One of my favorite news agencies, Reuters, is just out with its global digital news summary and here are a few key findings:
- Interest in news has fallen sharply in the United States following the election of President Biden – especially with right-leaning groups.
- The media are seen to be representing young people (especially young women), political partisans, and people from minority ethnic groups less fairly.
- Despite more options to read and watch partisan news, the majority of our respondents (74%) say they still prefer news that reflects a range of views and lets them decide what to think. Most also think that news outlets should try to be neutral on every issue (66%).
- The use of social media for news remains strong, especially with younger people and those with lower levels of education. Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram have become especially popular in the Global South, creating most concern when it comes to spreading misinformation about Coronavirus.
- Mainstream news brands and journalists attract most attention around news in both Facebook and Twitter but are eclipsed by influencers and alternative sources in networks like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. TikTok now reaches a quarter (24%) of under35s.
- The value of traditional local and regional news media is increasingly confined to a small number of subjects such as local politics and crime. Other internet sites and search engines are considered best for a range of other local information including weather, housing, jobs, and ‘things to do’ that used to be part of what local news media bundled together.
- The use of smartphone for news (73%) has grown at its fastest rate for many years, with dependence also growing through Coronavirus lockdowns. Use of laptop and desktop computers and tablets for news is stable or falling.
There is much more in the report, but it is clear that both in the U.S. and elsewhere, a majority of people who follow the news do not want to be told by media figures how to think. Most people do not want narrow views but a range of opinions, so they can better decide for themselves.
This is good news for traditional journalists because that is how we operate, but then again, traditional journalists do not necessarily control the major mass media outlets.
So these data points should be uppermost in the minds of any media executives truly interested in serving their audiences.
In a deeply divided society, media executives have a moral dilemma: Whether to provide honest reporting based on diverse perspectives or biased reporting that deliver higher ratings.
Which do they choose?
***
The news:
* Seattle scientist digs up deleted genetic data on virus, stirring new origin fight -- A computational biologist posted his findings on a server where papers that have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal have been landing by the thousands, prompting instant reaction from scientists who have debated a flurry of theories about the coronavirus’s origin. (WP)
* The Capitol Hill riot in the United States and the global spread of false information and conspiracy theories about Coronavirus have further focused minds on where people are getting their news, which is why we have undertaken detailed research this year on understanding the role of different social networks for news and the complex ways in which they are being used to spread misleading and false information around the world. (Reuters)
* The Delta Variant Is a Grave Danger to the Unvaccinated -- One half of America is protected. The other is approaching a perilous moment in the pandemic. (New Yorker)
* Republicans Block Voting Rights Bill, Dealing Blow to Biden and Democrats -- All 50 G.O.P. senators opposed the sweeping elections overhaul, leaving a long-shot bid to eliminate the filibuster as Democrats’ best remaining hope to enact legal changes. (NYT)
* States across the country are dropping barriers to voting, widening a stark geographic divide in ballot access (WP)
* Amazon, Others Race to Buy Up Renewable Energy --The race to secure electricity deals for power-hungry data centers has tech companies reshaping the renewable-energy market and grappling with a new challenge: how to ensure their investments actually reduce emissions. (WSJ)
* The rising cost of being in National Guard: Reservists and guardsmen are twice as likely to be hungry as other American groups (WP)
* For Americans struggling with poverty, ‘the safety net in the United States is very, very weak,’ expert says (WP)
* U.S. Supreme Court hands victory to cheerleader in free speech case -- The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Pennsylvania public school wrongly suspended a cheerleader over a vulgar social media post she made after she didn't qualify for the varsity team. (Reuters, AP)
* Political newcomer India Walton appears to have knocked off Buffalo, New York's longtime incumbent in the city's Democratic primary, likely crowning her the first female leader of the upstate city and the first socialist mayor of any major American city in almost 60 years. No Republican is running in the fall election. [HuffPost]
* Nearly 900 Secret Service members were infected with the coronavirus. A watchdog blames Trump. (WP)
* Insurance companies are abandoning tens of thousands of rural Californians because of wildfire risk, forcing them to find replacement coverage at double or triple the rate. (Sacramento Bee)
* More than 500 firefighters are battling the Willow Fire, which is burning south of Big Sur in Los Padres National Forest. (AP)
* I’ve Cracked Zodiac, a French Engineer Says. Online Sleuths Are Skeptical. -- Fayçal Ziraoui caused an online uproar after saying he had cracked unsolved ciphers attributed to the Zodiac killer in California and identified him, potentially ending a 50-year-old quest. (NYT)
* Member of Oath Keepers to plead guilty to role in U.S. Capitol attack (Reuters)
* Uber, Lyft Drivers Race to Apps That Make Contract Work a Better Gig (WSJ)
* Scherzer passes every ‘sticky’ test Phillies throw at him; Girardi gets tossed (WP)
* Against Expectations, Southwestern Summers Are Getting Even Drier -- The finding by researchers runs counter to a basic tenet of climate change — that warming increases humidity because hotter air holds more moisture. It’s also bad news for fire seasons. (NYT)
* U.S. solar developers see opportunity in America's post-industrial lands (Reuters)
* Poll: Many Democrats want more US support for Palestinians (AP)
* An avoidable tragedy looms in Afghanistan. Biden must act quickly to avert it. (Editorial Board/WP)
* Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S. -- The training, approved by the State Department, underscores the perils of military partnerships with repressive governments. (NYT)
* Iran Says It Foiled Attack on Another Nuclear Facility (WSJ)
* U.S. seizes websites linked to alleged Iranian government propaganda (WP)
* Alien Planet-Hunters In Hundreds Of Nearby Star Systems Could Spot Earth -- Potentially, observers in plenty of solar systems could have detected Earth sometime in the last 5,000 years. More stars will soon move into positions that would let them see our planet. (NPR)
* Hummingbird Back At Feeder Again, Grandmother Reports (The Onion)
***
"Come Together" (excerpt)
He come grooving up slowly
He got joo joo eyeball
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker he just do what he please
He got toe jam football
He got monkey finger
He shoot Coca-Cola
He say I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
He got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard
He one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knee
Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one mojo filter
He say, "one and one and one is three"
Got to be good looking 'cause he's so hard to see
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