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Daily Archives: September 5, 2019

How Young People Consume News and The Implications For Mainstream Media

A report by Flamingo commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University: “Younger audiences are different from older groups not just in what they do, but in their core attitudes in terms of what they want from the news. Young people are primarily driven by progress and enjoyment in their lives, and this translates into what they look for in news. They still need and want news to connect their world to the world – and fulfil an array of different social and personal needs – but they don’t necessarily see the traditional media as the best or only way to do that. News media is now competing for attention with myriad other distractions, and there is a high level of ‘background’ or ‘indirect’ exposure to news (through social media, other online conversations, documentaries and TV shows, etc.). They don’t need to seek it out, news comes to them. Finally, much of the excitement and gravitas for younger people is on the periphery of the news space (infotainment, lifestyle, cultural, grassroots, bloggers and vloggers).

All this means there is a disconnect; traditional news media no longer seems as relevant or as dominant when it comes to news content. In a simplified way, how news brands and young people view the role and value of news is different: —Traditional news brands see news as: what you should know.—Young audiences see news as: what you should know (to an extent), but also what is useful to know, what is interesting to know, and what is fun to know.And the role of news for young people appears primarily individualistic; it’s about what it can do for them as individuals – rather than for society as a whole. While it’s true that the industry is moving towards producing more content of this kind, most traditional news brands are still not associated with being useful, interesting or fun…”

More Than Half of U.S. Adults Trust Law Enforcement to Use Facial Recognition Responsibly

But the public is less accepting of facial recognition technology when used by advertisers or technology companies: “The ability of governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor the public using facial recognition was once the province of dystopian science fiction. But modern technology is increasingly bringing versions of these scenarios to life. A recent investigation… Continue Reading

A Comparative Study of Perceptions and Use of Google Scholar and Academic Library Discovery Systems

A Comparative Study of Perceptions and Use of Google Scholar and Academic Library Discovery Systems. Kyong Eun Oh and Mónica Colón-Aguirre Vol 80, No 6 (2019) DOI: 10.5860/crl.80.6.876 “Google Scholar and academic library discovery systems are both popular resources among academic users for finding scholarly information. By conducting an online survey with 975 users from… Continue Reading

Rand Report – Hostile Social Manipulation

Hostile Social Manipulation – Present Realities and Emerging Trends: “The role of information warfare in global strategic competition has become much more apparent in recent years. Today’s practitioners of what this report’s authors term hostile social manipulation employ targeted social media campaigns, sophisticated forgeries, cyberbullying and harassment of individuals, distribution of rumors and conspiracy theories,… Continue Reading

Guide to the people, books and sites that you should be following to keep ahead of the rise of white extremists

Zach D. Robert – “A woefully incomplete guide to the people, books and sites that you should be following to keep ahead of the rise of white extremists. “Everytime there is another white extremist-related incident, or arrest I am reminded that the major news publications and cable networks are out of their depth. CNN just… Continue Reading

Exploring Data Worlds at the Public Library

“Data literacy is new to the world of libraries and its meaning is still open to negotiation. Although many have advocated for the education of a data-literate population, there is little consensus on what such educational programs should look like, particularly in the context of informal learning at the public library. The “Exploring Data Worlds… Continue Reading

We’re in a Data Literacy Crisis. Could Librarians Be the Superheroes We Need?

Forbes – “In his work, Chapters from My Autobiography, Mark Twain famously complained (and attributed to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli), “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Imagine Twain’s frustration in today’s data-driven world. But he would have been in good company. Even as information, analytics, and statistics drive more decisions in our daily lives, we’re facing… Continue Reading

Party Leaders in the United States Congress, 1789-2019

EveryCRSReport.com – Party Leaders in the United States Congress, 1789-2019, September 4, 2019 – “This report briefly describes current responsibilities and selection mechanisms for 15 House and Senate party leadership posts and provides tables with historical data, including service dates, party affiliation, and other information for each. Tables have been updated as of the report’s… Continue Reading

Squirrels Eavesdrop on Birds to Check If Danger Has Passed

Smithsonian Magazine – New study suggests eastern grays exposed to predators’ calls resume normal activities more quickly after tuning in to birds’ casual chatter. “Squirrels readily resumed normal activities such as foraging after hearing nearby birds’ relaxed chatter. When squirrels hear the shrieks of a red-tailed hawk, they shift into danger mode, alternately freezing in… Continue Reading