Virality, Algorithms, and Illiberal Attacks on the Press: Legitimation Strategies for a New World

From Digital Culture & Society

Contents 1 Virality, Algorithms, and Illiberal Attacks on the Press: Legitimation Strategies for a New World 2 Context 3 Overview 4 Strengths and Weaknesses 5 Assessment

[edit] Virality, Algorithms, and Illiberal Attacks on the Press: Legitimation Strategies for a New World

Jacobs, R. N. (2020). Virality, Algorithms, and Illiberal Attacks on the Press: Legitimation Strategies for a New World. Sociologica, 14(2), 217–233.

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11190

[edit] Context

This article discusses the challenges faced by the press in the evolving media landscape, focusing on the rise of populist leaders, changes in media ownership, and the impact of digital media. It highlights traditional legitimation strategies and argues that these are no longer effective. The article suggests new strategies, such as forming alliances with digital innovators, covering the new media ecosystem as a beat, and increasing media literacy. The goal is to adapt to the changing environment and foster collaboration between traditional journalists and those operating in the digital sphere. Various styles of algorithmic type work offer

[edit] Overview

The reading explores the various challenges to press legitimacy, emphasizing the global trend of press freedoms and the emergence of an "illiberal toolbox" used by political leaders to alter journalism. The author discusses the limitations of traditional strategies, including the distinctions between information and opinion, impartiality and partisanship, and news and entertainment. The idea moves into the changing media ecology, viewed as concentrated ownership, convergence culture, and algorithmic culture. The influence of popularity and virality is exemplified by leaders like Trump, Bolsonaro, and Duterte, further complicating the press's relationship with the public. The article proposes new strategies, including forming alliances with digital innovators and covering the new media ecosystem. This is in order to address the evolving challenges faced by journalism in our contemporary society.

[edit] Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths in this article are vast. Firstly, the article reviews the current day challenges with journalism in our era. Within the changing media landscapes journalists are forced to alter and change with the coming times in order to adapt and focus on the virality of one's content. A weakness of the article is it had limited sources to refer to. This created repetition within the information displayed. Many of it reworded and seen from a different point of view. While the article provides a thorough examination of its chosen perspectives, it could benefit from a more explicit exploration of counterarguments or alternative viewpoints to present a more balanced analysis. While the reading displayed much of legitimation strategies, the article doesn't extensively discuss practical solutions for journalists to implement in the midst of these challenges, leaving some readers seeking more practical insights on what can be done now to fix these issues.

[edit] Assessment

I found that this article displayed vast challenges within our society. Journalism is an ever evolving profession. From technology to techniques many changes are made within that landscape. Journalists need to maintain reputation within the public eye, but also in the eyes of many viral and popular leaders. Many journalists walk this fine line in what they produce. They also take virality into account, many journalists will make outlandish claims for clicks. This will alter public and private views on the many making these articles for public consumption.

zf19kb 18:55, 3 December 2023