Media and Society Assignment 4-13-20

Article 1: "Finishable news" Worked for the Guardian on Ipad for 8 years. Will it Draw New Subscribers on Phones? 

The Guardian launched a new app for IOS and Android users, but it is only available through a paid subscription service. The app, Guardian Daily, is an app that provides daily news everyday at 3 a.m. London time. According to writer Laura Owen, this app is looking to be very promising and popular in the United Kingdom. The app is supposed to be much more accessible and convenient than their previous iPad only app. The issue I see rising from this new app and new method of pushing out news is that it is still a subscription based model. Even if this has moved to mobile phones and is more accessible, the app still has a monthly fee. This fee will not be an issue for the hardcore fans of the Guardian but for bringing in new users this may stop them from downloading the app. I can also see people who are converting from reading the daily print paper everyday to digital news because the app has a progress bar that lets you know how long each section is and your progress while reading it. But for new users who never read the print news, why download this when you can go to another news outlet that relays the same information for free even if it is not layed out in an easier way. The Guardian is making the right steps by making a mobile app and they will probably will do well enough. However, I think that if they want to make a big splash with reporting the daily news digitally I think they will need to go to either a better subscription based model or figure out a new business model entirely to attract new users consistently.   

Article 2: 'Touching the Future' Q & A with a Pioneer on the Vision and Future of Tablets 10 years After Ipad

This article, by Jennifer Nelson, is about Roger Fidler a visionary who predicting that there would be a way to read the news electronically rather than in print during the 80s. Fidler explains how his what he hoped for was always too soon and now that his vision is becoming a reality it is not what he expected. Fidler talked about how the digital news did not help increase print journalism it actually helped decrease it. According to Fidler, the corona virus pandemic his hitting print journalism really hard and he hopes that at least some form of  "truth-seeking" journalism will survive. I think that truth-seeking journalism will always be around but print journalism will die out. I don't think it will be completely extinct after corona virus is over with but I think it will be on its last legs. Digital news is evolving every moment and learning and growing. I think what we need now is someone to revolutionize the way news is read on the media. It needs to be accessible and care-free. If using the app or website on any device is cumbersome then it will be the same way of consuming news digitally that we are used to. The new way of reading news from news outlets needs to be intriguing and exciting so it becomes a norm for the majority of society just like print was the norm back in the day. Reading the news through tablets as Fidler predicted is going to stick around but it wont be the main device everyone is using. The device most likely to be used will be mobile phones because more people have their hands on at least one mobile device. Having a tablet just for reading news is just a bonus it is not a necessity. Anything could happen in the upcoming months due to the corona virus and I think this opens many doors for digital news to reach even larger numbers if executed correctly. 

Media and Society: 2 Article Assignment

Article 1: Crowdsourcing Truth and How Journalists can Avoid Spreading Corona virus Misinformation:Q and A with MIT Professor David Rand

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/social-media/coronavirus-misinformation-crowdsourcing-truth-mit-david-rand/

This article by Clarke Merrefield was very insightful and put a light on what we need to be looking out for in misinformation especially in the current state we are at right now. Merrefield interviews Professor David Rand who brings up his project that he is currently working on which has to do with misinformation and COVID-19. He talks about how as we use social media and read news on these different platforms we need to be aware the headline, flag articles that are false, and if writing your own article speak the truth and don't mislead. Social media platforms are currently working to bring the accurate articles about the virus at the top of feeds and rely on third parties as well as users to bring to attention the false articles that bring nothing but panic or hope in something that is not true. After reading this article, I now will be more aware of the information posted and shared on Social Media. Also before I share an article I want to be sure it is accurate so I don't mislead anyone and be someone who spreads the problem. Since the majority of all people are at home most of their days and social media is where most will get their social interactions it is on us as well as the companies who run the social media platforms to be sure that we spread reliable and accurate information so everyone can make it through these hard times. 

Article 2: How Journalists can Address Mistrust in Pandemic Coverage and Help "Flatten the Curve"

https://niemanreports.org/articles/how-journalists-can-address-mistrust-in-pandemic-coverage-and-help-flatten-the-curve/

This article by Melissa Bailey explains how accurate information about COVID-19 can get to more people and have them be aware of what the current issues are. Bailey brings up that many people do not believe experts and because of this there is a divide in the information being sent out by all different outlets and companies. Bailey explains that there needs to be a clear message communicated that is simple and used by the majority of those that share information so that the majority of the people will be on board with what is said. Also this article brings up celebrities such as Tom Hanks explaining how he tweeted that he got COVID-19 which resulted in more people taking it seriously. I think that going forward we need to be thorough when taking in information but also have experts (doctors, scientists, etc.) opinions have more weight until otherwise proven wrong. Also we need to be cautious when taking information in from social media influencers and even some celebrities could be susceptible to providing false information. This article helped me understand that we need to look for credible, reliable, accurate information and accept it even if the facts are not what we want them to be. Also when sharing information or posting new information journalists and companies should use simple and clear terms to help the majority understand the situation. Even using simple charts, pictures, and graphs can be helpful when trying to get your message across. Hopefully as this social distancing continues the information is more clear and more accurate and if that doesn't happen then we as a group need to discern information more carefully so we don't believe something false.