Internet News Research Articles

Can AI Models Summarize Your Diary Entries? Investigating Utility of Abstractive Summarization for Autobiographical Text

Journaling is a widely adopted technique, known to improve mental health and well-being by enabling reflection on past events. Large amounts of text in digital journaling applications could hinder the reflection process due to information overload. ive summarization can solve this problem by generating short summaries to quickly glance at and reminisce. In this paper, we present an investigation of the utility of large language models in the context of autobiographical text summarization. We study two approaches to adapt a self-supervised learning (SSL) model to the domain of autobiographical text. One model employs transfer learning using our new autobiographical text summary dataset to fine-tune the SSL model. The second model leverages existing news datasets for high-quality text summarization mixed with our autobiographical summary dataset. We conducted mixed methods research to analyze the performance of these two models. Through objective evaluation using ROUGE and BART scores, we find that both these approaches perform significantly better than the SSL model fine-tuned with only high-quality news datasets, showing the importance of domain adaptation and autobiographical text summary dataset for this task. Secondly, through a subjective evaluation on a crowd-sourcing platform, we evaluated the summaries generated from these models on various quality criteria such as grammar, non-redundancy, structure, and coherence. We found that on all criteria, these summaries score >4 out of 5, and the two models show comparable results. We deployed a proof-of-concept web-based journaling application to assess the practical real-world implications of incorporating abstractive summarization in a digital journaling context. We found that the participants showed a high consensus that the summaries generated by the system captured the main idea of their journal entry (80% of the 75 participants gave a Likert scale rating of out of 7.0, with the overall mean rating of 5.56 ± 1.32) while being factually correct, and they found it to be a useful feature of a journaling application. Finally, we conducted human evaluation studies to compare the quality of the summaries generated from a commercial tool ChatGPT and mixed distribution fine-tuned SSL model, and present insights into these systems in the context of autobiographical abstractive text summarization. We have made our model, dataset, and subjective evaluation questionnaire openly available to the research community.

Латинские графемы Z и V в интернет-жанрах

The article compares the use of graphemes Z and V in written Russian Internet mass media of various genres: traditional (articles of Internet news portals and sites of regional governments), communicative (comments, messages, posts on social networks), marketing (names of brands, advertisements, event announcements, promotional posts) of two time periods, the watershed for which was the political event of February 24, 2022, which became known in the language under the name “military special operation in Ukraine”. We observe the dynamics of change in the semantics of Latin graphemes Z and V: the intensification of these letters continues the tradition of interaction between Cyrillic and Latin as a mechanism for creating occasionalisms and a means of creating expression, on the other hand, reflects such a linguistic phenomenon as the expansion of the semantics of a letter, its acquisition of ideological significance and turning to it as a tool in information war. In some cases, expressive graphemics becomes an effective means of implementing the genre of patriotic appeal, in others, it is used as a tool for expressing civic position, attitude to today’s political events. In the course of the work, general scientific methods of observation, description and comparison, as well as the method of contextual analysis were used.

Re-humanising News: Delineating the Trends and Research Scope for Curatorial Journalism

The pivot to online news in the last two decades has had far-reaching changes in the way information is created, disseminated and consumed. One aspect of this transformation to digital has been the salience of curatorial journalism – a human-centric practice involving selection of newsworthy content, its organisation and presentation in consumable styles and formats. News curation has been pitched as an antidote to an ecosystem of information overload. While research into the practice online exists in certain contexts, it has been sparse in countries such as India. This paper reviews and synthesises contemporary literature pertaining journalistic practice and roles, news curation and its formats, digital intermediaries and structures of the digital journalism ecosystem. It thematically suggests three approaches that could be adopted by researchers to fill the gaps in the discourse around news curation : the role and identity-centric approach; format and style-centric approach; and, business and economy-centric approach. While the role and identity-centric approach emphasises on how many journalists today work as ‘information “managers”’, the format and style-centric approach delves into how curatorial products may adopt a conversationalised style to engage audiences. The question of the value proposition of curatorial products in a precarious environment is dealt with by the third approach. By placing the discussion of these approaches in the context of four curatorial offerings in the English language Indian news ecosystem, the paper highlights the vast potential of research that exists for a diverse country like India. But at the same time, these approaches would be applicable to other contexts as well, where extant research on curation has been found lacking.

