What we can learn from Robert McCulloch’s media condemnation

[Commentary] The circulation of unverified claims, particularly on social media but also from journalists, is arguably inevitable in a story like Ferguson (MO). The trick is in learning how to find and evaluate it, keeping mindful of what Zeynep Tufekci has called “algorithmic censorship”—the fact that readers can miss information based on the automated workings of various sites and platforms.

From a news literacy perspective, awareness of how algorithms affect what we do and don’t see on social networks is just as important as awareness of how network news channels source and spin their stories. Rather than avoiding the untethered bits of information we find on social media, we need more of it, and also better skills to process and contextualize it all. “The Ferguson story underscores why it is vital for the public to have the tools to discern what information is reliable in the midst of such fast-breaking and highly charged news events,” NLP founder and president Alan Miller said after reviewing the McCulloch statement, “and why people need to look for a variety of credible sources and follow a story over time as verified facts emerge.”

[Jolly is a freelance journalist and video producer]