Fake News and Unfair Media Portrayal

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Table of Contents

Medium: Definition and Exploration
Historical Comparison of Print and Digital Communication Media
Challenges of Journalism
German Press Code
References

Medium: Definition and Exploration

In the studied context, the term medium refers to the third party or a tool used for communicating a particular message. This definition applies both to information technology as well as to seances. When it comes to information technology, a medium refers to the physical transmission medium or a presentation medium, which explains such terms as multimedia and advertising media. According to the definition given by Marshall MacLuhan and Lapham (1994) from their book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, “the medium is the message” (p. 7).

Therefore, there are both personal and social consequences associated with any medium. MacLuhan and Lapham (1994) wrote that a medium is the “result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology” (p. 7). In the example of information, new patterns of human association tend to eliminate jobs, which is the negative result of emerging mediums. From a positive perspective, automation initiated through media creates new roles for people, which facilitates the depth of involvement and human association.

When discussing the categories of communication media, there are physical and mechanical types. Physical communication media are further divided into verbal and non-verbal based on how they are exercised. Verbal communication is associated with the use of sounds and language for transferring a certain message. Verbal communication is a vehicle for expressing desires, concepts, and ideas that are essential for learning. Non-verbal communication represents the means of transmitting information through auditory, visual, and kinesthetic channels. Based on these definitions of communication types, physical media can include video conferences, large meetings, close and personal meetings, and word-of-mouth communication.

Mechanical communication media is associated with the use of electronic or written channels. These channels can be used as message archives or for presenting a bigger picture or a deeper knowledge. These types of media can be fast and, because of their written quality, are interpreted by readers based on their condition. This means that humor or irony cannot be transferred well through the use of mechanical channels. The kinds of these channels include e-mail, regular letters and newsletters, billboards, the Internet, social media, text messages, and billboards. Thus, mechanical media can be both written and electronic, which depends on how communication is transferred from one person to another.

Lastly, when in the exploration of communication media as a vehicle for information transference, it is important to mention that the choice of a communication channel (for instance, verbal or non-verbal) depends on the message that one is trying to transfer. For example, the use of a billboard is warranted when one tries to spread awareness of social issues, such as cooperation or climate change. When giving feedback on the work of an employee, a one-on-one conversation is a best-suited channel. Financial information prompts the use of printer or electronic means while psychosocial issues are best addressed either in group meetings or during individual conversations.

Historical Comparison of Print and Digital Communication Media

Print Communication Media

To arrive at the culture of digitalization that exists to this day, human society had to go through numerous stages in development. The first step considered as crucial in this chain of events refers to the invention of woodblock printing in China around 600 A.D. Wood blocks were used for printing designs on silk that were subsequently used for the paper (Demuth, 2015). The second important step refers to Johannes Gutenberg’s invention in the 1430s when he introduces the new technology of the Movable Metal Plate. The technology used movable metal components for reproducing document elements on paper. The importance of the tool is linked to Gutenberg’s combination of lead, tin, and antimony, which became a standard for 550 since then.

The progress that Gutenberg made sparked further developments, such as the first printing press in English. William Caxton was responsible for the invention; he was a merchant and a writer. The first printing press in England was set up in Westminster Abbey in London in 1476 (McCormack, 2004). The first reproduction of a book known to history was Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. After Caxton initiated the mass printing of literature, a complete iron hand press was developed by Earl Stanhope around the year 1800.

The great rigidity and durability that iron had boosted the innovative capabilities of the press through the increase of pressure. Therefore, the efficiency boosted to a great degree; however, it is worth noting that the output had not undergone any significant increases. Nevertheless, the speed of the press increased from 200 sheets per hour to 250.

In 1838, Moritz Hermann von Jacobi made a tremendous discovery regarding the development of print communication. He discovered electrotyping (otherwise called galvanoplastic), the method that used electroplating. This method worked through the use of analogous to a battery acted in reverse, which created a stereotype. The latter referred to the impression taken from a movable lead type and subsequently used for printing instead of the original type.

Such a technique was given the name of relief printing. The importance of von Jacobi’s method was associated with increased print efficiency. Subsequently, the steam-powered rotary press was invented by Richard M. Hoe in 1843. This landmark invention was notable for allowing us to print millions of copies of a page in one day. This gave the boost to the mass production of printed works after the transition to rolled paper since the continuous feed enabled the pressure on the presses to run much quicker compared to the previous tools.

