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The Internet and social media did not create white supremacist movements in the United States, such as the hate groups that rallied in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend to deadly results. Nor did the Internet create Donald Trump, who defended the Nazi protesters as very fine people. Trump was a demagogue long before he became @realDonaldTrump on Twitter. And there was plenty of fake news before there was Facebook.

The rise of what we might call cheap speech has, however, fundamentally altered both how we communicate and the nature of our politics, endangering the health of our democracy. The path back to a more normal political scene will not be easy.

In the old days, just a handful of TV networks controlled the airwaves, and newspapers served as gatekeepers for news and opinion content. A big debate back in the 1980s and earlier was how to enable free expression for those who did not own or work for a media company and wanted to get a message out.

In 1995, UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh wrote a remarkably prescient Yale Law Journal article looking ahead to the coming Internet era. In Cheap Speech and What It Will Do, Volokh foresaw the rise of streaming music and video services such as Spotify and Netflix, the emergence of handheld tablets for reading books, the demise of classified advertising in the newspaper business, and more generally how technology would usher in radical new opportunities for readers, viewers and listeners to custom design what they read, saw and heard, while at the same time undermining the power of intermediaries including publishers and bookstore owners.

David Swanson / TNS

Alex Jones from infowars.com at Settlers Landing during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Monday, July 18, 2016. (David Swanson/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, TCN - OUTS **

Alex Jones from infowars.com at Settlers Landing during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Monday, July 18, 2016. (David Swanson/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, TCN - OUTS ** (David Swanson / TNS)

To Volokh, these changes were exciting and democratizing. But 22 years later, the picture of what the cheap-speech boom has wrought seems considerably darker. No doubt the Internet has dramatically lowered the costs of obtaining information and spurred the creation and consumption of content from radically diverse sources. Anyone with an idea can now get it out on Facebook, Twitter or any number of other sites accessible to anyone in the world with an Internet connection. And cheap speech has been a boon to those fighting oppressive regimes around the world, as truthful messages and relevant information can spread despite government censorship efforts.

Less positively, cheap speech has undermined mediating and stabilizing institutions of American democracy, including newspapers and political parties, with negative social and political consequences.

The newspaper business has been decimated. In 2001, approximately 411,800 people were employed in the journalism industry. By 2016, that number had fallen below 174,000. Between 2000 and 2015, newspaper print advertising revenue declined from $60 billion to $20 billion a year. As a 2009 Columbia Journalism Review report concluded, What is under threat is independent reporting that provides information, investigation, analysis, and community knowledge, particularly in the coverage of local affairs.

In place of media scarcity, we now have a media fire hose. Because the barrier to entry is so low virtually nonexistent its easy for both domestic and foreign sources to spread falsehoods and propaganda for political or pecuniary purposes. People no longer rely on Walter Cronkite to tell them the way it is or for the Los Angeles Times to screen out the kooks. Instead, Macedonian kids make money and the Russian government makes trouble inventing news stories like Hillary Clinton is a murderer, or Trump was endorsed by the Pope.

Since fake news websites look just like legitimate sites when links are shared on Facebook, email or otherwise, even readers who want to distinguish truth from fiction may have a hard time. The problem is compounded by polarization: People share stories that reinforce what they are already inclined to believe. The echo chamber may make us less tolerant and less able to recognize falsehoods.

Fake news is far from the only problem associated with cheap speech. The demise of local newspapers sets the stage for an increase in corruption among state and local officials. Without newspapers watching, as the Los Angeles Times did in its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of corruption in Bell, chicanery can flourish.

Cheap speech is also hastening the irrelevancy of political parties by facilitating direct communication between politicians and voters. Social media, for instance, provided Trump a vehicle to get around the GOP in launching his unorthodox campaign. Now that hes president, social media allows him to circumvent not only the media but also his staff as he lies to the public.

Social media can help activists overcome collective action problems to identify fellow travelers and stage peaceful protests, or violent and hateful ones. It should have come as no surprise that the organizers of the Charlottesville rally promoted it heavily on social media and then used the fallout to look for more recruits.

What can be done?

As Trumps presidency should make obvious, we do not want the government to have the power to ban speech it dislikes what the White House considers fake news. 1st Amendment protections rightfully would prevent such legislation, anyway.

Still, in the era of cheap speech, some shifts in 1st Amendment doctrine seem desirable to assist citizens in ascertaining the truth. The courts should not stand in the way of possible future laws aimed at requiring social media sites to identify and police false political advertising, for instance.

