News Sources Reflection
- The news stories that were encountered by my classmates and I were definitely on content farms. It is because content farms are obligated to oversee the rapid spread of news on online platforms. Hence, some of the stories observed were on social media platforms such as Twitter and search engines such as Google. It implies that the news was programmed to reach all and sundry with a limited time frame. For instance, there was communication concerning the surge in COVID-19 cases in Texas. The number of infected people was 6533 on 30th June. I believe such news is unusual and conflictive because COVID-19 is the most talked-about ailment on the globe. Therefore, the report on the drastic rise in the number of people who have tested positive for the virus is alarming, denoting that publishers regard this story as a content farm.
- The stories on the rise in COVID-19 cases were familiar to everyone in the group. I interacted with the news from my browser, Google Chrome; later on, I received a notification from another browser, Mozilla Firefox. It meant that the story was spreading rapidly. My compatriot by the name Ann saw a post that related to the same news on Twitter. The first thing to do was to verify the report, thus we looked at the individual who posted the story. We found out that Bill Bishop, a journalist who worked for 11 news, had posted the information. I immediately concluded that a reputable journalist like Bishop could barely post rumors on Twitter. Besides, it could be unethical for him to give false updates on social media. Thus, we concluded that the news is credible. Ann, my colleague, quickly liked the post and retweeted it. On the other hand, I took a screenshot of the job and shared it with various social media groups, including my class group. I also sent the screenshots to my friends living in Texas and asked them to be cautious. I believe online users can promote this story because it involves a crucial sector of life; health. We are aware of the detrimental implications of COVID-19 to the US; thus, the news would be shared by online users because it would sensitize the individuals of Texas to take extra precautions.
- There is the presence of filter bubbles rising from previous internet searches by my comrades. It is because COVID-19, being a new disease, led to many people researching on it. Therefore, the presence of filter bubbles was evident in the news from my classmates. However, not all of us were engrossed in the story of Texas; there were other stories that caught the eye of my classmates. They include men with fake police badges who wanted to kidnap unwary black people. The news mentioned above was seen and analyzed by Ann, my classmate. She was immersed in this story courtesy of the ongoing protests about “Black Lives Matter.” The issue of racism in the USA has taken center stage amidst the pandemic. Consequently, the news stories were related in a way that none of them was affirmative. Other news stories included, the murder of an ex-soldier, and a couple that pointed guns at peaceful demonstrators. The news was mainly negative stories that took online platforms by storm.
- The news that my comrades obtained were every day among college students because they directly implicated on the lives of students. A typical example is news on COVID-19. It has affected studies to the extent of schools being closed. Likewise, the pandemic has had its social influence on students’ lives, which is the disruption of the school calendar, and compelling students to stay at home. Furthermore, the students have been affected by fear and panic due to the many fatalities caused by the pandemic.