns FOX, including FOX News (A Look Into Broadcast). When it comes to newspapers, the Murdoch Family owns the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times is independently owned, Gannet Co., Inc owns USA Today, Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post, and Patrick Soon-Shiong owns the L.A. Times (Newspaper/Magazine - Associate Print & Digital Sites). It may not be a few large companies that own the majority of the popular newspapers, but the only difference is that individual billionaires own some of them. 

Another interesting thing to look at is age. The median age of primetime viewers of CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX ranges between 56 to 64 years old (A Look Into Broadcast). Meanwhile, more viewers aged 25-54 watched FOX News followed by CNN and then MSNBC (A Look Into Broadcast). It should be mentioned that CNN leans left of center and MSNBC leans even further left of center (A Look Into Broadcast). For radio, more than 244.5 million American adults listen to the radio each month, making radio the leading reach platform (Radio: Listeners/Viewers). For online news sites, most of Breitbart News’ audience ranges from ages 45-54 (Web and News Sites and Social Media). It’s considered far-right on the spectrum  (Web and News Sites and Social Media). Vox, on the other hand, is left-leaning with a large percentage of the audience being between the ages of 25 and 34 (Web and News Sites and Social Media). They had 19.4 million visits in December 2022 (Web and News Sites and Social Media). The Hill skews conservative and had 43 million visits in December 2022, and the majority of the readers are between 35 and 64 years old (Web and News Sites and Social Media). 

Television viewership during prime news times sharply increased between 2019-2020 for FOX News while viewership of CNN and MSNBC slightly increased during the same time (A Look Into Broadcast). Over three million televisions tuned into FOX News by 2020, and only 1.8 million and 1.6 million televisions tuned into CNN and MSNBC by 2020, respectively (A Look Into Broadcast). “Despite outlets such as MSNBC and CNN gaining a lot of viewers simply because of their own daily and nightly programs, their total viewership did not reach the heights that FOX News’ did,” (A Look Into Broadcast). Newspaper readership is declining, despite many newspapers having online versions (Newspaper/Magazine - Associate Print & Digital Sites).

After looking at the research, it’s more clear that “the media” is pretty balanced when you look at the big picture. Conservative outlets tend to have more viewers, listeners, and readers, and they tend to lean more drastically to the right. There tend to be more overall liberal outlets with fewer viewers, listeners, and readers individually, but if you add them all together they will probably equal or surpass the conservative outlets. However, liberal outlets tend to lean more toward the center and be more balanced overall. In some ways, the internet provides a more level playing field because anyone can post information. The difficult thing is driving people to your information. When it comes to that, the media giants still have the edge, which is why they are the ones we look to in order to judge if the media is conservative or liberal. The power of information still remains largely in the hands of a small minority, all of whom are wealthy. 

[jenileeborek]

Deepfake Videos

Deepfake videos and/or audio recordings are becoming more problematic as technology advances and as more people have access to technology they may not realize can create things that can have major consequences. Deepfake videos are videos that are made with computer technology that takes a video of an original person who exists and combines it with movements and words from a different person to make it look like the person in the original video is actually doing what the person manipulating the images is doing. It’s a way of combining faces, movements, and a person’s voice with that of another to make the original look real. 

Audio can also be manipulated in this way. Faking someone’s voice is more difficult than faking visual images, but it can be done. Audio can be manipulated to mimic other people’s words. 

This technology should be very concerning to everyone, especially since more and more people are able to get their hands on it and computers are only becoming smarter. The United States has hit a point culturally where there’s distrust in the media, our political parties are arguably further apart than ever, and technology like social media can keep people in their own ideological bubbles, only interacting with those who reaffirm their beliefs about the world. Adding deepfakes into the mix with the speed at which information spreads can possibly be a recipe for disaster. Especially, if someone wanted to do large-scale harm or create large-scale panic. 