The dramatic shift to mass production of copies enabled the introduction of dry (or waterless) printing. This event is associated with the finding of the company Xerox (initially called The Haloid Photographic Company) in 1906. Originally, the company manufactured paper for photography and other equipment; however, in 1939, Chester Carlson, an independent physicist, invented a new printing process that could print images through the use of a metal plate charged by photoconductor-coated in combination with dry powder, which was referred to as toner.

Nevertheless, the establishment of the Xerox machine as the first dry printer was credited to Joseph C. Wilson who saw the opportunity in Carlson’s invention and 1946 signed a contract with the physicist to prompt the introduction of the Xerox machine as an innovative commercial product. The term xerography was coined through the combination of two Greek roots dry writing, and in 1961 Haloid was renamed into Xerox Corporation. Today, the Xerox machine is still considered the iconic product that gave the start to the digital progress in the sphere of communication.

The progress that was advanced by the Xerox Corporation prompted the development of Laser printing, which was the electrostatic digital printing process. While Xerox Part was the initial inventor of laser printing, it is important to note the importance of Hewlett-Packard (HP) to the development of laser printing. The LaserJet printer, introduced by the company in 1984 gave the start to a completely new market segment. Back in the 1970s, HP worked with Canon to perfect laser printer technology, and the cooperation between these two giants led to the introduction of the first LaserJet.

Notable characteristics of the printer include the machine fitting on the desktop and producing fast, “letter-quality output with virtually no noise” (“HP LaserJet printer, 1984,” 2012). This invention is considered important to the progress of print communication because the printer was ideal for the use in small businesses, company departments, and other establishments that needed to print correspondence, financial spreadsheets, memoranda, and other paperwork. The use of the disposable cartridge that had the capability of printing approximately 3,000 pages with the speed of around eight pages per minute (“HP LaserJet printer, 1984,” 2012). Overall, the LaserJet is the closest machine to the printers that modern offices use today.

3D printing marked a completely new sphere in the development of print communication. Despite the misconception that the printing method was developed only recently, it dates back to the 1980s when Hideo Kodama from the Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute proposed the model of a “functional-prototyping system using photopolymers” (Goldberg, 2018, para. 1). The first 3D-printed organ was implanted into the human body, which represented a drastic leap in printed communication development. Today, 3D print technologies have reached high stages of progress, with such industries as housing and jewelry using the invention to optimize existing processes and reducing the time needed for the production of necessary items.

Water-based printing is another interesting stage in the chain of events relating to printing technologies. This type of printing uses water in the role of a solvent base for carrying the pigment. While there are several types of water-based inks (for example, HAS and RFU), the benefits of water-based printings relate to the ability of paints to stretch and layer on each other easily, which enables the ease of complex printing.

In terms of the use of nanotechnologies in printing, it is currently possible to make printing eco-friendly and energy-efficient. For instance, Singapore-based researchers created a new “non-colorant method that can deliver bright-field color prints with resolutions up to the optical diffraction limit” (Milne, 2014, para. 3). While color information is usually determined by the dimensional characteristics to relate to metal nanostructures, the newly-developed method enabled the production of images of bright and sharp color changes and fine variation in tone. The benefits of nanotechnology printed are applied for creating micro-images used for stenography, optical filters, and security.

Digital Communication Media

The advent of the Morse Code and the telegraph marked the start of the chain of events about the development of digital communication media. Developed in the 1840s by Samuel Morse, the telegraph made a revolution in long-distance communication between people. The technology worked through the transmission of electrical signals over a metal wire that was laid between stations. Apart from the telegraph, Morse developed a system of codes that used dots and dashes instead of English alphabet letters for the simplified transmission of data between communicators.

In the 1890s, Tesla was researching the wireless phenomenon as a system of power distribution. His vision allowed for the emergence of a transmission method that used wireless telegraphy and electrical energy distribution by stationary waves, in which the entire world was used as a conductor (Bartlett, n.d.). After Tesla’s invention was later followed by Boris Rosing’s development of the electric telescope (TV); through multiple experiments, the scientist managed to create the prototype of current televisions that used a fragment of alkaline metal placed in a vacuum tube that emitted electrons in response to light. Later, Resign combined magnetic deflection coils placed around the CRT and a photocell detector along combined with a CRT display.

