Social media often catches blame for increasing political polarization in the United States. Does it deserve that reputation? A new study from New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights finds that it does.
“We conclude that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are not the original or main cause of rising U.S. political polarization, a phenomenon that long predates the social media industry. But use of those platforms intensifies divisiveness and thus contributes to its corrosive consequences,” the report says.
Without internal or government reforms, the researchers say, partisan hatred will continue to have “dire consequences,” including further trust lost in institutions, the continued proliferation of misinformation and more real-world violence like the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The researchers recommend several ways to reform social media, including investing in alternative social media platforms, empowering the Federal Trade Commission to enforce standards and tweaking algorithms to stop rewarding inflammatory content.
A new chapter for print outsourcing
This week marks two new examples of the trend to outsourced newspaper printing — one big, one odd.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will move printing early next year to The Gainesville Times, 55 miles to the northeast. That will result in the loss of 97 full-time and 119 part-time jobs, the AJC reported. The AJC, flagship of Cox Enterprises, plans to increasingly focus on digital presentation, publisher Donna Hall said.
Gannett’s El Paso Times is going south of the border early next month, printing at Paso del Norte Publishing in Juarez, Mexico, half an hour away. Transnational printing arrangements are unusual if not unprecedented.
Some U.S. deals have put papers 200 miles away and pushed print deadlines into the late or mid-afternoon. Given the short distances involved, that impact is not expected in these two.
More closures
Between last week and this week, several newsrooms and publications have closed. This is, sadly, part of an ongoing trend during the pandemic. The latest additions include six weekly Gannett newsrooms in upstate New York, and the alt-weekly SF Weekly in San Francisco, which is going on an indefinite hiatus. Marie Claire magazine also announced that it will end its print edition in the U.S. It is owned by Future Media.
