Media Knowledge

When news broke this week revealing an “unprecedented” security breach by rogue state actors breaking into multiple government computer networks — a story that continues to evolve — the word used when describing the criminal act was “hacked.”
     Hack, and its iterations (hacked, hacker, hacking), likely conjures up images of nefarious cybercriminals and their deeds. However, the word has been around far longer than the advent of interconnected computer networks.
     Etymologists date the origin of hack to the time known as Middle English, (between 1150 and 1500) and its evolution is labyrinthian, as you will learn. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, hack’s entrée in modern language began several hundred years ago in its original meanings: “[to] cut with heavy blows in an irregular or random fashion.”

[Read more…] about The evolution of ‘hack’

It may be hard to imagine, but the proposition that the press was an impartial disseminator of information was both venerated and deemed important enough that it was codified in the Constitution.
     Objectivity today has rightfully come under increasing scrutiny. How can we be sure reporters are relaying the facts truthfully and with accuracy, without their own biases and opinions? In other words, how do we practice proper news hygiene? 
     Journalism (nay, the media) seeks to hold government officials, industrialists, etc. accountable to us, the citizenry; it has, and remains, a bulwark against civic malfeasance and despotism. 
     A neutral media is the government’s nominal fourth branch. And, while opinion has always been a component of the news landscape, the central tenet of the journalist as impartial remains steadfast.
     The benefits the press provides our nation are innumerable. Consuming news makes us better citizens precisely because we are informed. Armed with information, knowledge empowers us to make educated choices; for example, when we exercise our right to vote.  
     Yet, we are only equipped to excel in the role we play in self-governance if we are reading news that is accurate. Regretfully, and with greater frequency, it is not always the default. 
     The news industry is at a precipice. From shouts of “fake news” to the concept of “alternative facts,” each of us must gain agency and play a more active role in verifying what we read is both fact-based and accurate.

[Read more…] about 6 Tips for better news hygiene

Those of a certain age will remember when the symbol on a computer keyboard sharing real estate with the number 3 key was called a pound sign. (Even that term is a North American derivation of the more universal number sign.)

Then came the rise of social media and the symbol’s appropriation by digital natives to use as an indexing tool, which they summarily repackaged as the now-ubiquitous hashtag.

This cute little symbol with its updated name has become so pervasive within the last decade that the use of its name in the course of conversation connotes something which, if in print, would be seen in bold or italics. 

Example: “Stopped in traffic, the driver next to me totally caught me picking my nose, ‘hashtag: busted.’”

Many old-school journalists will remember when it was common to add treble pound signs to the bottom of an article indicating to wire services the article ended, ensuring no copy inadvertently missing. (The alternative was to type – 30 – …  a blog for another time.)Nowadays, it’s unlikely any person born after 1980 would even think to call it a pound sign or risk being called a “boomer,” even if, technically, you’re really a Gen X-er. (Does Gen. Z even differentiate between the two?)

[Read more…] about Identity Crisis: What do you call “#”?