CSUN On Point

Fake news has been on the minds of most adults in America, including President Donald Trump, who recently told Fox News’ Lou Dobbs that he coined the now infamous phrase.

Its existence raises the question, how can people fight it?

Experts say media literacy is the most effective way to combat fake news, and becoming media literate will help everyone, including students, understand the differences between real and fake news. The National Association for Media Literacy Education recently held its third annual Media Literacy Week to raise awareness about the issue.

According to a recent Pew Research Study “nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults (64 percent) say fabricated news stories cause a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current issues and events. About a third of U.S. adults (32 percent) say they often see made-up political news online, while 39 percent sometimes see such stories, and 26 percent hardly ever or never do.”

Pew Research Center also reports a ten percent increase since 2016 in social media use for people over 50 years old. And the study also saw a ten percent increase in nonwhite social media users. In addition, 45 percent of all Facebook users say they rely solely on the site to deliver their news.

“I think it is less about the mobile devices themselves, and more about how they have changed our culture,” CSUN Communications Studies graduate student Anya Crittention said. “Also, I think [the controversy over fake news] is damaging to journalism itself. While people are now ready to believe fake news, there’s also this increasing cynicism and distrust of the media. And, I think that is also dangerous since the media inherently is meant to be for the people and if we turn our back on them, that’s also dangerous.”

Media historians say social media outlets have allowed for an emergence of more voices, and that makes the news more democratic. And now the news cycle has become 24/7 due to the emergence of digital media technology, and that makes news and information more accessible to more people.

“I think there’s been fake news around for a long time,” CSUN Cinema and Television Arts Professor Anna Marie Piersimoni said. “We just have more of it because we have more of everything, and more voices doing that, but from the early days of yellow journalism, [from] the building of the Hearst Empire to the building of the Murdoch empire, there’s been fake journalism.”

Piersimoni said sensational ‘clickbait’ headlines cause people to jump from one article to the next without taking the time to evaluate the story. And since people are not reading the full story, they are relying only on their own beliefs, and not using the critical and analytical tools of media literacy. These strongly held beliefs and biases create filter bubbles, and limit the amount of information people are exposed to, or willing to read.

“I think that the awareness of your own biases is the only way that you can start to pierce the bubble,”  CSUN Department Chair of Political Science Dr. David Leitch said. “If you don’t know what your preferences are, and if they’re sort of unexamined, unaware, unconsciousness, then you don’t have any strategies for confronting them. And I’ll be an advocate: I will say it’s good to confront your biases, not just because it is healthy and democratic, because it is fun.”

Media literacy experts say it’s important for students to read opinions written by sources they don’t necessarily agree with, and to be exposed to more viewpoints, even if they have to look hard to find them.

“The best thing, I tell my students, is to not only follow the money, but to follow the breadcrumbs,” Piersimoni said. “Especially if you go to Wikipedia. Down at the bottom of the page, check all the little footnotes, and double check, and then cross-reference. It is the best thing that you can do. And then see if you can find the opposite view of what you’re looking at.”

Moderator: Minerva Medrano

Producers: Diego Girgado and Tyler Jones

Anchor: Morgan Ball

Social Media Editors: Joselynn Castro and Shannon Ozburn

Reporters: Morgan Ball, Joselynn Castro, Diego Girgado, Tyler Jones, Minerva Medrano and Shannon Ozburn

Moderator – Scott Sanders

Anchor – Gabrielle Ortega

Producer – Danielle Pendleton

Social Media Editors – Sophie Ashley and Alexandra Chidbachian

Reporters – Sophie Ashley, Alexandra Chidbachian, Gabrielle Ortega, Danielle Pendleton, Scott Sanders and Joshua Spidel

With today’s technology, listening to the radio has become a more personal experience. People can log on to apps such as Pandora, Spotify and Dash Radio to listen to their favorite music at a moment’s notice, without having to wade through commercials or artists they don’t like.

Every week, 86 million people listen to some form of online radio, according to a 2013 study by Edison Research.

Aron Bender, news anchor at KFI-AM and a journalism professor at Cal State Northridge, said while internet radio definitely provides more choices for listeners, it offers some advantages to radio stations as well.