All My Friends Know The Slow Writer: Contextualization, Explanation, Fairness and Equity in Sports Illustrated’s Daily Cover

ABSTRACT Sports Illustrated has a long legacy of respected longform journalism and a well-documented history of oversexualizing female athletes and underrepresenting women’s sports. In March 2020, the magazine launched the Daily Cover, a daily digital investigative or feature article emailed to subscribers and displayed prominently on SI.com. Given the magazine’s overall focus on digital journalism and breaking news, the Daily Cover provides an ideal opportunity to examine this generation of “bonus piece” journalism through the lens of slow journalism. Slow journalism emphasizes fairness, goodness and contextualization, reflecting a commitment to underserved communities and activist journalism. Quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the 244 Daily Cover stories in the first year found a qualitative commitment to slow journalism tenets - disconnecting from the hustle of breaking news; focusing on contextualization; and explaining prominent and uncommonly discussed topics for a community, not just an audience. While women’s sports were covered infrequently and less than a quarter of reporters were women and non-binary journalists—though that number is higher than the percentage of women in sports media—the overall sample reflected slow journalism principles of fairness, goodness, and balance.

Peering Through the Digital Window: Assessing Online Disclosure of the Public Procurement Data in Bima City

This article explores the level of "online data disclosure" or "website-based transparency" concerning Open Government and Electronic Public Procurement. It specifically focuses on the availability and accessibility of procurement data on the official public procurement website of the Bima City Government, which can be found at https://lpse.bimakota.go.id/eproc4. The transparency indicator used by researchers to explore this issue is the Municipal Transparency Index (MTI) from Portugal's Transparência e Integridade Associação Cívica (TIAC). The unit of analysis boils down to website-based transparency of public procurement documents and the activities inherent in its management. The researchers used two types of data, namely (i) primary data, obtained directly through in-depth interviews with several informants determined by purposive sampling technique, from the management of the government's electronic procurement system; and (ii) secondary data, obtained through a literature study of official documents, mass media articles, internet news sites, and others. This research is intended to add to the empirical case study on the level of website-based transparency managed by local governments in Indonesia, where this aspect is reflected by data openness in its provision and accessibility, which is an important prerequisite for building transparency and a core part of the Open Government initiative. The official website of the Bima City Government's EPP currently does not show an indication of ideal openness in terms of data availability and accessibility, due to specific constraints in the form of budget limitations, staff competence, and the commitment of political leaders. Corruption allegations against certain elite in the city illustrate the vulnerability of goods and services procurement to the worst maladministration practices or abuse of power.

IMPLEMENTASI PROGRAM PENTA HELIX DALAM PROGRAM MEDIA DAN PUBLIKASI DESA

Alumni Family Association (IKA) of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Hasanuddin University (UNHAS) involving members from representatives of State (PTN) and Private Universities (PTS), and the Regional Management Council (DPD) of Indonesian Online Journalists (JOIN) Bone Regency, South Sulawesi (Sulsel), led by Zulkarnain Hamson, Chair of the Community Service Team (PKM), with three facilitator lecturers, carried out Village Journalism training with the theme: "Building an Information System that supports the Publication of Village Potential" as part of the model implementation Pentahelix. Of the 27 sub-districts in Bone Regency, Palakka is the pilot project for organizing Village Journalism and is the first to be implemented in Bone. Head of District Area, Andi Akbar Baso SH. appreciated the Village Journalism training, when welcoming the JOIN team of lecturers and administrators, in order to improve the human resources of 15 villages in the region. Each village sends 2 staff, to take place in the sub-district office hall for one day. The training was considered successful in achieving targets, with participants increasing their understanding of the importance of using media for village publications

(Un)Reporting Xenophobia: Normalising and Resisting Officials’ Discriminatory Discourse on Migration in Online Journalism in Cyprus

ABSTRACT This article draws on existing research suggesting that media discourses may contribute in normalising xenophobia. Its objective is to advance these studies by investigating not only how journalists become complicit in naturalising officials’ expressed anti-immigration stance, but also the potential of journalists to counterbalance the normalisation of xenophobic discourse. In doing so, the article emphasises the role of the features of the online news production. The research draws on a multimethod research design that approaches online journalistic reporting on two separate yet interconnected levels: the media reports on migration, through discourse analysis, and the news production process, through in-depth interviews with news producers. The findings reveal that churnalism, sensationalist reporting, excessive reliance on elite sources and the discursive construction of immigrants and refugees as threat and Cyprus as victim work to reinforce the normalisation of xenophobia. Respectively, representing immigrants and refugees as rights-holders and Cyprus as duty-bearer, drawing information from diverse sources, conducting investigative journalism and (re)contextualising migration-related news in a non-negative perspective are elements that resist and challenge xenophobic discourse. However, journalists need to put in extra effort to overpass standardised online news production practices that facilitate the reproduction of xenophobic narratives.