The creation of a satellite in the 1950s by the USS was a significant event in the development of digital communication as numerous satellites orbit the Earth today. The Sputnik, which was the first satellite, was launched on October 4, 1957, orbited the low Earth orbit for three weeks, transmitting a radio signal that could be detected even by regular audio users (NASA, 2007). Importantly, the launching of the satellite initiated the developments in military, scientific, and technological advancements.

As a response to USSR’s success, the United States developed a military radar system Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE). This led to the emergence of the commercial airline reservation system SABRE in 1960, the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System in 1964, the NPL network in the 1960s, the ARPANET in 1969, and CYCLADES in 1973. These developments initiated the emergence of the Ethernet, the capacity of transmission of which was increasing with every year.

Martin Cooper’s cellular technology was another step toward digital communication media advancement. The scientist is an important figure as it worked at Motorola on wireless communications systems and radio-controlled traffic-light systems. One of the key advancements is Timothy Berners-Lee’s invention of the World Wide Web (WWW). The technology represents a space full of information in which web documents and other types of resources are accessible to users via the Internet. The WWW was key to the development of information technologies and promoted the emergence of ICQ instant messaging, Skype, and the subsequent creation of social media: Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Each of these platforms allowed users to connect and develop strong bonds despite long distances.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most advanced stage of communications media development. It represents a network of various devices ranging from software to electronics that can connect, interact, and participate in data exchange. IoT is not vastly used in several settings and industries such as analytics, smart homes, healthcare, transportation, and many others. To a large degree, IoT combines the past advancements into one cohesive system the users of which can use multiple tools available to them to communicate. IoT is now the place for numerous news outlets, entertainment media, services such as financial or educational, and well as much more. Importantly, even printed resources have now been transferred into digital forms and are being stored in the IoT.

Challenges of Journalism

The profession of journalism implies a variety of factors and therefore has as many challenges. While the industry may attract some people with its high salaries and worldwide travel opportunities, the issues of the profession are vast and pressing. In the recent decade, journalism has struggled from the significant deterioration of consequences in which media and journalist professionals work. For instance, journalists have the responsibility of reporting the National Security crises that modern society face. These range from the devastating number of terrorist attacks to diplomatic quarrels and represent a significant challenge for reporters (“A national security crisis,” 2018).

Due to existing security issues, ensuring the legal and physical safety of journalists has become complicated. The protection of journalists is an urgent challenge because of the increased number of violent acts against the representatives of the profession; these include murders, serious injuries, acts of intimidation, and other serious events (OSCE, 2014). Despite OSCE’s establishment of clear principles and commitments to guard the safety of journalists worldwide, the latter still undergo various breaches in their universal rights of freedom and safety.

Freedom of expression is a challenging concept for journalists when it comes to another challenge of the profession, the re-printing of classified information. This issue is linked to the 2014 Supreme Court’s refusal to overturn a court ruling that the Fists Amendment does not protect journalists from refusing to testify about a whistleblower who leaked classified CIA information (Silva, 2014). This decision of the supreme court set a precedent that a journalist can be put in jail for failing to disclose their sources and therefore jailed for printing classified information.

The fake news challenge represents another problem for the journalist profession to the risks of adversely influencing the state of political affairs and national security. Fake news can influence politics and security in numerous ways, from spreading false warnings to misinformation, social cohesion is destabilized and therefore challenges the politics. Simultaneously, fictitious narratives that do not have any support, in reality, can serve a nefarious purpose and indirectly influence national security.

When news is based on destabilized events such as terrorist attacks or social protests, the spreading of fake news tends to increase the concern within the society and subsequently call for significant political counter-measures (Lezzi, 2018). Importantly, the political elite can gain a benefit from the mechanism of fake news as it contributes to power legitimacy.

The last challenge of journalism refers to the complexity of keeping up with the various news media outlets, and social media in particular. The rapid pace of development and information sharing on Facebook or Twitter makes it harder to track everything, and journalists are responsible for learning news only from reliable sources. This means not only getting news from different sources but also checking them for credibility and cross-referencing.

