Facebook, Fox, and what ‘killing people’ means in a pandemic

Last Thursday, with confirmed cases of COVID-19 again rising across the US, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, issued his first advisory since the Biden administration took office: health mis- and disinformation, he said, has prolonged the pandemic, not least by exposing Americans to anti-vax propaganda, and social-media companies should do more to stamp it out. On Friday, Biden himself put a finer point on things. Asked by an NBC reporter for his message to platforms, particularly Facebook, Biden replied, “They’re killing people,” then added, “The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated.” His bluntness drove a media frenzy and infuriated Facebook, which hit back—claiming that it is actually “helping save lives, period,” by putting good vaccine information in front of billions of users, and accusing Biden of making the company a “scapegoat” for his administration’s missed vaccination targets. On Monday, Biden was asked about his remark, and said this time that Facebook “isn’t killing people”; rather, a small but prolific number of users are. Some news outlets reported that Biden had “clarified” his earlier comment. Others saw a “softening,” a “walk back,” even a “U-turn.” Biden’s intervention—along with rising cases and plummeting vaccination rates—have reignited urgent media conversations about vaccine hesitancy, whose fault it is, and to what extent. Facebook has been central to this conversation, with observers debating the proper balance between the good... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-07-21 12:37:08 UTC ]
News tagged with: #belarusian association #secrecy laws #nieman lab #pushed back #book based

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Facebook, Fox, and what ‘killing people’ means in a pandemic'


Facebook, Fox, and what ‘killing people’ means in a pandemic

Last Thursday, with confirmed cases of COVID-19 again rising across the US, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, issued his first advisory since the Biden administration took office: health mis- and disinformation, he said, has prolonged the pandemic, not least by exposing Americans to... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-07-21 12:37:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #belarusian association #secrecy laws #nieman lab #pushed back #book based


Meta is killing the Facebook News tab in the US and Australia

In early April, the Facebook News tab will start disappearing for users in the US and Australia. Meta has announced that it's deprecating the dedicated tab found in the bookmarks section of its social network as part of its efforts to "align [its] investments to [its] products and services... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-03-01 08:27:50 UTC ]
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Facebook Made BuzzFeed, Then Killed It

The digital publisher grew fat off the back of Facebook’s fickle algorithm. Battered and bruised, it’s now going back to where it all began. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2023-04-24 11:00:00 UTC ]
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THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE is an International Phenomenon. It’s Partly Because of People like Me.

One reader reflects on why a picture book with messages about love, perseverance, and imperfection has connected with so many readers in the last two years. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-11-18 11:37:00 UTC ]
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Boston, Philly Mag Owner Brings in New CEO to Navigate Pandemic | People on the Move

David Lipson, third-generation owner of Boston and Philadelphia magazine publisher Metro Corp., is stepping down as CEO and bringing in management consultant Nick Fischer to run the company through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, staffers learned this week. Fischer currently serves as... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-04-29 22:35:01 UTC ]
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Q&A: What do people ask a librarian in a pandemic? L.A. Library's InfoNow has the answer

With libraries closed, L.A. librarians now work from home to help people find free ebooks, music and movies during the coronavirus crisis. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-04-10 19:52:47 UTC ]
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People Are Spending More Time on Instagram, at the Expense of Facebook and Snapchat

Adults in the U.S. will spend the same number of average minutes per day on Facebook and Snapchat this year as they did in 2018, but they will devote more time to Instagram, according to the latest figures from eMarketer. The consultancy found that U.S. adult Facebook users are spending an... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2019-05-28 10:00:50 UTC ]
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Four out of five people expect Facebook to have another data privacy issue this year

People are becoming more aware of the need to protect their data online, not just because of the rate of cybercriminal activity, but also because large organizations are frequently being careless with the data they hold. A new survey of 1,000 people from OpenVPN reveals that four out of five... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2019-05-15 14:28:45 UTC ]
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Older people more likely to share fake news on Facebook, study finds

Researchers suggest over-65s may lack skills to determine veracity of online newsOlder people are almost four times more likely to have shared fake news on Facebook than the younger generation, according to research published in the journal Science.On average, American Facebook users over 65... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What It Means to Delete Facebook

Facebook is closing out a bruising 2018 filled with high-profile scandals. It started with additional fallout from Russian election meddling and soon included misinformation, Cambridge Analytica, security breaches, and a shady opposition research firm. A new report published just this week found... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2018-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook has 'black people problem,' ex-employee says

As Facebook defends its handling of Russian political interference, an ex-employee published another scathing critique of the company's culture. Facebook "has a black people problem," Mark S. Luckie wrote in a lengthy internal memo circulated earlier this month and made public on Facebook... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NBC, Fox News and Facebook stop running Trump's anti-immigrant campaign ad

NBCUniversal said Monday that it is pulling President Trump’s controversial anti-immigrant campaign advertisement, hours after the spot ran prominently during “Sunday Night Football.” Fox News said it decided to stop running the commercial as well, and Facebook stopped accepting it as a paid ad,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Building for People: Facebook’s Approach to Publisher Monetization

Today, people on average spend nearly a third of their day engaging with digital content, according to Adobe's 2018 Consumer Content Survey. Navigating audiences across various platforms is a constant challenge for publishers. At Facebook, we believe in building community for people across... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2018-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #size fits


Facebook shares more details about its massive security breach -- after blocking people from sharing news about it

The Guardian was among many outlets to write about the huge Facebook vulnerability and attack reported yesterday, and people were understandably keen to share the story on the social network. However, many people found that they were unable to do. Large numbers of Facebook users who tried to... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2018-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Atlantic Taps Facebook Exec as Chief Business and Product Officer | People on the Move

[caption id="attachment_134577" align="alignright" width="150"] Alex Hardiman[/caption] The Atlantic continued its ongoing expansion this week with the hire of Facebook’s head of news products, Alex Hardiman, as its new chief business and product officer. Starting this fall, Hardiman will be... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2018-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Are people becoming less reliant on Facebook for their news? | Paul Chadwick

Two new surveys suggest the public still value traditional news publishersWhen you try to imagine a media diet consisting only of retweets, random blogs or the Facebook posts of family and friends, you grasp the value of journalism created by professional media organisations. Traditional news... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graduate school #columbia university #healthy democracy


Facebook says 'most people' likely had their data scraped from its platform

Facebook has announced a sweeping overhaul of its data collection rules, and revealed that most people's accounts were likely targets of "scraping" by malicious actors.Mike Schroepfer, chief technology officer, on Wednesday published a blog post outlining nine areas where Facebook would focus on... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Says People Are Spending Less Time on Its Platform

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says time spent on the platform took a hit as it implemented changes meant to improve the experience for users.On Tuesday, Facebook announced quarterly earnings, and the CEO said in a statement that already people have been using the social network less because of... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I run a small, independent magazine. I worry Facebook will kill us off | Nathan Robinson

For independent and non-profit outlets, small shifts in algorithms – as Mark Zuckerberg just introduced – can pose an existential threatFacebook’s recent company announcement should scare anyone who values independent and non-profit media.In response to mounting criticism over its role in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Disney-Fox deal: what it means for the Murdochs and their media empire

Family retains control of Fox News and News Corp newspapers including the Sun, Times and Wall Street JournalRupert Murdoch has been giving particular attention to who takes over control of his media interests since 2014, when Lachlan returned to the family business a decade after leaving... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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