Media Credibility & Crisis Reporting

Reporting and Response in Crisis Situations

SATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM -- Curiosity is a human nature and hence

people turn to different sources of information to satisfy their hunger. As the
centuries pass by, more and more information is being available, whether
through word of mouth, traditional media, or through mainstream digital
media. Open data is the new source of information that provides people with
the opportunity to have access to a wide network of knowledge, which they
can use to their advantage. Having easy access to all this knowledge
empowers citizens to be aware of their surroundings, be critical thinkers and
civic developers, and be able to make sound and clever decisions about their
life and community. In terms of civic engagement, open data helps highlight
issues and problems which matter to the people of a community and brings
them into the public light for consideration. It also facilitates finding
solutions to these problems by being creative, critical developers and
applying innovative thinking to already existing data.
However this is not the case all the time. First and foremost, data is not
always available in its filtered form and most data out there is raw. Not all
information is credible and originates from a reliable source. Hence, people
fall into the trap of being mislead, which prevents them from making critical
analysis and finding solutions to their communitys problems. People are not
always protected from the fake information and usually rely on it without
verifying it.
Other times, there is too much information out there that people do not
know which information to take and which to discard. An example of this
would be the case of Wikileaks, where a vast amount of governmental
information that was considered private, was leaked for the public.
(Wikileaks, 2010) People and media were exposed to this vast amount in a
short time and they had no idea how to process it. In order to evaluate such
raw data and information, people need to be more media literate.

EFFECT ON MEDIAs CREDIBILITY DURING CRISIS

Credibility of media and the information it releases, poses a major question
to the people when there is an open data of information out there. To what
extent is the information out there true? To what extent do media illiterate
people get affected by false information out there? With this fast digital
moving age and with the time constraints that are present on getting the
information out, people are turning towards the broadcast media outlets and
depending on them for their news information and for their daily updates
about their communities and their world around them. If this information has
the potential of being false, then imagine all the decisions taken on the basis
of this and the effect on these people. News media is considered one of the
most reliable sources information, especially when it comes to the events
that affect the life of an individual . Political events, economic events, and
social events often shape a persons life, hence it is important to have
access to the most accurate and true information. Since their advent, news
agencies and publishing houses around the world have been trying to
provide a factual account of the events that happen in a community and that
have the power to affect a citizens life. With the initiation of internet as a
tool to reach a bigger group of people, by the news outlets, an effort was
being made to bring the same level of accuracy to this new medium.

However, as the speed and spread of internet increased, so did the

consumption of news by the public. Social media became another tool to
dispense and consume this valuable information to and by the general
population. Hence, the regulation of the information that was being made
public and that was accessible to a large group of people became weak. As
citizens became journalists, the practice of verifying each and every fact that
goes online, lost its importance. Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and blogs became
sources of information, not only for the public but also for the mainstream
media. Mainstream media and social media can often be seen interacting
with each other to dispel all this information around the world in real time.

With all this information presented, it leads us to question the credibility of

the information and news presented to us by the media. If a disaster
happens or a crisis breakouts and information is flowing

from different directions continuously and un- relentlessly, it is hard to

monitor the truthfulness of information and hence its credibility is
jeopardized. As a result, this false information is internalized by

the citizens and taken as the truth which might lead to unintended reactions.

On April 15, 2013 two bombs exploded during Boston marathon and the first
photo was uploaded on Facebook within a couple of minutes resulting in 24
hours of media frenzy where social and mainstream media fed off each other

causing every speculation and rumour about suspects / bombing to be

treated as legitimate news. (The Guardian, 2013)

Similarly, on April 24, 2013 a tweet from Associated Press (AP) twitter
account mentioning an attack on White House and president Obama being
injured was published. This tweet got re-tweeted 6000 times within a few
minutes and turned out to be a hoax later on. This had negative implications
on the citizens and on the US stock market. The citizens were in a panic
mode and hence AP lost the peoples credibility to it. Readers were asked
not to believe any news or information that is tweeted for at least a couple
of days and until further notice. As for the US stock market, the Dow Jones
dropped down by about 143 points. Once the information was cleared it
gained its previous status back. (Hootsuite, 2013)

