Gun control isn't the only issue being thrust into the spotlight in the wake of the Parkland school shooting. The concept of "trending" news is facing criticism after conspiracies about some of the students seeped into the top stories sections of leading online content platforms. New York Magazine's Brian Feldman joins Cheddar to explain why he thinks it's time to put all things trending to an end.
Feldman describes what he sees as the problematic nature of content curation. He says sites base their story suggestions based on the quantity of clicks, with no eye towards editorial quality or accuracy. This allowed a video accusing a Parkland survivor of being a crisis actor to rise to the top of YouTube's trending section.
The associate editor says part of the problem is the lack of consistency in how different platforms define "trending." He points to Twitter as an example of a better way to approach story curation. The social media giant uses actual people instead of algorithms to assemble its "Moments."
The U.S. approved updated COVID-19 vaccines Monday, hoping to rev up protection against the latest coronavirus strains and blunt any surge this fall and winter.
The Biden administration has cleared the way for the release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions. In addition, as part of the deal, the administration has agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.
The U.S. government is taking aim at what has been an indomitable empire: Google’s ubiquitous search engine that has become the internet’s main gateway.
President Joe Biden departed Vietnam after meetings with President Vo Van Thuong along with other high-ranking officials, following his participation at the G20 summit in India.