Of course a new conservative Supreme Court is more likely to make things worse than better. It might hold, for example, that it violates the 1st Amendment to bar fake campaign news distributed over social media by foreign governments. Or it might strike down laws that help voters figure out who is paying for political activity (under the dubious argument that transparency measures violate a right to anonymity).

Ultimately, nongovernmental actors may be best suited to counter the problems created by cheap speech. Tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter can assist audiences in ferreting out the truth. Consumer pressure may be necessary to get there, but it is not clear if consumers or shareholders will have the power to move dominant market players who do not want to be moved.

Subsidies for (especially local) investigative reporting can also help the problems of corruption and boost the credibility of newspapers as well as other supports for civil society. But nothing is certain to work in these precarious times.

It seems cheap speech, despite its undeniable benefits, has come with a steep price for our democracy.

Richard L. Hasen is the Chancellors Professor of Law and Political Science at UC Irvine. This is adapted from a forthcoming law review article, Cheap Speech and What It Has Done (to American Democracy).

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook

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Speech in America is fast, cheap and out of control - Los Angeles Times

Mosquito, Malaria agent

The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) has urged the media to collaborate with it on malaria control, care and prevention in Nigeria.

According to the organization, collaboration with Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN) would help to achieve the programmes strategic plan of ensuring total elimination of malaria in Nigeria by 2020.

The National Coordinator of NMEP, Dr Audu Mohammed, made the call on Friday during a Media Chat on Malaria organised by HEWAN, Lagos Chapter, in collaboration with the body.

The theme of the media parley is Management of Malaria in Pregnancy.

Mohammed, represented by Dr Joel Akilah, Head of Integrated Vector Management in NMEP, said that the importance of the meeting could not be overemphasised because malaria was a major public health concern in Nigeria

This is especially when considered against the backdrop of the negative effects of malaria attacks on our social and economic development as a result of absenteeism from schools, offices and farms.

Over 90 per cent of Nigerians are at risk of malaria while children under-five and pregnant women are seen to be more vulnerable to this disease, hence the focus of this discussion.

He said: Although Nigeria has made giant strides in the fight against malaria, a lot of work still needs to be done to eliminate malaria in Nigeria.

READ: Climate change programme to improve peoples lives in northern states

There has been reduction in the prevalence of malaria from 42 per cent (according to the Malaria Indicator Survey MIS 2010) to 27 per cent (MIS 2015).

Improvement in the uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy (IPTp) from13 per cent (NMIS 2010) to 19 per cent (NMIS 2015) by pregnant women who received at least two doses of SP has been documented.

However, uptake of 19 per cent SP is relatively low if Nigeria must eliminate incidences of malaria in pregnancy and its adverse effects, he said.

According to the NMEP boss, malaria is a problem that requires a multi-pronged approach and the belief is that the media is central to solving this challenge.

It is for this reason we have invited you all as partners in the fight against malaria to interact together to build synergy to create the needed awareness.

There is also the need for sensitisation of the populace, especially pregnant women on the importance of early Ante-Natal Care (ANC) attendance and uptake of the quality intervention (IPT) to prevent malaria in pregnancy

As such, it is necessary for the media to be equipped with adequate information as well as be aware of current policies, community mobilisation and partners involvement in malaria elimination, he said.

Mrs Itohowo Uko, the Head of Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation in NMEP, said that Malaria in Pregnancy had grave consequences, especially as it accounted for 11 per cent of maternal deaths.

Malaria in Pregnancy can occur with or without symptoms; it can cause anaemia, lead to miscarriages, still births, pre-term and low birth weight babies and in unfortunate situations, death.

Uko said: However, the NMEP has a Prevention of Malaria in Pregnancy (MIP) strategy.

This strategy advocates using Focused Antenatal Care (ANC), IPTp, regular and appropriate use of Long Lasting Insectide Nets (LLINs) in addition to early diagnosis and prompt treatment of malaria in pregnant women.

It is our belief, however, that the media need to be equipped with the right and correct information, particularly in health-related areas to be able to provide such information.

Also, Dr Tolu Arowolo of the WHO re-emphasied the importance of early Antenatal Care (ANC), saying that booking and administering of IPTp are critical in preventing malaria during pregnancy.

IPTp is based on the assumption that every pregnant woman living in an area of high malaria transmission has malaria in her blood stream or placenta, whether or not she has symptoms of malaria.

A pregnant woman is supposed to receive a minimum of three doses of SP before delivery.