The Affective Epistemology of Digital Journalism: Emotions as Knowledge Among On-the-Ground and OSINT Media Practitioners Covering the Russo-Ukrainian War

In this paper, we seek to introduce the term “affective epistemology” into digital journalism studies. Building on twenty-seven interviews with media workers reporting on the Russo-Ukrainian War and digital documentation analysis, we address the following research questions: What is the epistemic value of media practitioners’ emotions? How do emotional attachments shape how media professionals and open-source analysts navigate fact-finding and neutrality? We argue that media professionals’ emotional engagement is a form of embodied knowledge with cognitive and strategic rationality. We identify four epistemological affordances of emotions and illustrate that emotions motivate journalistic practices and are motivated by reality on the ground and available knowledge, can serve as a methodological and an epistemological tool, and form a part of reality; emotions also drive innovations and facilitate team collaboration. Furthermore, we argue that the Russo-Ukrainian War is a context where the discourse on impartiality, neutrality, and detachment becomes experienced as problematic and counterproductive. We show how the work of journalists is changing as they align with discourses on human rights and justice and legal fact-finding bodies that are committed to legal objectivity.

FEATURES OF LANGUAGE MEANS OF ROLE MODELS IN DIGITAL JOURNALISM OF KAZAKHSTAN

Over the past decades, the development of the digital system has gradually led to the transformation of the information and communication space and interactive interaction with the audience. As a result, traditional journalism is being replaced by digital journalism with a new communication model. The structure of traditional journalism is undergoing changes under the influence of the introduction of digital technologies. The paper most widely covers the key aspects of the activities of a digital journalist, many of which have not yet been described in academic publications. A new phenomenon is considereddigital journalism, and new role models in the socio-cultural status are studied. The goal is to describe the features of the language means of role models in digital journalism in Kazakhstan. According to the author of the study, the neo-digital environment has enriched the communicative space of journalists, which manifests itself primarily in the deviation from the professional ethical standards of traditional journalism. The study of the features of the language means of the role models of communicants in digital journalism makes it possible to create the prerequisites for the formation of a new formula for virtual communication in the process of covering events. The scientific findings and practical significance of this paper lie in the presentation of new role models in modern digital journalism and their application in the study of media discourse in digital format. In the process of writing the paper, the following methods were used: analysis and review of individual cases in the digital space. Based on the results of individual cases in social networks, the following conclusions were made: role models in the digital environment will continue to change, as the digitalization of media is developing at a rapid pace; given the new trends in the transition of traditional journalism to the digital space, Kazakhstani journalism should adopt the experience of advanced countries in training personnel, namely, master new functions of digitalization; language means of digital journalism must meet the standards of new media and train personnel, taking into account the features of the role models of modern digital journalism; various language means are described on the example of cases of digital communication of journalists and network users, forming public consciousness. The study results can be a theoretical foundation for further research in the field of media and linguistics.

The Effect of Digital Journalism Training on Media Sub Domain PR FM and PR MN on Cognitive Improvement of the Editorial Crew

Handling hoaxes is the responsibility of journalism, and Digital Journalism must act as a beacon of accurate information in society. Ethical and reliable journalism fosters a healthy cycle of information dissemination. The rapid and widespread accessibility of information on social media inundates the public with unverified content. Mainstream media outlets have adopted strategies to maintain speed while upholding the quality of their coverage. One effective approach employed by online media is the media incubator strategy, where subdomains are developed under the main domain to swiftly gather information from various regions, including PR FM and Minds of the People Media Networks (PRMN). Consequently, the Community Service Program (PKM) with a focus on editorial targets in media subdomains at PR FM and PRMN becomes vital. This initiative involved providing training by technology practitioners, press professionals, and academics from Fikom Unisba. The training emphasized online and digital journalism, with a strong emphasis on journalistic ethics in news and feature writing, as well as utilizing technology for news reporting. The results of this activity demonstrated a significant improvement in the cognitive insight of the journalists, as evident from the difference in pre-test and post-test scores conducted before and after the training.
 Keywords: digital journalism, subdomain media, journalists

Curated Datasets for Use in Automated Media Monitoring and Feedback System: “News Classification System” Dataset, “Government News Classification” Dataset