“While listeners do have more control, it also gives us more control because now, we can cater to those people who are listening,” Bender said. “We can cater to the people who are consuming our product.”

But all-digital radio platforms provide something that commercial radio cannot — the absence of advertisements.  Danny Calderon, producer at Dash Radio, a commercial-free, mobile-based radio platform, said the ability to get content almost anywhere is contributing to the rise of online radio.

“There’s an app for everything,” Calderon said. “It’s easier now to listen to it online.”

For Calderon, running an all-digital radio station has its own challenges.

“[It takes] a lot of computers, a lot of servers, a lot of music,” he said.

Without commercials providing revenue for Dash Radio, Calderon said the station is funded solely by investors and sponsorships from record executive L.A. Reid, XXL Magazine and others.

“Since we’re fairly new and coming up and it’s buzzing, there are people trying to invest and be part of the movement,” Calderon said.

Traditional radio stations don’t have the same freedoms that a digital station has. DJ Fuze, an on-air DJ for Power 106, said he must abide by strict regulations while he is working.

“When I’m on air, I have no control,” Fuze said. “I have to play what’s on the list. If I play something that wasn’t on the list, I’d get in some serious trouble.”

When Fuze is not at Power 106, he is making mix tapes for use on the music-sharing app Soundcloud, accessible to listeners all over the world.

“That’s always a challenge,” Fuze said of catering to an international audience. “Sometimes I get listens from Australia, Europe. You have to think about what they like out there, too.”

Bender said the key for all radio stations nowadays is the immediate feedback platforms like Twitter provide. Fuze said there are two sides to that.

“If you ever mess up, people on Twitter and Instagram are quick to give you negative feedback,” Fuze said. “It goes both ways.”

While digital radio is seemingly taking over from the more traditional broadcast format, Bender said both platforms are here to stay.

“When TV came in, they said that radio was going to die,” Bender said. “And when Internet came in, they said TV and radio. But, there is enough out there for everybody.”

Moderator: Lauren Llanos

Producer: Dean Perez

Anchor: Carly Bagingito

Reporters: Zulay Saldana and Alex Vejar

Social Media Editor: Katie Fauskee

The Pew Research Center reported recently that 72 percent of online adults use social networking sites. More than four billion videos are watched daily and more than three billion hours of video are watched a month. The widespread success of online media is providing entrepreneurs with many new ways to make their brand or business flourish.

“That’s how I make the majority of my cash, through promotions, reels or marketing videos, because everyone’s going to need to go digital at some point,” blogger Reina Royale said.

Statistics show over 50 percent of American consumers rely on blog posts when buying goods, and smaller businesses saw a 26 percent increase in leads due to blogging.

YouTube blogger Vanessa Watson provides segments like “Wellness Wednesday” on her site, offering her followers videos with tips for losing weight or preparing healthy meals.

Royale provides her online audience with “Royale Reports”, which include her take on pop culture, and the music and entertainment world.

“The reason why you’re probably gaining a following, is because the story remains authentic,” said Dr. Kristen Walker, an associate professor in CSUN’s Marketing Department. “When you come back to branding, it has to be something that’s consistent, and as long as you can stay consistent within that persona, you’re keeping and maintaining your community.”

Social avenues such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are great barometers for gauging the reception of the content displayed by the bloggers or online businesses. Entrepreneurs who use social media and digital marketing techniques can get immediate feedback from their followers.

“Everyone loves my weight loss videos [on YouTube],” Watson said, “but it’s mainly to find a balance within myself. I don’t want to venture out what I don’t believe in.”

Experts and practitioners agree that successful digital branding is a process, which starts with making a list of what and whom to target.

Royale said the next step is to cultivate an audience, by finding people who are just as passionate as you are to support your brand, and then consistently following your plan in order to keep them.

“It’s sort of hashtag passion,” Walker said. “You guys are talking about what your passions are, and if you are passionate about things the consumer can connect to, then that’s when it works.”

Moderator: Jonny Green

Anchor: Jacquelyn Koenig

Digital Editors: Trene Todd and Jacquelyn Koenig

Reporters: Ben Ladiana, Brionna Lewis, Mihkel Teemant and Jacquelyn Koenig