They should also sleep under LLINs because it is also an intervention against malaria, she said.

Arowolo said that good nutrition was also critical during pregnancy as it helped to nourish the mother and foetus, as well as boost the immune system.

Dr Bartholomew Odio, a gynaecologist, urged people, especially pregnant women to always request for testing before the treatment of malaria fever.

Odio, who is the Malaria Technical Advisor with Jhpiego Nigeria, an affiliate organisation to John Hopkins University, U.S, advised them to always demand to know the drugs that were given to them.

Mr Timothy Obot, representing the Head, Monitoring and Evaluation in NMEP, said that there had been a lot of commendable strategies deployed to prevent, appropriately diagnosis and treat malaria.

He said that there were huge gaps in appropriate knowledge about the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention, thereby necessitating the need to bridge the information gap.

READ: Most Nigerians consume water from unwholesome sources Minister

He urged the media to take the lead in providing investigated and researched evidence of the efficacy of recommended malaria prevention strategies.

Responding, Mrs Chioma Obinna, President, HEWAN, commended the NMEP for its strategic policies and activities toward the elimination of malaria in the country.

It is important that NMEP is collaborating with the media in the fight to eliminate malaria because the media had the power to reach out to the masses.

People depend on the media to give them information about what is happening in the society and we are obliged to give them timely and accurate messages too.

With this collaboration, there will be smoother synergy in getting the right perspective and information on issues relating to malaria from the right sources for onward dissemination to Nigerians.

HEWAN members through their different platforms, will also effectively communicate to pregnant women and healthcare givers the need to prevent or effectively manage malaria, she said.

Also, Mr Sola Ogundipe, a seasoned health journalist applauded NMEP for the initiative.

He said that eliminating malaria in Nigeria, especially in pregnancy was achievable through commitment and collaboration with all stakeholders, as well as Nigerians themselves.

There are different areas to be addressed when it comes to malaria and its elimination in the country.

These challenges also have possible measures and solutions; given the right information the media will do their best to communicate these to the public.

Deaths from malaria as well as deaths as a result of Malaria in Pregnancy can be reduced to the barest minimum and HEWAN will join in this cause, Ogundipe said.

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Malaria control: NMEP urges media collaboration in care and prevention - P.M. News

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Brandgry

Brands are taking back control of their media spend, according to European marketer trade body World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). WFA released a report Wednesday surveying 35 global advertisers with a total annual marketing spend of $30 billion. Transparency is the top concern for 47% of marketers, and 58% have started to take digital capabilities in-house with programmatic leadership roles. Over half of marketers surveyed have updated agency contracts to define agencies as principals or agents. Brands are also getting smarter about where they place their dollars. Eighty-nine percent have suspended buys from ad networks without third-party verification and 64% only buy verified viewable impressions. More at WSJ.

Your Earliest Convenience

Amazon is planning a convenience store rollout where Prime members can order and instantly pick up a selection of daily essentials, according to a release. The program starts in five cities student-rich Los Angeles, Atlanta, Berkeley, Columbus and College Park. More at Ars Technica. How will it impact CPG strategy? Ryan Sullivan, VP of performance marketing services at the Publicis agency Performics, recently told AdExchanger a CPG companys paper towel brand had been escalating paid media on Amazon, in part to jockey for position on Alexa. Will the same logic apply to convenience stores down the line?

Under The Influence

Facebooks decision to allow brands to boost sponsored influencer posts may force them to spend even more on the platform, Digiday reports. By allowing advertisers to put spend behind branded influencer posts, marketers fear non-promoted influencer content will be demoted. Most brands are using influencers on Facebook to rely on their following base for organic reach, said Matt Britton, CEO of influencer marketing company Crowdtap. But now, in order for brands to support influencer posts, they have to pay to play. By de-emphasizing the importance of organic reach, influencers lose their value on Facebook and influencer marketing on the platform gets much more expensive. Facebook just eradicated influencer marketing, Britton said. More.

But Wait, Theres More!

Youre Hired!

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Survey Finds Brands Seizing Media Control; Amazon Preps Convenience Stores - AdExchanger

Credit: deepblue4you/iStock

Global brands have tried to tighten control on media spending and reexamine their relationships with agency suppliers in the year since a bombshell report on media transparency from the Association of National Advertisers, according to a new survey from the World Federation of Advertisers.

The research released this week from the Brussels-based marketing association representing members like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and national advertiser associations said brands are making changes to their media governance practices in the areas of media transparency, viewability, brand safety and ad fraud.