Each case had its own ramifications and severely impacted the lives of the
public and economy of the country. In these two cases, false information
was presented to the public from news sources that were considered to be
credible sources. Negative consequences of these news affected the lives of
citizens and endangered their safety. This poses the argument of what
people must do in order to verify the information presented and be able to
better protect themselves.
This raises the question, how much do we trust the birds to bring us the
right information?

MEDIA ANALYSES ITSELF AFTER BOSTON BOMBING

BACKGROUND
On 15 April 2013, two bombs went off, just as the Boston Marathon was
winding down. Immediately reports about the bomb started appearing on
social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. What followed was media
frenzy as social media and mainstream media fed news off each other. News
about suspects and their arrests spread as soon as it broke on social media
site Reddit and was soon picked up by Mainstream media like CNN and The
New York Post but turned about to be rumours and false information.
Thus in the event of a crisis, when news, rumours and false information was
flowing incessantly and rapidly, it was hard to sift through it and decide what
speculation was and what hard facts were.
After bombings, social media informs (and misinforms)

This is an analysis on the role of social media during Boston bombing where
it sheds light on the inappropriateness of the news information. This article
successfully presents the case and some of the implications that happened.
However, it does not fully presents the negative implication that it had on
peoples lives and how it affected them or give a live example of the
investigations that took place.
Social Media Vigilantes Cloud Boston Bombing Investigation
This is an analysis of social media and its effect on the coverage of the
Boston bombing. This analysis shows how the wrong rumours actually
affected the lives of others. NPR does a good job in giving a sample example
of how the news information affected the investigations and sheds light on
how this has affected the lives of innocent people.
WATCH: Jon Stewart slams CNN's Boston bombing coverage

This is a video of Jon Stewarts criticism of CNN for Boston bombing

coverage. He uses a satirical approach to inform the people of the negative
outcomes the information had on the citizens and

investigation procedures. The humour type of form that he uses is a good

eye catching element that attracts the people to watch the show and be
informed of the news updates where awareness on a

certain issue is raised in a fun and humorous form.

Boston 'witch hunt' on social media sites and a bad week for the old guard
This is the Guardians analysis of the coverage of Boston bombing one week
after the event. The Guardian does a good job in shedding light on the
negative consequences that affected peoples life and gives a live example
of how the info on Reddit has fuelled a witch hunt trying to discover the
suspects and how this has affected the lives of innocent citizens where their
safety was endangered.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ECONOMY

AP Twitter Hoax
On 24 April, 2013 a tweet by Associated Presss twitter account was
published that said Breaking: Two explosion in The White House and Barack
Obama is injured. The tweet got re-tweeted 6000 times in 2 minutes but as
said to be a hoax after AP released a statement saying that their twitter
account had been hacked. The tweet had strong repercussions on the US
economy as well as the international economy.
Twitter Speaks, Markets Listen and Fear Rise
This article discusses how social media affects the Market and the economy.
This accurately covers the effects on the market and drop in stock prices. It

does not mention the hoax itself but the negative impact of the hoax and
correctly presents the issue as is.
AP Hack Illustrates Real Consequences of Poor Social Media Security
This shows how insecure and vulnerable is the social media. This blog article
does a great job in first discussing the issue in brief about the hoax and then
presenting the negative consequences that it had on the US market. It goes
further to also use this as an example to other brands and how false
information on social media can have fatal results.
SEC, FBI probe fake tweet that rocked stocks
This article shows how social media can be used for a negative effect. It
presents the negative consequences in a cohesive manner form. However, it
has mentioned that the Syrian Electronic army were behind the hoax and
failed to mention the proof they had or the source of information to attain
better credibility.
The power of one wrong tweet
Hide Infographic

