Dr. David Bodoff, Department of Business Management, University of Haifa

March 13, 12:15-13:45, Room 8001, Rabin Complex

Abstract:

Increasing numbers of people get their news online, often from social networks. Much of the content arrives with no pedigree – it is produced by independent content creators, some anonymous, many unrecognized. This scenario naturally results in a news experience that fails the traditional principles of journalistic objectivity, which requires truthfulness (not fake) and neutrality (not biased). At the same time, computational approaches to text-processing are advancing, and can automatically characterize content. So, is the problem solved? Do we just build algorithms that characterize news as fake versus true, neutral versus biased? In this research, I look at the problem of objectivity from a computational standpoint. I also define a new computational task that defines bias in the case of Internet-based news. The computational standpoint brings a new perspective that advances both the conceptualization of objectivity, and its realization.