“Apple yesterday announced a special section in its News app devoted to 2018 midterm election coverage,” Bryan Clark writes for TNW. “And while Facebook’s complete and utter failure in the 2016 election still weighs on our minds, Apple says it plans to be different.”
“From now until the November elections, each Apple News user will see a special banner above Top Stories within the app,” Clark writes. “This curated section will feature a mix of stories that Apple News editors deem trustworthy, well-sourced, and legitimate. Basically the opposite of what Facebook offered in 2016.”
MacDailyNews Take: And who are these Apple News editors? That’s the issue, as always with every so-called “news” outfit.
And, those who get their “news” from Facebook are idiots.
“Facebook’s issues stemmed largely from its firing of human editors, and the platform’s network effect,” Clark writes. “Apple, on the other hand, is placing its trust in humans. Presumably, the human-curated section would be able to weed out fake or improperly sourced stories rather quickly — and without the network effect of Facebook.”
MacDailyNews Take: Who wrote the algorithms, Martians?
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: And Walter Cronkite was, for many years, “the most trusted man in America.” (smirk)
Humans are biased. And journalism is dead, but of course, it was never alive in the first place.
Good luck with the “fair and balanced” thang, Apple News!
Once again, do not solely trust Apple News. Do not trust any single gatekeeper.
The best way to consume so-called “news” is to cast a wide net.
As always, readers of “news” need to consider the sources and interpret what they are being told accordingly. The more disparate sources you can find, the better. And we don’t mean different newspaper, network, website brands that are all owned by the same conglomerate. Determining the actual ownership of your “news” sources is an investment that requires a bit of time, but it is very enlightening. — MacDailyNews Take, June 17, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Apple shoots for the high ground in ‘fake news’ debate – June 26, 2018
Apple News launches 2018 Midterm Elections section – June 25, 2018
Editorial bias: Apple News’s human editors prefer a few major newsrooms, study shows – June 6, 2018
New York magazine editor Lauren Kern named first Editor-in-Chief of Apple News – May 25, 2017
Who’s going to ‘curate’ Apple News? – August 13, 2015
The Apple News app is doomed – July 30, 2015
The future’s not looking too bright for Apple News – July 30, 2015
Apple hiring team of journalists for News app; a ‘jaw-dropping’ development says publisher – June 15, 2015
Apple News is fast, responsive, enjoyable, and it might become your only news app – July 15, 2015
Apple News shows that Apple wants to bolster and profit from ads, not eliminate them – July 10, 2015
Apple News to have human curation – and that raises issues – June 15, 2015
Why oh why can’t I teach the News to curate what I want, from outlets I trust, and on topics I want to follow?…
I have not attempted to customize Apple News by selecting preferred sources or “liking” things. But I was under the impression that that is possible and that the app will learn your preferences as you use it.
Personally, I scan a breadth of news sources on a variety of topics. Diversification helps to flush out the crap.
it’s so bad, you can’t even be sure if history hasn’t been rewritten. i know, in fact, my own mother has lied to me. 🙁 i know my father selectively edited his own coming of age narrative so as not to disappoint his children. :/ has there ever even been a real reporter. is that even possible, someone who just reports without getting in the way. to whose truth will i subscribe. i’m so mixed up. i think i’ll just believe what i want to believe. isn’t that what everyone does. i’m feeling so uninformed right now.
I used the Pulse app as my news aggregator until LinkedIn bought it and killed it. Still bitter! Have any former Pulse lovers managed to find an equally beautiful worthwhile replacement. If so, please do tell as I’m still looking! Breaking up is hard to do… Thanks!
Apple News’ slanted bias was evident from the first time I used it around it introduction.
It’s why I deleted the ironically named ‘News’ app.
Perhaps you didn’t use it correctly? lol
Frankly, I disagree with your assessment of Apple News. But people tend to find what they believe. Perhaps you embody slanted bias, thus making much of what you encounter appear to be biased in the opposite direction. Everything is relative, after all.
Unless Apple News’ editors are a mixed bag of liberals, moderates, and conservatives curating in harmony, then their brand of news won’t be any less biased and will just add to the current mess that is the MSM!
What you’re suggesting is an impossible fantasy. There never was “objective” news in the US, there were monopolies that peddled the same narrative. At best there were competing newspapers that presented different perspectives and information. People claiming to want “unbiased” news are just agitating for a return to the left-wing stranglehold on mass media that has been partially broken over the past 20 years thanks to: Rush, Drudge, FOX (and their imitators) and social media.
I disagree with your logical fallacies and your interpretation of history. The major news sources used to be less biased in many respects. Opinion pieces were intentionally placed on editorial or opinion pages to differentiate them from news. But news organizations were loss leaders back then. The money was made through advertising and drawing viewers to your TV channel.
After 24/7 cable news came along, there wasn’t enough real news to fill up the day, even with repeating segments. News and opinion began to get mixed together. Then Murdock had an idea for monetizing news by tailoring the product to a specific audience. News and opinion were not only mixed together, they were blended into a twisted concoction targeted to capture and hold a specific audience – an audience that was feeling persecuted and misunderstood.
When news shows became a profit generator for media companies, news became less objective and more targeted to appeal to the monetized masses.
While I am not so foolish as to claim that there is any unbiased reporter or editor or source of news, it is possible to scrub most of the bias from the news that is delivered to the public. It takes great discipline, but it is possible.
The most trustworthy news is sports and Fox Sports has one of the best teams. The most trustworthy political/social news is RT.com. However, I watch Sean Hannity for sheer entertainment value not for truth per se.
Nick exposes why his radical views are so poorly informed. Anyone who cites “social media” as a news source has truly lost it. The other personality-driven entertainment sites he lists are even less trustworthy. Obviously a lot of self-reinforcing bad information going on there.
I don’t understand Apple’s strategy with news. It looks like Apple wants to wedge itself in as a middle man, trying to work itself into a subscription collection agency. They’re just in the free stage of their drug pusher plan. But come on, what does Apple really offer? A boring interface? I can’t think of a reason to use Apple News when there are so many better sources available on all sorts of devices and media elsewhere, many of them easier to read and cross-check.