This is an analysis of Twitter's power and how it can be manipulated. This is

an interesting analysis of twitter itself on the AP news hoax as an example
and the ripple effect. The analysis was done in an unbiased and educated
way

Show Exercises

1) The first exercise will be arranging a debate or discussion session what

are the benefits and the downside of a 24 hour news cycle. What impact, if
any, do you think it has on the credibility of the stories? The objective of this
exercise would be to raise awareness among the students about false
information and aims at preparing them to be better critical thinkers in
evaluating the news information they are receiving.
Sample questions will include the following:
o

How can you identify false data and information from true information?
How can you identify reliable sources?

What sample measures or precautions do you use or follow to make

sure that the information is true and not false?

What are the criteria or some cues or flag raising items that make you
identify a true news feed, FB post, tweet etc. from a false one?

2) A second exercise would be a practical exercise where students will be

asked to identify 5 Twitter accounts that have the ability to create an impact
similar to the AP tweet hoax case. It can be an account of a news outlet, or
the leader of a nation or a celebrity.

3) The next exercise will give an opportunity to the students to discuss a

case where they came across a false piece of news and how it affected their
life. They will have about 10 minutes to come up with their case, and then
they will be asked to share the information with their classmates. Each
student gets about 2 minutes to share the information. After all the students
have shared the information, they will be given about 20 minutes for open
discussion and to comment on each others stories as well as mention the
similarities. As a second part of the exercise, students can get together in to
groups and pick up a case from those presented and come up with a
presentation that can then be discussed in class. Students would be asked to

make it interactive and engaging for their fellow students. They will be
interacting with one another and learning from each others experiences
about how such false news has affected their lives in a negative way and
how has it added value to their data and information search. The purpose of
this exercise would be to encourage students to be fully aware of the
negative implications and consequences of one wrong information and how it
can affect the lives of others in the same manner the negative tweets or
posts has affected their lives.
4) In the next exercise, students will be asked to identify the words that
have a potential of attracting people and general publics attention. For eg,
words like bombing, crash, attack, injured, crisis, shooting etc. Students will
then be asked to search for tweets having these words and check the
number of time such tweets are re-tweeted. This will give students a chance
to understand how important people consider these words to be and its
impact on the spread of news.
5) A next exercise would be that a teacher gives out a small intuitive and
informative lecture about how students can identify false information from
true information and how to filter out data and information that is of use to
the public and individuals followed by a hand on exercise. After that a step
by step sheet would be handed out or a news filtering rubric would be
handed out (see below). The rubric includes detailed information on how to
filter information depending on the sources and credibility, and how to
evaluate sources and news information. Then students would be given a set
of tweets, posts, and news information and would be asked to identify which
ones were true and which ones were false. At the end they would share the
information with their teammates and discuss what was misleading to them.

6) News Filtering Rubric:

o

It is a re-tweet from someone you trust

Author has verifiable expertise

Author is someone you follow

Author is someone you've heard of

Account has a verification seal

Author tweets often on the topic

Author has many tweets on the same topic

Personal photo as avatar

Author often mentioned and RT

Author is geographically near the topic

Hide Analysis Criteria

ACCESS
People should have access to different news media sources for them to be
able to receive their news about a certain issue from different media sources
where they are able to better evaluate the news information they are
receiving. As a foremost important thing, citizens should have access to the
internet and to different social media tools as well as mainstream media and
digital media for their information. They should be able to freely access news
sources that are of an interest to them and be able to have access to the
type of news that is important to them.
o

What do you consider open-data is or constitutes of?

What type of data or information do you think should be freely

available to the public?

Find and discuss cases where people from different communities have
different restrictions imposed on them when accessing data.

What barriers do people experience when trying to access different

sources of information or news media outlets?

What sources (websites, blogs, social media tools, mainstream media,

and digital media) you turn to for information on current affairs in your
country?

