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Psychology, Culture, Journalism, and Democracy in the Digital Age

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@jorgebscomm  for  @empowervmedia H ow do people decide what to believe? Why does misinformation spread so easily? Why do news stories persuade some audiences, alienate others, and disappear entirely for others? And what happens to democracy when journalism, culture, psychology, and algorithms all collide in the same information environment? These are the questions that drive our latest article, "Psychology, Culture, Journalism, and Democracy: A Critical Literature Review of Their Intersections in the Digital Age" . This piece offers an interdisciplinary review of how cognitive processes, cultural values, media systems, and digital technologies interact to shape public knowledge and democratic life today. At its core, the article argues that journalism is not only a communicative institution. It is also a psychological and cultural institution. News is never just “information”. It is interpreted through identity, emotion, trust, social belonging, and the mental shortcuts we ...

The Network of Falsehoods: Sissela Bok on Lies and Trust

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Produced for @empowervmedia Edited & fact-checked by @jorgebscomm Bok argued that honesty is the “social glue” of trust.   (📷:irpp) S issela Bok’s starting point is simple but powerful: truth-telling is a vital social practice. She invites us to imagine a world where honesty is not the norm.  In such a world, “you could never trust anything you were told or anything you read” . You would have to verify every  fact yourself – an impossibly time-consuming task. Bok observes that even basic education assumes a degree of trust: if schoolbooks and teachers were known liars, learning would collapse . In her words, without trust, “you could never acquire the education you need… since such an education depends upon taking the word of what you read in your lesson books.” . This thought experiment makes it crystal clear  that we benefit enormously from living in a largely truthful world. 'Should You Always Tell The Truth? ' ▶️2m24s Bok formalises this as the Principle...

The Evolving News Landscape: Insights from Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025

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Produced by @empowervmedia Edited & fact-checked by @jorgebscomm Understanding how people get news has never been more crucial.   (📷:foto.wuestenigel) T he Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 shows a sharp shift away from traditional media toward social networks and video platforms for news . Across most countries, fewer people report regularly using TV, print, or news websites, while many more now rely on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and the like. For example, about one-third of respondents globally use Facebook (36%) or YouTube (30%) each week to get news.  Other social apps also play a major role: roughly 19% turn to Instagram and 19% to WhatsApp for news, and TikTok (16%) is already ahead of X/Twitter (12%). These many “mini-newspapers” on our phones and feeds mean news consumption is more fragmented than ever. In fact, the study notes that six different online platforms now reach at least 10% of people weekly with news – up from just two platforms a decade ago ....