Page 346 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS162 Pedro C. et al.
“circular reporting”. This particular scenario occurs when information that
seems to be checked and confirmed by several sources is indeed coming from
a single one, with other sources reprinting the content without double
checking it (Filkins & Fisher, 2003). However, this type of circular reporting also
happens when crowdsourced wikis are used by journalists to gather
information. For example, when a journalist copies false information from a
Wikipedia page without checking other sources, then the Wikipedia page can
cite the journalist’s publication to increase the trustworthiness of the false
information published. A real-world example occured when The Independent
published the information that the actor Sacha Baron Cohen worked at
Goldman Sachs (Techbug, 2009). Therefore it is important for journalists to be
aware of this type of events and always validate their sources several times.
Creating and spreading false news in mainstream sources is much depending
on the journalists writing for them.
b. Biased News
Although false information makes up a large portion of the dubious
content spread in OSNs, there are specific scenarios where the information
spread is not false, but the way it is published can lead readers to perceive it
in a biased way where one or several of the agents are diminished or criticized
compared to others. In addition, a careful choice of words and the omission
or decontextualization of some facts is used to tell a story that guides users’
believes in a certain direction.
Several extremely biased websites were created during the 2016 U.S.
Presidential election, with their content proliferating in social media. One of
the most recent examples was the doctored Jim Acosta video released by an
extreme-right website and later “retweeted” by the White House Press
Secretary (Harwell, 2018). The video portraits a real situation. However, it had
been deceptively edited, causing a serious bias in the users’ perception.
Nevertheless, it is not only this type of news websites that share bias
content. A common example in mainstream news media is referenced in
Gentzkow & Shapiro (2006) regarding the battle in the city of Samara in Iraq.
While The New York Times began their report of the event by stating “American
commanders vowed on Monday that the killing of as many as 54 insurgents
in this central Iraqi town would serve as a lesson to those fighting the United
States, but Iraqis disputed the death toll and said anger against America would
only rise” (Filkins & Fisher, 2003), Al Jazeera wrote “The US military has vowed
to continue aggressive tactics after saying it killed 54 Iraqis following an
ambush, but commanders admitted they had no proof to back up their
claims.” (AFP, 2003). This kind of biased information highlights the importance
of critical literacy in today's society.

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