Journalism and Truth in an Age of Social Media

Pablo J. Boczkowski, Northwestern University Katz and Mays assembled a stellar group of experts on journalism from across the social and behavior sciences, the humanities, and technology fields to inquire about the construction, circulation, and reception of truth. This volume illuminates critical challenges and opportunities that contemporary media face, which will be of great interest to scholars, students, practitioners, and the general public

David Karpf, author of Analytic Activism: Digital Listening and the New Political Strategy How do journalists and citizens adapt to the social media age? How do we navigate fake news and clickbait headlines, how do news organizations maintain credibility and pursue truth amidst against the rising tide of propaganda? In Journalism and Truth in an Age of Social Media, Katz and Mays have assembled many of the leading scholars in the field to help sort through these questions. The book highlights what is new and what is old about the problems facing journalism today. It eschews easy answers and grapples with the rich and complex issues that will dominate public discussion for years to come.

Daniel Kreiss, author of Prototype Politics: Technology-Intensive Campaigning and the Data of Democracy Journalism and the Search for Truth in an Age of Social Media brings together an impressive array of leading scholars who get beyond the 'fake news' headlines to illuminate the complicated problem of truth in contemporary democracy. This highly accessible volume is unique in contextualizing truth historically and providing an interdisciplinary lens onto the effects of social media on journalism, and political and social life more broadly. This book will animate classroom discussions in the years to come, and make a lasting contribution to the debate over technology, journalism, and the shape of public life.

Seth C. Lewis, Shirley Pap Chair in Emerging Media, University of Oregon This is precisely the book we need for a bewildering media moment. It offers a delightful dose of historical perspective as well as contemporary clarity about the 'fake news' phenomenon and its implications for journalism and public life. Some of the very best thinkers on these issues, brought together in these pages, reveal key insights for making sense of facts, fakes, and truth in a social media world.

Esther Thorson, Michigan State University With mainstream journalism under often scathing attack by citizens and politicians, these chapters provide an excellent introduction to and clarification of critical phrases like 'fake news,' 'news bias,' and 'truth in journalism.' Its broad scope and the authors' depth of knowledge provide impressive value for general readers, students, and scholars from areas as diverse as philosophy, information science, political science, communication, and journalism. A just-right collection for understanding journalism struggling in the digital epoch.

Joseph Turow, University of...

James E. Katz is Feld Professor of Emerging Media at Boston University's College of Communication, where he directs its Division of Emerging Media Studies. He has been awarded a Distinguished Fulbright Chair to Italy, fellowships at Princeton, Harvard, and MIT, and the Ogburn Career Achievement Award from the American Sociological Association. Dr. Katz is an elected fellow of the International Communication Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Kate K. Mays is completing her PhD in Emerging Media Studies at Boston University's College of Communication and is a Graduate Student Fellow for computational and data-driven research at the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering at Boston University. She has presented her research findings at a variety of international conferences and in several journals. After graduating from Georgetown University, she worked in the publishing industry before coming to Boston University for advanced studies.

List of Contributors Acknowledgements Preface Chapter 1. Introduction James E. Katz and Kate K. Mays Democracy, News, & Society Chapter 2. Belgium Invades Germany: Can Facts Survive Politics? Michael Schudson Spotlight: Pierre Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field David L. Swartz Chapter 3. From information availability to factual accountability: Reconsidering how truth matters for politicians, publics, and the news media Lucas Graves and Chris Wells Chapter 4. Fake News: A New Obsession with an Old Phenomenon? Nicole Krause, Christopher D. Wirz, Dietram A. Scheufele, Michael Xenos Pillars of Truth in Journalism Spotlight: Sophisticated Modernism & Truth Edward Schiappa Chapter 5. "The True" in Journalism Juliet Floyd Chapter 6. Truth in Journalism Zeynep Soysal Craft of Journalism and Truth Chapter 7. Canards, fausses nouvelles, paranoid style. Classic authors for an emerging phenomenon Peppino Ortoleva Chapter 8. Scoop: The Challenge of Foreign Correspondence John Maxwell Hamilton and Heidi Tworek Chapter 9. Searching for Truth in Fragmented Spaces: Chat Apps and Verification in News Production Colin Agur and Valerie Belair-Gagnon Chapter 10. The use and verification of online sources in the news production process. Sophie Lecheler, Sanne Kruikemeier, Yael de Haan Chapter 11. Technological Affordances can Promote Misinformation: What Journalists Should Watch Out for When Relying on Online Tools and Social Media Maria D. Molina and S. Shyam Sundar Reception & Perception Chapter 12. Fake News Finds an Audience Erik P. Bucy and John E. Newhagen Chapter 13. Truth at large: When social media investigations get it wrong Edson C. Tandoc Jr. Chapter 14. Emotional Characteristics of Social Media and Political Misperceptions Brian E. Weeks and R. Kelly Garrett Chapter 15. Conclusion Kate K. Mays and James E. Katz