Influencers, public media & misinformation on Facebook

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Clout Atlas: The Role of Digital Influencers in Online Journalism

Columbia Journalism School
Thursday, November 29, 2018
5:00 PM – 8:30 PM

The rise of social media platforms has created a crop of so-called digital influencers who communicate with and advertise to their audiences in more direct ways than traditional media figures. Influencers raise especially difficult questions when it comes to journalism: While some offer vital perspectives that are underrepresented in the mainstream media, others use their unique positions to advance misleading or extremist content.

The Tow Center is convening a group of journalists, academics, and industry leaders to discuss the evolving role of digital influencers within the online media ecosystem: How do influencers build audiences and foster engagement? How do the dynamics of influencer networks compare to those of the mainstream media? How do social media platforms navigate their relationships with influencers? What can be done about influencers who promote harassment or misinformation? RSVP here.

An Urgent Mandate for Platforms and Public Media

On November 12, Emily Bell opened the 2018 News Assembly in Edinburgh with a keynote address on why public media is more important now than at any time in the past 50 years. Bell also addressed the different strata of challenges for journalists—including a local crisis of resources, a national crisis of trust and integrity, and a global crisis of press freedom—and delivered a clear-eyed call to action. Watch the full address given by the Tow Center's founding director here.

In the News and At Large

On the eve of the midterm elections, Jonathan Albright published his three-part series on the spread of misinformation on Facebook. His takeaway after collecting more than 250,000 posts, 5,000 political ads, and historic engagement metrics for hundreds of Facebook pages and groups? "It’s not good. Many of the dangers that were pointed out years ago have seemed to grow exponentially on Facebook." His research was highlighted online at Nieman Lab, TechCrunch, and VentureBeat.

Albright also weighed in on the doctored video of CNN's Jim Acosta shared by the White House. In The Washington Post, Albright argued edited footage poses an even greater risk than completely faked videos, because the altered video contains a grain of truth.

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