The WFA attributes the more hands-on approach to the ANA's report last summer, which claimed rebates and non-transparent practices were pervasive in the U.S. media-buying ecosystem and put the relationships marketers have with their media agencies under a microscope.

The survey included 35 WFA members representing more than $30 billion in global media and marketing spending.

About a quarter of brands surveyed said they had conducted "forensic/financial/contract compliance audits" of their agencies in the last 12 months, and 21 percent said they planned to do this. Some 35 percent of respondents said they already conduct those audits.

Historically, media audits tracked the prices that an agency was paying for media and benchmarked them against competition. As digital media has gained prevalence, compliance audits which take an in-depth look at an agency's books, including invoices, cash flow and time sheets have become more common in Europe.

A number of brands surveyed said they had made changes to their agency contracts in the past 12 months. For instance, 26 percent added clauses pertaining to the return of incentives, defined as any kinds of discounts, rebates or service agreements given to agencies by media vendors to buy certain media, and whether those "incentives" are passed back to the advertiser.

Though some types of rebates have been common business practice abroad, other less straightforward types of rebates have become more prevalent in recent years, said Matt Green, global lead of media and digital marketing at the WFA.

The WFA has said it doesn't oppose rebates, an industry practice in which media companies provide money or volume discounts to agencies for influencing client spending toward that media company. But the group believes advertisers should receive their fair share of those discounts or payments, and that rebates shouldn't create issues surrounding conflicts of interest.

Green said transparency had been a topic of discussion internationally before the ANA report was released.

"Transparency has been a big focus internationally for a while, less so in the U.S.," he said. "It doesn't surprise me that we're seeing a renewed focus on transparency" following the ANA's report, he said.

In the study, 57 percent of brands said they had implemented viewer tracking via a third-party vendor (31 percent already had that in place); 49 percent have adopted site whitelists or blacklists where advertising should or shouldn't appear (46 percent had done so already); and 54 percent said they were now working with third-party verification companies or other partners to combat ad fraud (34 percent were doing so already).

Though trust between agencies and marketers has been a challenge, Green said he believes having these conversations will benefit the industry down the line.

"Maybe it was necessary for the industry to go through these challenges in order to be reborn in a more stable manner," Green said. "It is a process that needed to happen. We will ultimately come out in a better place."

Originally posted here:
Global Brands Are Taking More Control of Media Spending: WFA - AdAge.com (blog)

After months of rumors about why ABCs hit Bachelor in Paradise shut down production after allegations of possible misconduct between contestants Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson, the show which was cleared in an investigation finally provided some answers Tuesday night in a sitdown with host Chris Harrison and the cast.

It was an educational experience, as Harrison led a lessonon sexual consent (Ifsomebodys passed out, unresponsive, can they give consent? If somebodys drunk, can they give consent?). The contestants shared their thoughtson whether race was a factor because the alleged controversy was abouta black man and a white woman. (Unfortunately, yes.)

The episodewas also pretty cringeworthy damage control, relieving the show of any responsibility, complete with a dose of media-bashing. Here are some other takeaways:

[Bachelor in Paradise addresses scandal in most frustrating way possible in the premiere]

1) Bachelor in Paradiseis a beautiful show with only pure intentions to help people find love.

Did you think Bachelor in Paradise was just a seedy Bachelor spin-off where former contestants try to extend their 15 minutes of fame and drink and hook up? Then thats your problem, because actually, it is truly a life-affirming experiencefor lost souls just trying to find a partner.

The episode started the wedding of Evan Bass and Carly Waddell, who met and got engaged last season. Even though our production was technically shut down, we didnt want anyone to miss this joyous occasion, Harrison explained. How annoying when producers on your showare so disturbed by a situationthat they have to file complaints about possible misconduct before a made-for-TV wedding can happen.

Luckily, the wedding took place. This is going to be the most beautiful wedding ever. Carly and Evan are completely a testament to what Paradise can do for people, sighed contestant Sarah Herron in an on-camera interview.

2) Bachelor in Paradise producers and ABC are completely blameless.

The gist of the controversy:Production shut down after anincident in a pool between DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios, or, as People reported,possiblya drunk sexual encounter with a female contestant who may have been too intoxicated to consent. Olympios hired a lawyerand said she was a victim; Jacksonsaid the reports were false and character assassination. An investigation found the footage showed no misconduct. Production started again, though without Jacksonand Olympios.

