Welcome to another edition of The Fix’s research roundup. In this instalment, we take a look at three studies – how the prevalence and impact of misinformation are overstated; how people perceive media retractions; and what newsrooms expect from social media editors.

“Misinformation on misinformation: conceptual and methodological challenges”

Altay, S., Berriche, M., & Acerbi, A. (2023). Misinformation on Misinformation: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges. Social Media + Society, 9(1). DOI: ttps://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221150412

Did you know Americans today are more concerned about misinformation than sexism, racism, terrorism and climate change? But this study states that the prevalence and impact of online misinformation are overstated, fueled by media and policymakers. The research delves into the misconceptions around misinformation and the challenges these misconceptions raise.

Misconceptions about misinformation

According to the authors, there are primarily two things that we get wrong about misinformation:

Prevalence and circulation: An example can be the statement “the internet is rife with misinformation”. Of course, there is misinformation on the internet, but how abundant is it in relation to the overall information out there? The Internet is in fact rife with memes and entertaining content, the authors argue.
Impact and reception: For instance, there is the popular notion that people believe everything they see on the internet. But the authors point out that sharing or liking a post is not the same as believing it. Can we really know what a person thinks merely through their digital traces?

A quest for the sources

Social media is often demonised, but this study actually questions that notion. Can misinformation be the root of our societal problems, or is it only one cause among many? Moreover, is misinformation just a social media problem? We must consider the sources and methodology of such claims. We should also discard the inferences drawn from limited amounts of data. Ultimately, the authors of this study encourage us to question the widespread claims around misinformation.

“The corrections dilemma: media retractions increase belief accuracy but decrease trust”

Freitag, J., Gochee, M., Ransden, M., Nyhan, B., Roschke, K., & Gillmor, D. (2023). The Corrections Dilemma: Media Retractions Increase Belief Accuracy But Decrease Trust. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 1-12. doi:10.1017/XPS.2023.4

This study focuses on how people perceive media retractions and how news outlets often find themselves in a conundrum when making retraction decisions.

The perks of masking an error

We all know that news reporting is not infallible. But when mistakes are made, newsrooms face a dilemma: fix a mistake quietly or issue a retraction, thus ensuring both accuracy and transparency, while at the same time risking the trust of the readers.

The study reports on a simulated social media experiment that examines the reaction of consumers after media retractions. More than 2,000 participants viewed a mock Twitter feed with a tweet from a news organisation about an ISIS story. It was followed by another tweet that retracted the story (and the original tweet) after a third party questioned its authenticity. The study found that while corrections by news organisations or third-party messages help with the accuracy sought by the readers, they do shake the trust in the organisation.

Limits of the study: we need more data

This study suggests that the dilemma around corrections does exist. And that disclosing mistakes improves belief accuracy but reduces trust in media organisations. This conundrum poses a challenge for journalists and editorial teams when deciding how to respond to an error in a story. However, the study also explicates its own limits, finding that the effects of corrections were moderated by partisan affiliation and overall trust (or the lack thereof) in the mass media. Additional research on prominent news outlets, more social media platforms and with a wider set of respondents (non-US) might be needed to extrapolate the claims made by the study.

Tai Neilson, Timothy A. Gibson & Kara Ortiga (2023) Now Hiring Social Media Editors, Journalism Studies, 24:3, 365-386, DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2022.2161930

The study delves into the growing significance and prevalence of social media editors (SMEs) in modern newsrooms. SMEs are largely supposed to take care of digital news production and audience engagement. There are various tasks therein: managing digital news circulation, engaging with online audiences and marketing news content.

To understand how news employers define the roles and responsibilities of SMEs, the study analysed job listings posted by US news companies between 2018 and 2019 and also conducted interviews with SMEs. The authors found that although SMEs are still primarily seen as journalists and employers expect them to have a background in news reporting and editing, they are also expected to eb data and marketing experts. This highlights the changing nature of journalism roles and how SMEs influence the newsroom.

A current SME’s point of view

To expand on the claims made by the study, we interviewed Holly Pate, the social media and engagement editor at the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN). Pate has prior experience in social media and outreach from her time at The Outlaw Ocean Project, a nonprofit US-based journalism project. She also teaches an undergraduate social media foundations course. That is what made her a strong candidate for the position at GIJN.

Pate’s skills in writing and photo editing (using software such as Canva and Photoshop), investigative journalism experience, attention to detail and ability to work remotely were valuable assets to her role. However, the steepest learning curve for her was navigating the company’s pre-existing content and understanding the target audience. These required journalistic skills: working on time-sensitive deadlines, critical thinking, effective content consumption and production, and collaboration.

Due to GIJN’s increasing number of online followers on a dozen platforms, Pate’s role involves managing a “network of networks” – connecting with relevant individuals and organisations and preparing written and visual content for social media channels. Additionally, she also interacts with the audiences, writes pieces for GIJN’s daily publication and mentors regional editors managing social media in a dozen languages.

Pate’s experience confirms that SMEs in news projects have to work with the norms and values of journalism – and that their roles and responsibilities have evolved with time and the newsrooms expect much more from them now than they used to.

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