Online journalism in India, a growing field that involves news websites and Digital media, connects with the Press Information Bureau (PIB), a government agency dedicated to sharing accurate information about government policies and initiatives with journalists. While various news outlets publish diverse articles and opinions on these topics, the government seeks to leverage Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for gathering feedback in multiple languages. To develop such a system, a notable obstacle is the lack of a readily accessible standard dataset is required. To address this, two datasets are developed named, 'NCS' and 'GNC,' consisting of information from 2020 to 2023 and collected through web scraping tools like Parsehub and manually scrapping. NCS represents News Classification system dataset and GNC represents Government News Classification. The 'NCS' dataset includes Indian news in Hindi, Marathi, and English with categorization of Indian news as government-related or not. Then, a Machine Learning model called "Government News Classifier" to sort news articles using the 'NCS' dataset into either government-related or non-government-related categories. The objective is to use this model to figure out if a news source is discussing topics related to the government or not. Using this model, we created the 'GNC' dataset, which contains only news articles related to government schemes and policies in Hindi, Marathi, and English. In GNC dataset, Human experts manually classify each news source into three categories: "government favourable," "government non-favourable," or "neutral." In essence, this research emphasizes the importance of having access to a large dataset, which can stimulate more advanced prediction models in this complex field.

Legalizing executive control: on the law of online journalism in India

ABSTRACT This article critiques the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 (“the Rules”) as they relate to online journalism. The Government’s stated objective for making the Rules is to “level the playing field” of online journalism with print journalism. I examine whether and how the Government satisfies this objective. I make two broad claims. First, the Rules fail to “level the playing field”. The objectives, philosophical approach, and substance of the new regulatory scheme are significantly different from those that govern print journalism, and to the disadvantage of online journalism. Second, rather than “levelling the playing field”, the Rules give the Government overwhelming control of online journalism. The Government exercises ultimate control over the regulatory structures and gives itself unprecedented censorship powers over online journalism. If my claims are correct, the Rules will have catastrophic consequences for online journalism and Indian democracy.

Russian Orthodox framing of abortion in online journalism on religion

When making public statements about abortion, those serving in the Russian Orthodox Church are beholden to the legacy of the Soviet health care system and the need to connect with audiences whose religious sentiments are largely nominal. This article explores framing of abortion by clerics and others serving in the Church in 150 Russian online newspaper articles. Said framing was analyzed according to typologies from prior research of morality policy and church-state relations in Russia. The frequency with which these frames were employed was measured and cross-referenced with article genres. The results show that rational-instrumental frames rooted in secular reasoning surpassed religious argumentation and appeals for state intervention, and that frames expressing disillusionment with the Russian government outpaced positive assessments of the state.

Factors Affecting Trust in Chinese Digital Journalism: Approach Based on Folk Theories

Trust in online digital news has become a significant concern affecting social cohesion in China. Under the framework of folk theories, we interviewed urban and rural residents’ perceptions and imaginations of digital news credibility in China’s digital journalism environment. The study finds that digital media giants in China are utilised by both urban and rural residents. Regarding the behaviour of news avoidance, scepticism of digital news accounts for only a tiny fraction of the reasons held by news avoiders. Chinese urban and rural residents have similar perceptions about the impact of news forms, quality of information, and individual stances on digital news, while rural residents show uncertainty about the transparency of news production, which may be related to their education level and media literacy. The relationship between recommendation algorithms and news trust is overlooked by respondents. In addition, news seekers are more likely to display herd behaviours, which may mislead their judgment of news credibility. News avoiders may refuse to consume news because of their distaste for China’s digital news atmosphere, such as the ubiquity of unpleasant emotions, preconceived opinions, and attention-grabbing clickbait headlines.

The Interactive Web – Weeding Bound Serials Based upon Licensed Perpetual and Open Access to Digital Journals

This Interactive Web column focuses on a traditional aspect of library management – deselection and weeding of physical materials. It describes the process and considerations of a traditionally conservative library when evaluating Open Access journal availability as a suitable substation for retained print materials. While many, if not most, medical and hospital libraries have weeded a significant part of their older print collections, it is still common to have both older print serials holdings and a pressing need for space.

