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posted by martyb on Thursday March 22 2018, @12:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the make-fake-take-rake dept.

Google News Initiative announced to fight fake news and support journalism

Google is announcing new efforts today to support the media industry by fighting misinformation and bolstering journalism, which will live under a newly announced umbrella called the Google News Initiative. Google already offers something similar in Europe through the Digital News Initiative, but the Google News Initiative is intended to be a wider worldwide expansion of those kinds of efforts.

There are three specific goals of the Google News Initiative: highlight accurate journalism while fighting misinformation, particularly during breaking news events; help news sites continue to grow from a business perspective; and create new tools to help journalists do their jobs. Google is serious about supporting these goals, too, pledging to invest $300 million over the next three years.

Fighting fake news is obviously one of the most crucial parts of Google's forthcoming efforts. The company has had several brushes with disinformation propagating through search following events like the Las Vegas shooting last fall, making this an area where Google has room to improve. According to Google, the company is working to train its system to be better at recognizing contentious breaking news and adjust toward displaying more accurate results, using the recently added "Breaking News" section on YouTube as an example. But even with those improvements, Google still has problems with search results on YouTube, including issues where conspiracy videos topped the trending results last month following the Parkland shooting. It's good to see that Google is working to improve this, but it'll have a long way to go to regain users' trust.

Also at Bloomberg.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @12:59AM (22 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @12:59AM (#656410)

    Look at the recent banning of firearm videos by YouTube. That is a policy which supports an agenda.You may agree with the agenda, but that does not remove the fact that it IS an agenda.

    If you read Google News, you will notice that the news which appears on the main page is very much biased in favor of the liberal view.
    I don't like bias at all, regardless of what the bias favors, but it's laughably obvious that Google is deliberately steering Google News in a pro-left direction. Google News is in its own way as bad as Fox News, with respect to bias.

    So the idea that Google is somehow going to look out for us with respect to "fake news" is a bad joke.

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  • (Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @01:26AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @01:26AM (#656422)

    My post was NOT redundant.

    .
    .
    .

    Fuck you faggots, I hope you all die of AIDS.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by cocaine overdose on Thursday March 22 2018, @01:35AM (2 children)

    Anonymous Couriers are the only posters left that speak the truth.
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @02:35AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @02:35AM (#656450)

      Anonymous Couriers New (or whatever Monospace translate into) are even better.

      Now, mod me informative (and waste one of your mod points)

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 22 2018, @01:48AM (11 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 22 2018, @01:48AM (#656432) Journal

    People who believe that Google is unbiased are complete and utter fools. I've stated several times that all news sources are biased. Some sources are more biased than others, we can almost all agree on that. Some biases, I agree with, some biases, you agree with, other biases, TMB agrees with, while other biases, Aristarchus agrees with. But, the thing is, all sources are biased, and each bias appeals to different people.

    It's the herd animals who are not frightened by the idea that Google is in a position to force it's bias down everyone's throats. It means nothing to them that Google might significantly reduce the exposure of views that run counter to Google's agenda. To the unthinking masses, "Google Good. Anti-Google thought bad!"

    I say that those herd animals should re-read 1984 - if they have ever read it. If they haven't then they should read it for the first time, and then re-read it. Google is in a better position than any other news source to become the double-speak government news agency that Orwell described in his book. Google can pretty much silence alternative points of view already. Given the force of law, they WILL silence alternative points of view.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by aristarchus on Thursday March 22 2018, @06:18AM (10 children)

      by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday March 22 2018, @06:18AM (#656497) Journal

      while other biases, Aristarchus agrees with

      False. The truth is not a "bias", it is just true, regardless of what anyone thinks. How much false equivalency do you have in there, Runaway? Fox News is news, 'cause, bias? Even their own commentators no longer can tow the lie. [nytimes.com]

      • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:41AM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:41AM (#656512)

        >Using New York Times to dispute Fox News
        Your mistake is assuming sources you agree on have the monopoly on truth, why don't you try using RT to dispute western media next time and see how it goes.

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by aristarchus on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:49AM (4 children)

          by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:49AM (#656515) Journal

          You are sorely missing the point: it is not who reports it, it is whether the thing itself, the re ipsa, is true or not. Are you seriously suggesting that this is fake news because you disagree with the New York Times? You can discard facts because of who conveys them? Oh, ye of little discrimination! Even Runaway is not that stupid.

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 22 2018, @01:43PM (3 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 22 2018, @01:43PM (#656587) Journal

            Were you an extremely dull child? Mommy can be EXTREMELY pissed that something happened, and you KNOW that she's pissed. So, without actually lying, you mislead her into believing that someone else did the evil deed which she is so pissed off about.

            Her heirloom vase is lying in pieces, and she screams. You look at her, tell her truthfully that you saw the dog chasing the cat through the living room. Of course, you're not going to mention the ball that you were playing with - the fact that the dog chased the cat through the room should suffice.

            Truth, you say? I want to hear more about the subject, Ari.

            • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:38PM (2 children)

              by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:38PM (#656813) Journal

              Runaway, Runaway! What do you think philosophers do?

              Heraclitus says: οὐκ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ λόγου ἀκούσαντας ὁμολογεῖν σοφόν ἐστιν ἓν πάντα εἶναι.

              So do not listen to me, listen to Parmenides of Elea.

              II

              Εἰ δ' ἄγ' ἐγὼν ἐρέω, κόμισαι δὲ σὺ μῦθον ἀκούσας,
              αἵπερ ὁδοὶ μοῦναι διζήσιός εἰσι νοῆσαι·
              ἡ μὲν ὅπως ἔστιν τε καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἔστι μὴ εἶναι,
              Πειθοῦς ἐστι κέλευθος - Ἀληθείῃ γὰρ ὀπηδεῖ - ,

              [5] ἡ δ' ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν τε καὶ ὡς χρεών ἐστι μὴ εἶναι,
              τὴν δή τοι φράζω παναπευθέα ἔμμεν ἀταρπόν·
              οὔτε γὰρ ἂν γνοίης τό γε μὴ ἐὸν - οὐ γὰρ ἀνυστόν -
              οὔτε φράσαις.