German Press Code

The German Press Code represents a set of guidelines for journalistic work as suggested by the German Press Council. The code protects the freedom of information, journalists’ independence, the right to expression, and criticism. While there are sixteen sections in the Press Code, it was chosen to focus on three particular sections: section 4 “Limits of Research,” section 7 “Separation of Advertising and Editorial Content,” and section 11 “Sensational Reporting, the Protection of Young People” (German Press Code, 2013, p. 4).

Section 4, “Limits of Research” dictates the management of dishonest methods that are used for person-related news, photographs, and information. The text of this section is divided into three guidelines: principles of research, research among individuals that need protection, and blocking or deletion of personal data. The first set of guidelines says that journalists must identify themselves as such when collecting information and make their identity known. Undercover information is warranted only in cases if the recovered information serves a specific public interest and when its recovery cannot be ensured by other means.

The second guideline refers directly to individuals who require protection and states that vulnerable informants, such as children or persons who had undergone severe emotional trauma, must not be exploited when gaining information (German Press Code, 2013). Lastly, the third guideline suggests that any personal information collected as a result of Press Code violations should never be deleted or blocked from the relevant publication.

Section 7, “Separation of Advertising and Editorial Content” refers to the limitations for journalists to use content that has been influenced by either private or business third-party interests (German Press Code, 2013).

The first guideline in the section provides differentiation between advertisements and editorial text. Any paid publication must be created in such a way that it will be recognizable for readers. The second guideline is linked to the risk of surreptitious advertising, which takes place when a story exceeds public interest and is paid for or rewarded with monetary value. Special publications, which is the third guideline, are governed by the same principles outlined in the first guideline. The fourth guideline, economic and financial market reporting, states that journalists and their publishers must take relevant measures for ensuring compliance with the following regulations:

Information should not be used for personal advantage or the advantage of third-parties;
No reports about securities and/or other issuers with the enriching intentions should be published;
“No securities should not be sold or bought either directly and indirectly” (German Press Code, 2013, p. 7).

Section 11, “Sensational Reporting, the Protection of Young People” regulates the use of “inappropriately sensational portrayal of violence, brutality, and suffering. The press shall respect the protection of young people” (German Press Code, 2013, p. 8). The first guideline in the section states that journalists must not use inappropriate sensationalism when the person covered in the report is reduced to a mere object, especially in instances when he or she is dying or suffering.

The second guideline, reporting acts of violence, provides information on how to report the traumatic information: no interests of victims and other persons involved should be harmed. The third guideline in this section refers to the reporting of accidents and disasters, says that any individuals who suffered from misfortune should not experience any further problems based on their unfair portrayal in media (German Press Code, 2013).

The fourth guideline, coordination with authorities or news ‘blackouts’ suggests that no reporter should accept the embargo on news reports. This must only be accepted in cases when news ‘blackouts’ only for specific periods and in cases when that time is used for the interest of solving a crime. The fifth guideline regulates the publishing of criminals’ memoirs; they are considered an infringement of journalistic principles when the crime is “justified or qualified with hindsight” (German Press Code, 2013, p. 10). Therefore, no such memoirs should be published for mere sensationalism. The last guideline refers to drugs and suggests that not news stories must diminish the impact of illegal substances.

References

A national security crisis. (2018). Web.

Bartlett, D. (n.d.). Inventors of radio – Nikola Tesla. Web.

Demuth, P. (2015). Where is the Great Wall? New York, NY: Penguin.

German Press Code. (2013). Web.

Goldberg, D. (2018). History of 3D printing: It’s older than you are (that is, if you’re under 30). Web.

HP LaserJet Printer, 1984. (2012). Web.

Lezzi, I. (2018). Fake news and national security: Re-build trust and social resilience in the post-truth era. Web.

MacLuhan, M., & Lapham, L. (1994). Understanding media: The extensions of man. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

McCormack, H. (2004). Caxton’s first page to go on display. The Telegraph. Web.

Milne, S. (2014). Nanotechnology in the printing industry. Web.

NASA. (2007). Sputnik and the dawn of the space age. Web.

OSCE. (2014). Safety of journalists: Guidebook (2nd ed.). Vienna, Austria: OSCE.

Silva, K. (2014). Can journalists go to jail for printing classified information? Web.

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