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Facebook's 'Journalism Project' Seeks To Strengthen Online News (cnet.com)
Facebook is taking more responsibility over its role in the media industry. CNET reports on the company's announcement: The social network on Wednesday announced a new initiative called the Journalism Project, which seeks to put Facebook on steadier footing with the news industry. As part of the effort, the social network will work to help train journalists on how to use Facebook as a reporting tool and assist the public in figuring out how to sniff out misinformation. "We know that our community values sharing and discussing ideas and news," Fidji Simo, director of product for the project, wrote in a blog post. "And as a part of our service, we care a great deal about making sure that a healthy news ecosystem and journalism can thrive." The initiative is part of an about-face for Facebook, which for a long time shrugged off its influence on the news and downplayed the impact of misinformation circulated on Facebook on the 2016 presidential election. The company is now acknowledging the significant role it plays in the consumption of news online, along with its ability to shape journalism's future.
Snopes, reputable. HaHa.
Every reasonable, educated person in the country was against Trump, purely because he was self-evidently the worst candidate who has ever stood for election to anything anywhere. No collusion required, just millions of people seeing the blindingly obvious.
"Members of the media" did "collude" with Clinton's campaign. Know what? - "members of the media" colluded with Trump's campaign too, and Sanders's. Steve Bannon, for instance, is a "member of the media" by any reasonable definition. Newsflash, "members of the media" are allowed to support candidates and even actively campaign for them, same as anyone else. And there's nothing wrong with that.
The idea that "the media is supposed to be neutral" is stupid. It's never been neutral, and it's not "supposed" to be. Every newspaper in the US routinely endorses candidates, and they've been doing it since 1796.
What's really changed is the way Americans live now. Used to be, you'd socialize with your neighbors and people at work, and they'd be a mix of party affiliations. Now, Americans have largely sorted themselves into solidly (D) and (R) neighborhoods and even whole companies. Half the population can now go whole weeks on end without even seeing a supporter of the other party in the flesh. They'll all get their news from the same sources and interact in similar echo chambers. And that's why they're both taking the caricatures of their opponents, drawn up collectively by many of their own more evil activists, as reality.