Digital journalism and the role of social media in shaping public perception of Russian aggression in Ukraine

The purpose of the article is to study the role of digital journalism and social media in creating public perception of Russian aggression in Ukraine. To achieve this goal, theoretical general scientific research methods were used: analysis and synthesis. The use of the content analysis method to study the content of messages on social media and Internet platforms, the use of a descriptive qualitative approach combined with discourse analysis and language reconstruction became relevant. The results of the study indicate that among the obvious advantages of online journalism are a variety of information sources, the ability to disseminate news quickly, interaction with the audience, global reach, and open access to information. In addition, in the Ukrainian context, coordinated efforts have effectively raised the visibility of Ukraine's current needs in search engines, which has contributed to their resolution. However, it should also be recognised that online journalism has its drawbacks. The manipulation and spread of fake news used by Russian propaganda has highlighted the vulnerability of this form of journalism. The scale and intensity of Russian propaganda had a significant impact on the formation of public opinion among Russians and partly among foreigners. They began to use imposed narratives to understand Russian aggression and the role of other countries in the conflict. The conclusions emphasise that these trends underline the importance of the theory of use and gratification, which indicates that audiences have their own views on information sources and are influenced by them according to their own beliefs.

A survey of perceived risk and protective behaviours towards COVID-19 in 2020 in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Human perceptions and behavioural responses to the risk of epidemics have always been crucial factors in studying and containing disease spread. This study aims to assess and understand the risk perception and the behavioural response of a sample of the population in the Kurdistan Region toward COVID-19. A self-administered online survey (designed on Google Forms) was designed to get a rapid appraisal of the risk perception and behavioural response of people living in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region about COVID-19 from 17-25 November 2020. A total of 390 individuals responded to the survey. Many respondents (65.6%) recognized COVID-19 as a high or very high threat level. The most frequently applied protective behaviours included avoiding spitting on the ground (76.2%), avoiding contacting ill persons (75.9%) and wearing face masks (75.6%). The main source of information about COVID-19 was Internet news (46.2%), followed by social media (44.9%). Significantly higher perceptions of the threat of COVID-19 were found among females (p = 0.004) and those having family members with chronic diseases (p < 0.001). Understanding the general public's risk perception toward the COVID-19 infection is essential for determining effective protective measures and can be used to guide proper preventive behaviour.

Book Review: Digital Journalism and the Facilitation of Hate, by Gregory P. Perreault

Book Review: <i>Digital Journalism and the Facilitation of Hate</i>, by Gregory P. Perreault

Euphoria, disillusionment and fear: Twenty-five years of digital journalism (research)

Digital journalism and its research have evolved significantly over the last twenty-five years. When the first online media were installed on an experimental basis in the mid-1990s, neither media companies nor scientific observers expected them to transform the way journalism operates. However, very soon after these humble beginnings, a seemingly infectious euphoria spread among journalism scholars who hoped to rejuvenate journalism and democracy with the help of user participation and a resulting “dialogue with the audience.” Still, many of these promises remained unfulfilled, and this led to considerable disenchantment of academics with online media and user participation during the second decade of the 2000s. Indeed, current journalism scholars exhibit a preoccupation with fears of disinformation and forms of “dark” participation. This essay analyzes the process of co-evolution in digital journalism and academia from the personal perspective of a European scholar. Four broad empirical phases are discussed: (1) niche, (2) euphoria, (3) disillusionment, and (4) doom and gloom. Using this typology, a fifth phase will be suggested to extend the current state of the field.

Marksist ve Freudyen Bağlamda Kötülük Kavramının Gazetelerin İnternet Sayfalarına Yansıyan Haberler Üzerinden İncelenmesi

The positive or negative impact of media content on individuals and society is a matter of much debate, but it has been the subject of many studies from the past to the present. The main debate on this issue is the size of this effect rather than the influence of the media. News and content in the media, whether positive or negative, inevitably affect individuals or society in some way. Setting aside the positive impact, it is possible to say that a significant portion of content in the media negatively affects individuals, either directly or indirectly. This is because it's a known fact that the media is more inclined and eager to publish negative content. In particular, news related to societal events, referred to as "third-page news", frequently finds a place in the media. Third-page news predominantly consists of negative stories. It causes exposure to negative content in many ways. Considering that these negativities reach people of all ages, levels of education, and status, negative social reflections can be observed, especially in the medium to long term. The detailed presentation of news that may set a negative example (evil) in the media, and especially in the new media, can set an example for other people and cause the evil to spread systematically. This study aims to examine the news published on the internet news sites of the most followed newspapers in Turkey, through the concept of evil in the Marxist and Freudian context. For this purpose, news texts were examined from macro and micro perspectives using the discourse analysis method. According to the main findings obtained from the study, parallel results were obtained with the thesis that evil manifests itself more based on economic reasons, which is dominant in Marxist thought. On the other hand, the findings showing that there is a high number of incidents involving individuals committing evil for trivial reasons lead to the belief that the Freudian perspective of evil is prevalent in society.