It’s likely that other countries are pursuing this type of technology, and it could hurt Americans in more than one way. First, this type of technology could be used to create a harmful deepfake and then our computer systems could be hacked to spread the image. If people continue to spread it without knowing it’s fake, there could be unimaginable consequences. Second, it could be used by a country to spread false information about United States policies and about Americans to their own citizens to create dislike for Americans and create gaps in cultures that in many ways the internet has helped close. 

This type of technology can hurt journalism and journalists since there’s already a feeling amongst Americans that outlets are putting out fake news. Conspiracy theories are mounting, and those who deeply believe these theories are taking actions that have real-life consequences. ‘PizzaGate’ and reactions to the January 6th insurrection on the Capitol are two examples where conspiracy theories are being believed while journalists are not. Deepfake videos can cloud the water even more, and journalists could pay the price if people start believing that more videos are fake than real. 

Luckily, technology is being developed to detect deepfakes. The real question is, will the detection technology be as readily available as the technology that creates deepfakes? Also, will it be able to detect deepfakes before they spread? It’s hard to say where the future is heading, but for those who already believe a lot of news is fake and who argue that facts exist, this is one more battle for truth-seekers and truth-spreaders to fight.  

[jenileeborek]

Have Viral Videos Changed How We View the World?

Overall, I believe viral videos have changed how we view the world. Many times viral videos give us a glimpse into a situation we otherwise would have never seen because we weren’t there. They can show us the reality of what happened, but the interesting thing about “reality” is that it’s really all about how it’s interpreted. For instance, a video of someone dancing is factually just that, someone dancing. However, everything about the dancing, the why, the meaning behind the movements, etc. are all things that are interpreted by the audience, and that’s where “reality” gets sticky. Viral videos show truths about things that happen, but those truths can be interpreted and spun in a variety of ways depending on who you are, where you’re from, what your background is, and what your life experiences have been. 

When it comes to the viral video of the Kentucky High School Students and the Native American veteran, Nathan Phillips, I think there was a lot of bad coverage from both the right and the left, and a lot of it was for political gain instead of to address the situation. The best way to cover a story like this is to try to interview as many people as you can who were actually there, and let their words (quotes) tell the story. It’s also fine to provide facts that can be seen or heard in the video, but as a journalist, it’s not our job to interpret those things for the audience. Our job is not to convince people of something, but to provide people with information and let them come to their own conclusions. I think both the left and the right parts of mainstream media did a bad job of this when it came to this story from what I’ve seen or read. 

The coverage I agreed with the most was the Reuters article. This article stuck to facts. It described the situation without trying to interject an interpretation. Author Andrew Hay writes, “One teen in particular is seen standing in front of Phillips, staring into his face with a smile. Fellow students, many in clothing bearing President Donald Trump’s ‘MAGA’ slogan, cheered him on and chanted, ‘build that wall, build that wall,’ Phillips said.” This was descriptive of what could be seen and heard without trying to sway the audience. The article also uses quotes from official statements, quotes that people actually said as they responded to the incident, and a quote from Nathan Phillips, the Native American elder. It was factual reporting. The only way it could have been more balanced would have been to include quotes from one of the teenagers, but overall, it was good coverage. 

I also like how the Vox article covered the story. It provided context about how both sides were interpreting the situation, and it ultimately stated that it was impossible to know who got it right. The author of the article, Zack Beauchamp writes, ”But shortly after the clip went viral, to universal and at times vitriolic condemnation, a pushback began in right-of-center media. They argued that mainstream media and left-wing activists alike were being unfair to the kids. […] In response, some left-liberal commentators defended the initial coverage, pointing to the fact that at least one Covington student made a racist tomahawk chop gesture in the direction of the native protesters. […] My lukewarm take is that it’s impossible to know with certainty who has a more accurate read of the situation.” Journalists have opinions and instincts, and we might feel strongly swayed one way, but it’s our job to present both sides to the best of our ability. Even though the journalist interjected himself into the story, which is usually bad journalistic practice, he went on to try to explain how and why both sides were seeing the situation the way they were. The article provided context that didn’t sway too far one way or the other.

