Phil 1030

Legacy media 

Refers to traditional forms of mass media that existed before the internet (newspapers, magazine, radio and television)

Different types of legacy media news sources 

Print newspaper, magazines, broadcast television, radio, books 

ie. New York Times, CNN, Radio Stations, ABC, CBS, NBC,

Fake news

False or misleading information 

• Looks like real news sites but publishes fictional stories 

• Sometimes they mimicked the look of a legitimate new site, with a similar URL 

Journalism 

The process of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information to the public through various media.

Journalistic ethics: basic principles

Journalists who work for a news organization are expected to uphold certain standards

• Accuracy 

• Fairness 

• Right to Privacy 

• Independence 

• Transparency 

• Promises to Sources 

• Diversity 

• Accountability

Press release

• Most large organizations (for example, a corporation, or a university) have a communications, or media relations department. 

• If something is done within the organization that might be newsworthy, the communications department prepares a press release, or news release.

• Purpose: to let journalists know about what has happened, and to give them something they can use as a basis for a news story.

The Eliza effect 

The tendency of people to project human attributes onto computer programs that produce something that superficially resembles a human conversation

• Psychotherapist conducted test on ELIZA model, found that participants began to believe the program and attribute human emotions to it, they continued to treat it as intelligent even after they knew how it worked

Generative AI “hallucinations” 

Generative AI programs are designed to produce text (and other output) that resembles the responses of humans.

• In training, responses are not rated on correctness. ChatGPT and other LLMs routinely fabricate material.

• Developers call these “hallucinations”

• When a human hallucinates, the brain is malfunctioning.

• When ChatGPT or other generative AI programs hallucinate”, they’re doing what they’re designed to do: produce output that looks convincing

Peer review

Scientific journals that other scientists take seriously employ a system of peer review.  

• The editor looks at the paper, determines whether it’s appropriate for the journal. 

• If so, it is sent to referees (number varies; usually two or more). 

• Referees write a report, and recommend one of: Accept, Accept following satisfactory revision, Reject. 

• Editor makes a decision on the basis of referee reports.

Predatory journal

Journals that look like real scientific journals, but publish virtually all submissions, for the purpose of collecting publication fees.

• They may claim to be peer-reviewed, but the process isn’t real review.

• Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.

“Publish or perish” 

Is an idiom describing the pressure in academia to constantly publish research to maintain a career. 

• The phrase signifies that a lack of publications can lead to a loss of professional standing, failure to gain tenure, or even termination.

Academic tenure

A permanent employment status that protects a faculty member from dismissal except for "just cause" or "extraordinary circumstances" like financial exigency

• Granting professors the security to research and teach potentially controversial or unpopular ideas without fear of retribution.

• A position with tenure cannot be terminated without cause. 

Industry Associations

Companies involved in the same industry are competitors for market share but they also have interests in common (things that affect the industry as a whole). For that reason, they form industry associations:

• Purpose is to promote the interests of the industry

• Members are companies in that industry

Example: GMOAnswers is funded by the members of CropLife International.

Corporation Duties of directors and officers of corporations 

• People running a corporations have by virtue of those positions, certain duties 

  • Fiduciary Duty of Loyalty 

    • Directors and Officers must act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the corporation 

  • Duty of Care

    • Directors and officers must “exercise the care, diligence and skill that a reasonable prudent individual would 

• If duties are violated, they can be sued by shareholders of the company 

SWOT analysis 

• Officers of high positions should actively be looking for company Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

PR Industry

Profits on any corporation depends on consumer attitude, management is required by law to care about what you think

• Will take steps to shape public opinion 

  • People to specialize in public relations (Public Relations Industry) 

“Third Man” Technique

It is believed that people will be more receptive to a message if it appears to come from a source that doesn’t have a vested interest in it.

• The “Third Man” technique consists of presenting one’s message as if it’s coming from a neutral third party.

Information Laundering

“Independent” think tanks are formed (often via a PR firm hired by a company or group of companies) to Fund “independent” research, produce reports, press releases, op-ed pieces, sponsor public talks

• A corporation’s message is more effective when it seems to come from a neutral third party

• Companies also cultivate relationships with scientists willing to spread their message.

Ghostwriting 

A book or article is said to be ghost-written when the person (or persons) who actually wrote it is different from the person or persons listed as authors.

• In some contexts this is benign: (Celebrities who want to produce a memoir often hire a ghostwriter)

• If the article is an article submitted to a scientific journal, anything other than full transparency about authorship is serious scientific misconduct.

  • Ex. Monsanto and Glyphosate

Grassroots campaigns 

A grassroots movement or campaign is one that has its origin in ordinary citizens who are concerned about some issue.

