MCOM 4003 - Taylor Rich

  How is Social Media Impacted by FOIA? The Freedom of Information Act was enacted in 1967 and " gives citizens access to public information held by federal agencies."  And even though it's been 55 years since FOIA was established, it has adapted over time to "capture advanced technology".  This "advanced technology" in question is social media. Of course, it's not a surprise to say that social media has completely changed the way we communicate and receive our information, which applies to FOIA and our government.  Because governments are now active on social media, they must be careful to abide by FOIA's guidelines within the content they post. Public business, meetings, correspondence, etc are all examples of postings on government social media and websites, which are now considered a public record according to FOIA.  Government agencies, federal and state, are required "to retain and produce electronic records", accessible to the ...

  What is Global Media Ethics? Global media ethics is defined as a " comprehensive set of principles and standards for the practice of journalism in an age of global news media ".  Because news today can be distributed on a variety of communication platforms, this set of principles is essential to monitoring the ethical behavior of journalists around the world. While media ethics is a global concern, any individual media association has not adopted a global code of conduct. Because no global code has been established, international conventions and discussions of media ethics have created a worldwide debate. Before discussing the argument of global media ethics, first, we must understand what journalism/ media ethics are. The specific idea of media ethics is designed to create change within global media to "eliminate inequalities" and to "reduce control" in the minority of Western countries. Because journalists and media specialists are constantly skeptical...

  Understanding Misinformation Growing up, if I said anything slightly far-fetched or ridiculous, my dad would sarcastically say, "Oh did you read that on the internet? Then it must be true".  As a teenager, I was offended that he never believed whatever obvious nonsense that came out of my mouth, but now as a young adult, I understand his skeptical perspective against information from the internet, specifically social media. Misinformation is defined as " false or inaccurate information, especially that which is deliberately intended to deceive" . Unfortunately, misinformation (most commonly known as "fake news") has become a common disruption within social media. Fake news is widely shared across social media, and it's important to know how to fact-check and protect yourself from believing false information.  How to Protect Yourself from Fake News Fake news is rampant on social media. Although surrounding yourself with reliable news sources and remai...