MCOM 4003 - Abby Johnson

  Protecting the Freedom of Information Act     The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed in 1966 in order to give the public access to federal records upon request. Simplified, the FOIA ensures informed citizens and keeps these citizens "in the know" about their government.  When a request is made by someone towards any federal agencies, these agencies are required to disclose any information unless it falls under one of the nine exceptions. These exceptions include protecting personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement. In addition to fulfilling these requests, the FOIA requires that federal agencies continuously post certain categories of information online.           The basis of the Freedom of Information Act seems simple enough, yet even now some states and cities seem to have a hard time following the rules of the FOIA. On March 31, the Little Rock House committee approved House Bill 1280 which allows cities a...

  Are ethics in journalism decreasing?          It is not uncommon to hear phrases like "the media is causing division" or "it is the media's fault" or anything along those lines. As more and more news publications and networks make controversial statements on current events, it seems like more and more people are losing their trust in the media experts. While a large majority of this could be just because the news is saying opinions that some people do not agree with, another big reason is also because many people believe that journalists have lost their ethics in reporting. This can be greatly attributed to the rise of news that is found on social media sites.      A 2019 survey shows that roughly 60% of people get their news online instead of from a television broadcast or a newspaper. If you spend any kind of time on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, you know how easy it can be to find real or fake news in the sp...

 Combating misinformation around the world   Following an election year and as we are cleaning up the mess that the Coronavirus pandemic made, misinformation is at an all time high in the United States. Conspiracy theories, fake news, and hateful messages that have no truth behind them have become the norm for most of social media around the country. While it can be easy to sometimes feel as if the United States is the only country experiencing these problems, the issue of misinformation is actually happening all over the world. Because of this, Reuters has announced its plans to expand its efforts in combating misinformation in Iraq and Israel in a partnership with Facebook.     The Reuters' Fact Check Unit, that over the last year has launched fact checking initiatives in multiple countries and through an e-course on detecting manipulated media in 16 languages, is now expanding its expertise in Arabic and Hebrew. Partnering with Facebook and Instagram, Reuters will...