The second half of the episode kicked off as Harrison gathered the cast around for a Very Serious Talk. On Monday, viewers briefly saw footage of Jacksonand Olympios laughing and cuddling in the pool; Tuesday, there was no such footage. But producers really want the audience to know that they did absolutely nothing wrong.

Warner Bros. hired an outside firm to look into everything that supposedly happened here, Harrison said. They looked at all the video footage, sent people down here to interview all of you, our staff. They concluded that there was no evidence of misconduct by cast on the set. So lets talk about that. Do you trust that conclusion?

There was a large chorus of Yes! and Absolutely. I was confident that nothing happened between DeMario and Corinne that was bad, and I trusted everyone that worked here, so I knew everything was gonna be okay, declared Raven Gates.

My biggest worry was for not only production, because I felt like they were kind of blamed, shecontinued. And then my worry was for DeMario and Corinne because we knew what happened, but it was so unfair the way that people were speaking about DeMario and the blame he was getting and the horrible things said to him, and Corinne both.

3) Bachelor in Paradise producers would never coerce contestants to do anything, especially drink, and how dare you even think that.

After the Paradise shutdown, theseries got a lot of backlash for the amount of booze on the show,as former contestants have describedhow producers will encourage cast members to drinkto help provoke drama. After the shutdown, the show implemented new safety policies, and one was reportedly a limit on alcohol.

The Bachelor in Paradise cast, however, was incredibly offended that anyone would think the producers dont have their best interests at heart.

I feel like it was tough on all of us emotionally producers, crew, cast. So, for me, it was nice to see all of us kind of, like, come together, said Taylor Nolan. The divides in the roles of producers versus cast kind of blended, and we all, like, supported one another.

Thats a good point, Harrison agreed. I know you guys get close, but a lot of tears were shed that night. It was a really rough, emotional not even just that night. The days that followed as well, on the men and women you see standing behind the cameras right here. It was brutal. It was really rough, and in the 16 years Ive been doing this, easily the most emotional time that weve ever been through as far as a show.

Derek Peth jumped in to agree that the producers are certainly not at fault.I think theres a weird perception that exists out there, that were not in control of ourselves when were here. And that theres this puppet master thing occurring

Evil, manipulative producers, sneered one female cast member.

We all know how, like, realistic the friendships are amongst the cast and then the crew and the producers, Pethcontinued. I mean, its not some sort of crazy

You guys arent mindless robots? Harrison interruptedsarcastically.

Right, Pethsaid, as everyone laughed appreciatively.

Nolan who emphasized that she doesnt drink and the producers have never tried to encourage her rolled her eyes at viewers who come up to her and say that they love her character.

Like, were all real people just being ourselves, she said. Everything that we do here and that we say here is because we decide to.

4) Its all the medias fault, anyway.

A popular opinion these days, and the Paradise cast rolled with it.

It was just hard going back home and seeing, like, the media blow it so out of proportion, Alexis Waters explained.

I think there was a lot in the media regarding the producers as if theyre not our friends and that theyre just using us to make us do things, like were gonna just do whatever they say, Alex Woytkiw agreed.

They also blamed on the press for how Jacksonand Olympioswere portrayed.

Iggy Rodriguezsaid of DeMario,He has his faults. I think we all do. It was just really hard to see him typecast as this individual who sort of almost created the event, right? I think it was a really unfair representation of what happened.

5) No one is sure why Olympiosreferred to herself as a victim.

Before Olympiosstated that her own investigation into the incident was completed to her satisfaction, she released this statement: I am a victim and have spent the last week trying to make sense of what happened on June 4as a woman, this is my worst nightmare and it has now become my reality.

In one bizarre segment,Harrison asked, In Corinnes statement, she referred to herself as a victim. Why do you think she did that?

There was a pause. Maybe she wanted to try and save face, offered Danielle Maltby. That was kind of what I took from it.

It was a very vague statement, and it was left to interpretation by design, Woytkiwadded. And its unfortunate.

I dont think Corinnes statements came from her, Peth declared. It was a very vague lawyer statement and so it was really interesting to see how that vague statement was turned into an opinion, right? Which wasnt said. There was no statements about who was in the right, who was in the wrong. But instantly people made their decisions about that.

Read more:

Rob Kardashians meltdown, Bachelor controversy: This summer is exposing ugly truths of reality TV

Bachelor in Paradise host says theres a lot of misinformation out there about show shutdown

Bachelor in Paradise star hires lawyer after alleged misconduct that shut down the show

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'Bachelor in Paradise' somehow sinks to new low with media-bashing damage control - Washington Post