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


Self-publishing: is it killing the mainstream?

In genre fiction, going it alone is beginning to look a much more dependable route to successBrenna Aubrey self-published her debut romance novel At Any Price on the Amazon Kindle on 9 December 2013. One month later At Any Price had netted a total profit of £16,588. Aubrey's success is far from... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Withdrawal: Viral Publishers See Traffic Plunge

Publishers that rely on Facebook to drive large portions of their traffic are at constant risk of having the rug pulled out from under their feet. A recent algorithm tweak may have done just that. The post Facebook Withdrawal: Viral Publishers See Traffic Plunge appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Curious Fox expands team

Children’s publisher is expanding its team by appointing Helen Freeman to the newly created... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook, Google and Yahoo now say when the US government requests user content (update: Microsoft too)

Last week, the US government finally relented on letting technology companies publish more detail about national security requests; today, some bigger firms are taking advantage of the looser rules. Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Yahoo have updated ... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook’s Looming Role as Media Kingpin

While Facebook is positioning Paper as a way for publishers to better reach -- and, hopefully, monetize -- mobile readers, Paper may make publishers too dependent on Facebook for traffic. The meteoric rise of sites like Elite Daily, Upworthy and Viral Nova shows how social-savvy publishers can... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook: 10 years of social networking, in numbers

Ten years today, the social networking giant has notched up some interesting numbers along the way• How Facebook became the world's biggest social network1.23bn monthly usersBy the end of 2013, Facebook boasted 1.23bn monthly active users worldwide, adding 170m in just one year. According to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Facebook's Mobile Ad Network Could (Finally) Upend A Backwards Industry

By understanding our tastes and habits, Facebook could steal billions of dollars in ads from traditional media and get Madison Avenue out of the stone age.Facebook has never been a company lacking in foolish ambition--witness Facebook Home, Beacon, Places, and other monumental undertakings. But... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fox to Secure Controlling Stake in YES Network

21st Century Fox on Friday announced it would take a controlling stake in YES Network, upping its of Yankees Entertainment and Sports (YES) Network, raising its ownership position in the RSN to 80 percent. The media conglomerate originally assumed a 49 percent stake in YES in November 2012,... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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People on the Move | 1.23.14

Sierra magazine has hired Ben Warner as the magazine’s new national advertising director. Warner previously served as co-founder and publisher of Laguna Beach Magazine.  Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2014-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If Facebook is like a disease, I don't mind getting infected

Facebook has been in the news over the past few days after a report suggested that the social network is spreading in a similar way to a virus. Like all epidemics, the report suggests, the rate of infection will ultimately drop off, leading to the suggestion that by 2017 the social network will... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2014-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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People Prefer Big, Interruptive Web Ads

So much for blending in.  While the online ad industry falls deeper in love with native ads that fade into the background of Web pages, consumers prefer ads that get in their face by taking over their computer screens. At least, that’s according to a new study on high-impact ads conducted by... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Tries a Mobile Ad Network

A Facebook spokesperson told Digiday that the program will not port Facebook-style ad units to other apps, however. Instead, it will simply use its data to target whatever formats those app publishers currently sell. The post Facebook Tries a Mobile Ad Network appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Does digital publishing mean the death of the author? | Richard Lea

We used to know what it took to be a writer – you had to publish a book. But electronic publishing is piling pressure on myths of the author's lifeWhat's the difference between making money out of books and writing books that people want to buy? Turns out it's about 40% – if, that is, you... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook to Brands: Post More Images

Brands have spent the past couple of years complaining the content they publish is rarely actually seen by users that like their pages. That's party because Facebook wants those brands to pay for ads, but also because it doesn't want them alienating users with annoying updates asking people to... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Testing Mobile Ad Network

Facebook is testing mobile ads that appear on apps other than its own, the company said. In a post today, Facebook says the test is for a mobile ad network it is creating. It marks an important step for the social network, showing its sponsored content outside its own properties is key to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fox Is Bringing Metaphysics Back to the Masses With a Reboot of Cosmos

It’s an early January afternoon on the Upper West Side, just days after the Earth began heaving itself along on yet another elliptical voyage around the sun, and a polar vortex has stupefied New York with an interstellar chill. With about two hours of daylight left, sinuses are rimed with... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Is Testing A News Feed That Looks More Like A Newspaper

The change is subtle, but its message is clear: Facebook has entered the news business.It's no secret that Facebook is changing what appears in your feed dramatically. Whereas memes used to rule supreme--making basically anything shared by George Takei go viral--Facebook has reweighted its... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Infographic: Where Do People Live The Longest?

When the grim reaper comes for you has a lot to do with where you're born.Everyone dies, but depending on which country you live in, you could die significantly sooner compared with people born in other countries. That's the takeaway from this simple but striking infographic by Omani designer... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Even our grunts could be monetised by Facebook

Online hysteria about Facebook reading text that is deleted before it is posted might not be entirely unfoundedAs Mark Twain observed: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." And that was a long time before the web. Which brings us to a meme that was... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Boot up: Facebook self-censorship, Tufte in brief, developer intention, and more

Plus TV arbitrage, Canada investigates Google over antitrust, ARM server maker shuts, and moreA burst of 8 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology teamFacebook self-censorship: what happens to the posts you don't publish? >> SlateWe spend a lot of time thinking about what... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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