Where do you get most of your news updates from: print, tv or social
media?

How do you think social media contributed to your/people's news

consumption habits?

AWARENESS
Citizens should be aware of the news around them and have the right to be
updated about the cases around them as well. Certain campaigns should be
held to create awareness among citizens that not all news information is true
and that not all sources of information are credible sources. They should also
be encouraged to check their sources before believing the information and
as a second level to check the news information on that source site by
comparing it to other media coverage of the same issue. Awareness should
be built around protecting the citizens from falling into the trap of believing
everything first hand.
o

Does particular media coverage of a disaster/event encourage greater

civic engagement, promote a local/global conversation? For example,
in what way does news about a certain issue or disaster encourage
people to take action towards that certain issue and create a solution
for it or positive change? As an example, the rape cases in Egypt that
were covered on blogs and mainstream media, encouraged citizens to
take action for women empowerment and try to stop rape in Egypt.
This is created a global conversation about womens rights and
protection against rape.

Certain events are more likely to be reported / covered by the media

over others. Find and discuss the 12 significant news values that are
thought to be criteria for news selection.

List of the news values

What campaigns or interactive activities would you carry among your

community and society to raise awareness about media credibility
issues? Perhaps maybe in schools, universities, clubs.

It took about 3 years from the very first tweet to the billionth tweet:
discuss various ways twitter is being used across the world; how it
benefited societies?

ASSESSMENT

Once citizens have access to different news sources and information and
awareness is built that not every type of news is true, citizens should be
taught how to be critical thinkers and assess the information they receive by
following a certain rubric. Questions they could ask themselves would range
from identifying the author of the article and what other articles that author
has published, the date of the news and time it was written, the source of
information or website and what type of news it presents, how often that
site or media tool reports important and right or credible source of
information, and what are the sources used in that news information that
enabled it to gather this information and present it to the public. Citizens
should be able to analyze and evaluate the information presented before
believing everything being said.
o

Does media have the power, and to what extent, to encourage a

conversation across borders? For example, what issue relative to a
certain country was portrayed through media and has raised a flag on
that issue to be discussed in other countries as well?

Find media coverage on the same issue/event across various outlets

and platforms, and analyze how the coverage differs from each other.

What power do social media have to drive or encourage civic

engagement?

How important are social media outlets for a newsroom?

Does news on the digital news platforms reflect the patterns of news
selection/news values?

What are the old habits and ways twitter has replaced?

What issues and negative outcomes can be related to Twitter?

Journalists in this day and age are no longer deciding what information
the public should know but instead are helping audiences make sense
of it. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Can you provide
examples?

APPRECIATION

There should be an appreciation of media credibility across cultures and the

diversity it presents. Perhaps citizens can learn from other countries how
credibility is achieved and what measures are taken and hence apply it in
their own country. Citizens can also learn the precautions and measures
taught in other countries and try to tailor it to adjust their own needs in their
own country.
o

What are the examples of media acting as a platform for societies and
communities to come together for a shared goal/concern?

What issues have media raised up and pushed in your local

community/achieved a social change?

The Internet continues to evolve into a major news source. How do

you perceive the credibility of online news information in
relation/regards to more traditional sources?

Do you believe there are forces that can either inhibit or aid the flow of
news items through the "gates" (the gate-keeping theory)? Discuss
and expand on.

ACTION
Once all the above is attained. Citizens must push for news outlets to verify
their information and present true information to the public. They would
push and ask for their right of valid and credible news information with
reliable sources as well.
o

How can you use social media to attract great attention to your cause,
concern?

What measures would you take or what would you do to educate other
members of your society and community to better identify credible
sources online to be engaged citizens?

What forms of media can you use to gather information about a topic?

