Claim: Social media is not a reliable source of news
“Social media is not a reliable news source” is the proposition we’re putting forward as the fourth topic of The Great Media Debate on NUjij, NU.nl’s interactive platform . How do you view social media? Do you see it as a reliable news source? If so, in what way? And if not, why not?
To keep up with the news, some people use social media as a source. This can be an easy and quick way to get the news. For one-third of 18- to 34-year-olds, social media is even the primary news source, according to the Digital News Report released in June. There, you can follow traditional news outlets such as the NOS, De Telegraaf, or other newspapers. But you can also follow the news through news influencers such as Cestmocro or Left Laser.
News items can also appear in your feed as individual posts, for example, because they’ve gone viral online. For instance, many AI-generated images of the floods in Nepal and Tibet were circulating on social media. Other channels, meanwhile, claimed that the floods were fake or that Chinese infrastructure was to blame.
About The Great Media Debate
The Great Media Debate is a research project, a conversation, and a campaign all in one. It explores how we in the Netherlands experience the news, what we feel is missing, what concerns us, and what could be improved. We believe these questions aren’t just for media experts. That’s why we’re engaging in a conversation with a broad audience.Over the next six weeks, a new proposition or theme will be posted online every week. The Great Media Debate is an initiative of the Democracy and Media Foundation in collaboration with De Argumentenfabriek and NU.nl.
Want to stay informed? Sign up for our newsletter and join the NuJIJ panel on NU.nl. We’ll share updates on this page and on LinkedIn. We write about insights from our meetings, share interviews with experts, explain how we reached certain conclusions, announce the Media Meetups, and would love to hear your insights as well.
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