• it’s not driven from above by political or business leaders.

Astro roots Campaigns

Some PR firms offer, as services, generation of grassroots campaigns.  

These are sometimes referred to (by people outside the PR industry) as “astroturf roots.”

Influencer marketing 

A social media marketing approach that uses endorsements and product mentions from influencers

P-value

probability, on the assumption of the null hypothesis, of getting a value of the indicator variable at least as large as the value you actually got 

Statistical significance

A statistically significant result indicates that an outcome is unlikely to be due to chance in that specific experiment, but it does not indicate that a real natural phenomenon has been proven.

Diagnostic tests: false positives and false negatives

• If target is present 

  • Positive result: true positive 

  • Negative result: false negative 

• If target is absent: 

  • Positive result: false positive

  • Negative result: true negative 

Reproducibility Crisis

Attention has recently been drawn to the fact that most studies that show a statistically significant effect are not reproducible

Publication bias

When studies with “positive” or statistically significant results are more likely to be published than studies with null or non-significant results.

Pre-trial registration

There are online databases in which researchers can register trials before they are carried out 

P-hacking

Ways of turning a statistically insignificant result into one that looks like it’s statistically significant

Subjective probability

how likely someone thinks an event is, based on experience, intuition, or incomplete information.

Conditional probability

Conditional probability is the probability that an event happens given that another event has already happened.

Bayes’ theorem

 shows how the probability of a hypothesis changes after we observe evidence

Prior probability

The probability you assign to a hypothesis before seeing any new data or evidence

Posterior probability

The probability you assign to a hypothesis after seeing new data or evidence

Likelihood

Likelihood measures how probable the observed data are given a specific hypothesis.

Milankovitch cycles

Long-term changes in Earth’s orbit and tilt that affect the amount and distribution of sunlight the planet receives, influencing climate patterns such as ice ages.

Greenhouse effect

Process by which certain gases in Earth’s atmosphere trap heat from the Sun, keeping the planet warm enough to support life.

Temperature anomalies

A temperature anomaly is the difference between the observed temperature and a baseline average temperature over a reference period.

Greenhouse gases

Greenhouse gases are atmospheric gases that absorb and emit infrared radiation, contributing to the greenhouse effect and warming the planet. Ex: Carbon Dioxide, Methan, Methane, Nitrous Oxide

Evidence for anthropogenic climate change

• Nights warming faster than days 

• Winter warming faster than summers 

• Lower atmosphere warming; upper atmosphere cooling 

Model-based attribution

Studies aimed at understanding the causes of some observed phenomenon are called attribution studies. Researchers build computer simulations of the earth’s climate system 

Multi-model methods

Rather that put all their effort into producing a single model that is the best that can be made given current limitations, climate scientists use multiple models 

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change formed by the UN in 1985 to evaluate the scientific literature and prepare summary reports on climate science, aimed at policy makers and other non-specialists

Tobacco strategy

• Strategy used by the tobacco industry in the PR campaign to counter increasing awareness of health risks associated with tobacco 

The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition

The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC) was an industry‑funded lobby group created in the early 1990s to influence public opinion and policymakers by promoting the idea that science used in regulation wasn’t reliable unless it met certain criteria set by industry interests.

The Global Climate Coalition

Created in 1989, shortly after the first meeting of the IPCC, disbanded in 2002. A powerful industry lobbying group, representing fossil fuel and heavy industries, that actively opposed international climate action 

Global Climate Science Team

Goal was to raise te existing uncertainties that exist in climate science. Progress measured based on public’s perspective on climate science before and after the plan

CRU e-mail hack (“Climategate”)

• November 2009, a large cache of e-mails stolen from the server of the University of East Anglia, to and from researchers at the Climatic Research Unit were made public 

• Immediately blogs, commentators began taking snippets out of context to suggest that the climate researchers were engaged in fraud and deception 

Brown & Williamson memo

“Doubt is our product” - From a memo by an executive at Brown & Williamson (large tobacco company) in 1969

Nature “Climate of Fear” editorial

Scientists must now emphasize the science, while acknowledging that they are in a street fight (no rules, dealing with a media situation they are not used to, uncharted territory) 

Balance as bias

• Be aware of “false balance” → climate change is accepted as happening, you do not need a “denier” to balance the debate to achieve impartiality 

Cultural cognition

people form beliefs about climate change, not on the evidence, but in line with their political orientation

Old Climate Denial

• Global warming is not happening 

• Human generated greenhouse gasses are not causing global warming 

New Climate Denial

• The impacts of global warming are beneficial or harmless 

• Climate solutions won’t work 

• Climate science and the climate movement are unreliable