Overall these questions are broad questions to engage students to critically

think about the questions. The questions are broad to have each student
take a specific angle or view and answer it to the way they can make sense
of the questions. Some questions have no right or wrong answer and were
also left for the students to think of the different aspects of the question

Social Media as a Credible News Source

"As if a service with hundreds of millions of users needed to come of age, Twitter is said to have had its CNN
moment Sunday night as the "place" where the news of the commando raid which killed Osama bin Laden was
first shared," Wired Magazine says.
The news of bin Laden's death not only came as a shock and surprise to the public, but the way in which the
information broke on real-time social media heavyweight, Twitter. Although there is speculation as to where
the news first appeared, it cannot be denied that social media played a huge role in spreading the news. Before
CNN or The New York Times confirmed that U.S. Navy SEALS did in fact kill Osama bin Laden, millions
had already taken to their Twitter and Facebook pages to virally disperse the information.
If it wasn't enough for the news to spread almost immediately via social media, one man caught his own 15
minutes of fame as he accidentally tweeted the raid as it occurred, not far from his home in Pakistan. Without
realizing it, Sohaib Athar tweeted away about the pesky helicopters he heard overhead at 1:00a.m., which
turned out to be U.S. forces descending upon bin Laden's compound.
So in a world where real-time social media have become a platform for citizen journalism at its best do we
consider these networks to be a news outlet in itself?
Industry experts say that despite 4,000 tweets per second during President Obama's Sunday night speech,
Twitter will not become its own credible news outlet overnight. However, it is apparent that Sunday night's
events contributed to the ever evolving news ecosystem.
For those who aren't "following" Twitter or enabled their Facebook newsfeeds and subsequently didn't hear
about bin Laden's death until Monday morning is it time to get connected in real-time? Since the birth of
social media, there has been continued debate within the communications industry, weighing the pros and cons
of both traditional and social media. There seems to be a constantly tipping scale of importance for both
resources whether it is the real-time and viral sensation of social media or the credibility and reliable
resources of traditional media.
With Sunday's news events, perhaps it is time we stop looking at traditional and social media as separate

entities but rather two forces that despite their obvious differences, work together for the common goal of
spreading the word. An individual on Twitter put it best when he said "Twitter breaks news. TV covers it.
#NewParadigm"
With the ever-changing way we receive and disseminate news, we ask:
Is it more important to get the news out in real time, even if the facts are not yet confirmed or is it better to
wait until the sources have been confirmed prior to making an announcement? What do people really want?
Lastly, should traditional media outlets rely on citizen journalism on social media as a source?

I think that the bin Laden raid was definitely a "CNN moment" for Twitter, but it was equally important for the
mainstream media. Most of us turned on the TV or started surfing for more details after the story broke, as
evidenced by President Obama's ratings and the traffic to news sites. The New York Times reported an 86
percent increase in page views.
One reason was our need for instant analysis and context. What does it mean for us? That's where the
"traditional" outlets can out-report the social networks and citizen journalists. So, I think the answer is that we
want and need both types of reporting, and that they go together. For both social media and the mainstream
press, it was "mission accomplished."
Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO/Creative Director, Crenshaw Communications
Committee Chair, New York Women in Communications Foundation Board of Directors

Clearly, the digital age has not only revolutionized the way news is disseminated (virally and immediately), but
also the way in which we consume it. Thanks to the instant publishing capabilities of social sites like Twitter,
we're able to both individually broadcast and communally watch as events unfold in real time across the
globe. But traditional journalism still has a crucial role to play, especially when it comes to sharing the bigger
picture through a trained eye, verified sources and a contextualized perspective. We must also keep in mind
that Twitter though credited with breaking the news of Osama Bin Laden's death is also responsible for
erroneously reporting the demise of countless others. At the end of the day, there's a place for both at the table.
In fact, they can often work in tandem, with journalists harnessing the power of social media to acquire and
break vetted news. Twitter may yet be the news ticker of our time.
Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO & Chief Creative Officer, Kaplan Thaler Group
President, New York Women in Communications, Inc.