Viral videos can make us see the world differently, and they provide us with information we might not otherwise have, but the interpretation is key. It’s the journalist’s responsibility to take information from viral videos and report it as accurately as they would any other story without showing bias.   

[jenileeborek]

Recent Important Images

This is an image of someone in St. Louis crossing the street during the winter storm that hit the Midwest, East Coast, and some of the South hard a few days before Christmas 2022. This is an important image because it demonstrates how brutal the weather was. Many places reached record lows with temperatures reaching the point that people could die if they were outside for too long. During this storm, traveling was dangerous, and some people decided to cancel their plans to be with family over the holiday because of the risk. This comes at a time when global warming and greenhouse gases are important topics in conversations from both environmental and political standpoints. Some people argue the extreme weather events the world has seen over the past ten to twenty years are evidence of climate change.  

The image is unique because the city looks deserted when it comes to foot traffic. All you see is an individual person on the street with cars in the distance. Furthermore, the person who is photographed is wrapped in a blanket. Usually, winter photos show people in thick winter coats so, the fact that the person is wrapped in a blanket could be communicating to the audience this person is unhoused. If they are, that speaks to the increase in unhoused people the country has seen in many cities and the economic impacts our government’s decisions are having on people in many cases. This image could be conveying messages about the economy, the environment, and politics all in one photo while showing the dangerous situations these three topics are putting people in.

This image is of an adult and a young child mourning outside of the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California in January 2023 where eleven people died and others were injured after a mass shooting occurred. The makeshift memorial demonstrates just a small amount of the impact this event had on the community it happened in. The shooting took place during a Lunar New Year celebration. The community had planned to celebrate the new year all weekend until this tragedy happened. 

The photograph repeats a scene many feel has been witnessed far too often in the United States in recent decades; the scene of people mourning after a mass shooting that makes no sense, wondering why innocent lives were taken in such an evil way. It’s unique in that it shows a child mourning. It communicates the difficult conversations adults must now have with children about the reality of mass shootings. Schools now have mass shooting drills, and it is something children must learn about at an age that they shouldn’t have to know about such things. It is telling that the United States is in a time with this amount of gun violence that we must educate our youth about these types of shootings, usually without even being able to make much sense of them when they happen. The image brings up the discussion of gun violence and gun laws by emphasizing what’s really important, which is the loss of life. Too many times there’s no known motive, the murderer dies either by suicide or while being apprehended, and people are left feeling lost without true closure all while feeling like politicians won’t make impactful changes. The image reminds us that these scenes should never become ‘normal’ to society, no matter how often they’re taking place. 

[jenileeborek]

About Me

My name is Jenilee Borek, and I grew up in a suburb west of Chicago. After graduating high school a semester early, I left the Midwest and moved to Los Angeles by myself to pursue a professional dance career. Some of the highlights of my dance career are choreographing and dancing for actress Taryn Manning’s band, Boomkat, and traveling to Thailand while performing with a belly-dancing company. 

After retiring from my professional dance career I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted my next career to be, but I knew it had to be something in a creative field. I watched a lot of sports at the time and was asked by a friend to be a guest on his fantasy football podcast. That’s when I found my next passion. I ended up co-creating and co-hosting the video version of our show which ran for three seasons. I decided I wanted to get a degree in broadcast journalism so I could pursue a sports broadcast career with the correct knowledge I needed to succeed in the field. 

I started college in 2017 at Glendale Community College. I earned my associate’s degree in journalism in 2021, and I was able to transfer early to California State University, Northridge in 2020 to start classes toward my bachelor’s degree. I’m a broadcast journalism major and a communications minor, and I am set to graduate in spring 2023. 

In the next five years, I hope to land a job somewhere in the sports broadcasting field as on-air talent. I will most likely start my career as a news reporter, but I hope I can transition to covering sports quickly.