This book examines the shifting role of media trust in a digital world, and critically analyzes how news and stories are created, distributed and consumed. Emphasis is placed on the current challenges and possible solutions to regain trust and restore credibility. The book reveals the role of trust in communication, in society and in media, and subsequently addresses media at the crossroads, as evinced by phenomena like gatekeepers, echo chambers and fake news. The following chapters explore truth and trust in journalism, the role of algorithms and robots in media, and the relation between social media and individual trust. The book then presents case studies highlighting how media creates trust in the contexts of: brands and businesses, politics and non-governmental organizations, science and education. In closing, it discusses the road ahead, with a focus on users, writers, platforms and communication in general, and on media competency, skills and education in particular.

This book explores models and concepts of trust in a digitized world. Trust is a core concept that comes into play in multiple social and economic relations of our modern life. The book provides insights into the current state of research while presenting the viewpoints of a variety of disciplines such as communication studies, information systems, educational and organizational psychology, sports psychology and economics. Focusing on an investigation of how the Internet is changing the relationship between trust and communication, and the impact this change has on trust research, this volume facilitates a greater understanding of these topics, thus enabling their employment in social relations.

Women’s existence in the digital world has been closely studied by scholars and attracted the attention of activists worldwide. Women, like men, early on saw the Internet as a potentially powerful and liberating tool that would help them find groups or communities with similar aims and interests. Today there is more awareness of the deleterious effects of unconstrained online speech such as online violence, ridicule, silencing, and threats against women. Women in the Digital World brings together the latest academic research on women online and includes chapters on political speech, gendered online violence, dealing with sexual assaults, marginalization of women politicians, and how women participate (or don’t) via online environments. The interdisciplinary research in this volume brings together communications studies, gender studies, sociology, politics, and computer science and is essential reading for those seeking to understand a growing field. The book should be of interest also for activists and NGOs who seek to deepen their knowledge on the place of females online. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Information, Communication & Society.

Providing a framework for understanding the relationship between media and society, this updated Sixth Edition of Media/Society helps you develop the skills you need to critically evaluate both conventional wisdom and your own assumptions about the social role of the media. Authors David Croteau and William Hoynes retain the book’s basic sociological framework but now include additional discussions of new studies and up-to-date material on today’s rapidly changing media landscape. Now featuring streamlined content and a more engaging narrative, this edition offers expanded discussions of the “new media” world, including digitization, the internet, the spread of mobile media devices, the role of user-generated content, the potential social impact of new media on society, and new media’s effect on traditional media outlets

The human race now creates, distributes and stores more information than at any other time in history. Frictionless and cheap digital networks circulate information in ways which either authors or subjects are unable to trace or control. Servers store data which can be found on the world wide web years after it has ceased to be accurate or relevant to its original use. These developments have given rise to a movement promoting a 'right to be forgotten': an argument that freedom of expression should be balanced by a right to erase information which affects an individual, under certain conditions. Rights to privacy therefore need extending and strengthening in the digital era. This strand of thinking influenced a significant judgement delivered by the European Court of Justice in May 2014. As a result, the dominant internet search engine in Europe, Google, has been required to remove links to hundreds of thousands of pieces of information on application from individuals who considered their interests harmed. We know very little of how these delinking choices are made.This book looks at the implications of this controversial decision for free expression, journalism and information in the digital public sphere. Two rights-free speech and privacy-collide in a new way in age of information saturation. Is the judgement a threat to freedom of information and the accuracy of the historical record or the first step in establishing essential new rights in the digital era.

Trust is a pervasive catalyst of human and business relationships that has inspired interest in researchers and practitioners alike. It has been shown to enhance engagement, communication, organizational performance, and online activities. Despite its role to cultivate cooperation, knowledge-sharing, and innovation, trust through digital means or even trust in digital media has presented new opportunities and challenges in society. Examples include a wider and faster dissemination of trust-influencing messages, and richer options of digital cues that engage, disrupt, or even transform how trust is formulated. Despite that, trust helps people to live through risky and uncertain situations, and the many capabilities enabled on the digital platforms have made the formation and sustaining of trust very different compared to traditional means. Trust in today’s digital environment plays an important role and is intertwined with concepts including reliability, quality, and privacy. This book aims to bring together the theory and practice of trust in the new digital era and will present theoretical and practical foundations. Trust is not given; we must work to build it, but it is a very fragile and intangible asset once built. It is easy to destroy and challenging to rebuild. Researchers, academics, and students in the fields of management, responsibility, and business ethics will gain knowledge on trust and related concepts, learn about the theoretical underpinnings of trust and how it sustains itself through digital dissemination, and explore empirically validated practice regarding trust and its related concepts.

The media industry is undergoing an accelerated pace of change, driven in large part by the proliferation of digital platforms. In many cases, the speed of adoption has exceeded our ability to process the impact of these changes on individuals and society at large. This book provides a “behind-the-scenes” look at the media industry’s transition into the digital era and examines its impact on marketing, advertising, innovation and other economic and social activities. The impact of digital technologies on traditional media sectors, such as advertising, video games, film and television is well-documented. Less understood is its effect on our perceptions, thought processes and inter-personal relationships. Social media, for example, represents a fundamental change in the ways we interact with media, communicate with each other and even present ourselves to the world. This has shaped the way we communicate with institutions and brands. Similar to the first “Transitioned Media” book, Transitioned Media: A Turning Point into the Digital Realm, this book combines media industry leaders and academics to explore various transformative trends and issues. Themes include measuring cross-platform behaviour, artificial intelligence in journalism, the evolution of video games, digital media and physical space, the mobile use trends, social media and the corporate world, the changes in the television and newspaper business and the evolving relationship between advertisers and target audiences. The varied backgrounds of contributors and array of topics make for a unique and insightful point of view.