              III

              ... τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ νοεῖν ἐστίν τε καὶ εἶναι.

              IV

              Λεῦσσε δ' ὅμως ἀπεόντα νόῳ παρεόντα βεϐαίως·
              οὐ γὰρ ἀποτμήξει τὸ ἐὸν τοῦ ἐόντος ἔχεσθαι
              οὔτε σκιδνάμενον πάντῃ πάντως κατὰ κόσμον
              οὔτε συνιστάμενον.

              http://philoctetes.free.fr/parmenidesunicode.htm [philoctetes.free.fr]

              See?

              • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday March 23 2018, @06:11PM (1 child)

                by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 23 2018, @06:11PM (#657196) Journal

                You ask what philosophers do? Well - they spend a lot of time, talking in circles, using words that they are sure the audience doesn't know, pontificating over frivolous matters that ultimately have no effect on life.

                You could, of course, emulate Leonid Tolstoy. Ol' Leo actually said a few wise things. A lot of plain, simple things, actually. He stated complex ideas in plain and simple ways, in the hopes that plain and simple people could understand the ideas. You could say that Leo was a great communicator.

                BTW - you do realize that Soylent is all about communication, right? When you post in your native Yiddish, or Assyrian, or Turkish, or whatever that is, you're not communicating. You're just showing off, doing your best to assuage your feelings of inadequacy. If you ever get over those inadequacies, you'll speak to monolingual people in their own language.

                • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday March 23 2018, @08:21PM

                  by aristarchus (2645) on Friday March 23 2018, @08:21PM (#657244) Journal

                  You ask about truth, and you complain the words are too big and "furrin"? I expected more of you, Runaway. Shirley you noticed the link? Perchance there might even be a translation?

                  On the other hand, I did not give a citation for Heraclitus, since I thought the Greek was clear to everyone. This is Fragment B50, and the English would read: "Listening not to me, but to the Logos, the wise agree that all is one." (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fragments_of_Heraclitus#Fragment_4a)

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @11:48PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @11:48PM (#656924)

        False. The truth is not a "bias", it is just true, regardless of what anyone thinks.

        Hardly true. This is one of those things which contributes to that old quote, "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics."

        As a simple example, imagine if there was a news source which reported every single time a member of the Israeli police or military killed a muslim, but never reported any time a muslim person killed an Israeli. That would be 100% truth, but that new source would still be horribly bias.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @11:57PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @11:57PM (#656928)

          still be horribly bias.

          Things are not "bias" unless they are fabric. You mean "biased", as in "having a bias"? English, not just for breakfast anymore!

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday March 23 2018, @06:15PM (1 child)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 23 2018, @06:15PM (#657198) Journal

            Guess what, Chuckles? Not every Soylentil is a native English speaker. Both you and I knew what GP meant. So, he stated it in a fashion that few native English speakers would do. His idea came across just fine.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 23 2018, @08:27PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 23 2018, @08:27PM (#657245)

              Not every Soylentil is a native English speaker

              I begin to despair and think that none are, although quite a few apparently are native speakers of American.

  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Thursday March 22 2018, @03:08PM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Thursday March 22 2018, @03:08PM (#656627) Journal

    I quit Google News some months ago -- it has basically become the Washington Post/NYT RSS feed.

  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 22 2018, @04:44PM (1 child)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday March 22 2018, @04:44PM (#656678) Journal

    Look at the recent banning of firearm videos by YouTube. That is a policy which supports an agenda.

    Yes, and that agenda is to preserver $$ from advertisers who are increasingly nervous about being associated with guns.

    Google News also has an agenda. It's bad for the brand to put complete falsehoods under the News heading.

    The agenda is $$, why do you hate capitalism?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @10:38PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @10:38PM (#656897)

      The agenda is $$, why do you hate capitalism?

      You can criticize corporations even if you're one of those retarded hardcore free marketeers.

      I don't trust Google either. Their awful algorithms constantly catch innocent people in the crossfire. Oh, some Nazi got some ad revenue from a video? Burn everything down! The advertisers are fleeing! Yet, somehow, big names like CNN can make videos about politics and they never seem to be demonetized. How very strange.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Thursday March 22 2018, @05:09PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 22 2018, @05:09PM (#656700) Journal

    I don't like bias at all

    Like you, I do not like bias either. I strongly prefer unbiased. You could say I am unbiased, which is a euphemism for being biased in favor of being unbiased.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:18PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:18PM (#656798)

    > If you read Google News, you will notice that the news which appears on the main page is very much biased in favor of the liberal view.

    Are there many reputable "non-liberal" newspapers and can you recommend some? Most of the larger newspapers I know (NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, several European ones) seem to be classified as "liberal". While that is partly due to "liberal" having basically lost all its original meaning in the US vocabulary and seems to just mean "views we disagree with" at present, it would be interesting to get a better perspective outside the echo chamber.

    For google news, to me they seem to just reflect the view common in the majority of newspapers while not adding any further bias on top of that.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by hemocyanin on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:24PM

      by hemocyanin (186) on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:24PM (#656807) Journal

      As a lefty, I don't trust those because they aren't what you'd call "liberal" in any colloquial sense (perhaps classical) -- not when the use lies to get us into wars in recent and distant history. They're just tools of the oligarchy and by design, actively harm the interests of the populace in favor of the interests of a few.