Sources/Lit Review
1. Obama, President Barack. Farewell Address. Chicago. January 10, 2017.
Chosen to provide insight into the difficulties facing society when there is no agreed-upon truth.
2. Oxford Dictionaries. "Word of the Year: Post-Truth". Oxford University Press. 2017. en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016.
Chosen to define the phenomenon of subjective truth over objective truth and the extent to which it has pervaded the national consciousness.
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3. Thomas Jefferson: Campaign and Elections. UVA Miller Center. millercenter.org/president/jefferson/campaigns-and-elections
Provides insight into the history of politics and journalism, offering a window into campaigns that were waged with the use of newspaper "propaganda" as well as leaks to the press in the earliest days of the U.S.
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4. Cherlin, Reid. "The Presidency and the Press." Rolling Stone. August 4, 2014. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-presidency-and-the-press-20140804
Provides a unique view from inside a presidential communications office (in this case, Obama's) to explain the difficulties inherent in trying to go through or around the press corps to get your message to the public. Also provides a view from inside the government of how the modern press operates and the agendas involved.
5. Stephen, Bijan. "Social Media Helps Black Lives Matter Fight the Power." Wired. November 2015, www.wired.com/2015/10/how-black-lives-matter-uses-social-media-to-fight-the-power/
Demonstrates how the use of social media gives social activists the tools to bypass traditional media in order to get their message to the public.
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6. Associated Press. "'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' becomes rallying cry despite questions whether hands were raised high." November 27, 2014. www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/27/hands-up-dont-shoot-becomes-rallying-cry-despite-questions-whether-hands-were.html.
Provides evidence of the loose association between truth and message, particularly in cases in which a political and cultural agenda takes precedence (as it did with Black Lives Matter)
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7. Brown, Heather and Emily Guskin and Amy Mitchell. "The Role of Social Media in the Arab Uprisings" Pew Research Center. November 28, 2012. www.journalism.org/2012/11/28/role-social-media-arab-uprisings/
Closer look at how social media helped galvanize activists during the Arab Spring uprisings and what role it played in communicating real-time events to the outside world.
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8. McChesney, Robert and Victor Pickard. "Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights". The New Press. May 2011. Page 275
Provides a vision for the role of citizen journalists going forward, stressing their role as civic actors and outlining a set of goals and responsibilities outside the traditional journalistic mainstream
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9. Gottfried, Jeffrey and Elisa Shearer. "News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2016." Pew Research Center. May 26, 2016. www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/
A look at where social media users get their news, with particular focus on the rise of social media sites like Reddit and Facebook as news sources.
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10. Code of Ethics. Society of Professional Journalists. Revised Sept. 6, 2014. www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Included here as a benchmark definition for the responsibilities of a professional journalist as defined by an organization that has been around since 1909.
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11. Gant, Scott. “We’re All Journalists Now” Simon & Schuster New York, NY 2007 (p3)
Questions our definition of what a journalist is and whether we should rethink and reframe it for the digital age. A point with fascinating and far-reaching consequences for both "citizen" and "professional" journalists
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12. Warren, James. "Meet David Farenthold, The Washington Post's Trump Charity Sleuth." Poynter. October 4, 2016. www.poynter.org/2016/meet-david-fahrenthold-the-washington-posts-trump-foundation-sleuth/433207/
Gives insight into the advantages of digital media for the modern journalist, particularly the use of crowdsourcing to track down information, notably utilized by the Washington Post's David Farenthold.
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13. Singer, Jane and Jane Domingo, David Heinonen, etc. "Participatory Journalism". Wiley-Blackwell. 2011. Page 2.
Explores an alternate way of defining citizen journalism, describing it instead in terms of the dynamic process that one goes through, stressing the qualities of collective collaboration.
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14. Von Drehle, David. "Is Steve Bannon the Second Most Powerful Man in the World?" Time Magazine. Feb. 2, 2017. www.sott.net/article/341556-Steve-Bannon-The-most-powerful-person-in-the-Trump-White-House
Discusses the modern communications structure (social media, digital media) and President Trump's ability to harness its power to bypass traditional journalistic gate keepers.
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15. McCoy, Terrance. "For the New Yellow Journalists, Opportunity Comes in Clicks and Bucks." Washington Post. November 20, 2016. http://wapo.st/2gbSEXU?tid=ss_mail
Chosen because it explores the practice of intentionally spreading misinformation, who is behind it as well as the political (and economic) advantages. A very individual and detailed look at how these poisonous messages are spread.
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16. Dewey, Caitlin. "Facebook fake-news writer: I think Donald Trump is in the White House Because of Me." Washington Post. November 17, 2016. http://wapo.st/2gilNEq?tid=ss_mail
Interview with an individual who intentionally spreads news hoaxes. Provides insight into his mindset and his view of the people who read and disseminate the kind of misinformation he is posting.
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17. "Americans' Trust in Mass Media Sinks to a New Low." Gallup. Sept. 14, 2016. www.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx
Provides an important historical and cultural benchmark when it comes to how the American people view the traditional or mainstream media
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18. Shaffer, Kris. "Truthy Lies and Surreal Truths: A Plea for Critical Digital Literacies". Digital Pedagogy Lab. Dec. 8, 2016.
www.digitalpedagogylab.com/hybridped/truthy-lies-surreal-truths/
Provides critically important guidelines for digital media users as to how to combat misinformation, as well as how to avoid in unwittingly taking part in spreading it.
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19. Aaker, Jennifer and Andy Smith . “The Dragonfly Effect”. John Wiley & Sons, 2010 (p39)
Provides a window into the utilization of social media, specifically by the Obama campaign. Offers unique insight from campaign officials about the power and scope of their digital reach.
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20. Roberts, Hannah. "'I don't type all my tweets' - Trump speaks about how he uses Twitter." Business Insider. Jan. 16, 2017
The flip side of the Obama window into social media, providing Trump's view of digital media, particularly Twitter and its usefulness in getting around traditional information gatekeepers.
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21. Edelman, Adam. "Donald Trump blasts journalists as 'worst people I ever met'". New York Daily News. Sept. 28, 2015. www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-blasts-journalists-worst-people-met-article-1.2376330
Explores President Trump's opinion of journalists and the media in general, thereby establishing an important point of discussion when it comes to the challenges faced by the modern journalist.
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22. Sullivan, Margaret. "The traditional way of reporting on a president is dead. And Trump's press secretary killed it." Washington Post. Jan. 22, 2017. wapo.st/2j2cXXH?tid=ss_mail
An exhortation to journalists about how to confront falsehoods and misleading information, particularly when it comes from people in a position of power (like the White House). Provides useful information for all up-and-coming journalists addressed in this paper.
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23. Mitchell, Amy and Jesse Holcomb. "State of the News Media 2016". Pew Research Center. June 15, 2016. http://www.journalism.org/2016/06/15/state-of-the-news-media-2016/
Chosen because it provides a snapshot of how the public consumes news. Indicates that cable news is ascendant while newspapers and magazines are losing audiences. Also indicates that digital media is increasingly relied upon to engage with the public.
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24. Drobnic Holan, Angie. "2016 Lie of the Year: Fake News." Politifact. December 13, 2016. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/dec/13/2016-lie-year-fake-news/
Chosen because it discusses the pervasiveness of fake news, how it infiltrates our society and how society can push back and fact-check the information being distributed, either by individuals or media entities. Includes insight from fact-checkers whose job it is to separate lies and truth.
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