Joel Kaplan, associate dean for professional graduate studies and professor and acting director of online master’s in communications in the Newhouse School of Public Communications, points out how integrally involved news media are in the unfolding investigation of the Trump presidency and possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The decision by the special counsel’s office to expand its Russian collusion investigation into the area of “fake news” is a fascinating and unprecedented criminal inquiry over whether purposefully using social media to disseminate false information about one’s opponent could lead to criminal charges. As everyone knows, the phenomenon of fake news has grown exponentially with the rise of Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets that allow anonymous trolls to spread false and damaging information. There is very little that can be done about this, though if the spreaders of the fake news can be identified, they may face civil liability in the form of libel or invasion of privacy lawsuits.
This new inquiry indicates that the spreaders of disinformation, particularly those who collude with foreign hackers, may actually face criminal charges. It would be the supreme irony that the president of the United States, who has falsely and repeatedly accused respected media outlets of spreading fake news, might see his own friends, relatives and allies jailed for doing just that.
If there had ever been any doubt of the vital role the press plays in our democracy, that was completely dispelled by the series of scoops in the New York Times[nytimes.com] over the past four days. The Times exploded the year-long denials that no one in the Trump campaign or Trump administration had colluded with Russian officials in an attempt to influence the presidential election.
The Times’ disclosure of the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney and the subsequent release of the email thread indicates just how vital the media is. According to CNN, even the special counsel investigating Russian collusion was only recently made aware of the meeting and had not seen the emails. The Times’ thorough reporting was so complete that it forced Donald Trump Jr. to release the email to the public in order to get ahead of the story. But the emails themselves were so devastating that the fallout has just begun.
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Committee for Bar Leaders of New York State has announced that the Bond, Schoeneck & King Series on Race and Justice in Central New York (CNY) is the 2021 winner of the NYSBA…
Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a set of cases challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases. The justices’ decision in this pending case, West Virginia v. EPA, would have a huge impact on environmental law…
The Surgeon General just released a toolkit to help people fight misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. It is geared specifically for people to talk about misinformation within their close circles of friends and family. Social media researcher Jenny Stromer-Galley, professor at…
Newhouse School alumnus Jim Weiss ’87, chairman, founder and CEO of global health innovation company Real Chemistry, and his wife, Audra Weiss ’89, visited campus Oct. 15 to dedicate the Real Chemistry Emerging Insights Lab (EIL) at the Newhouse School. Established…
University Professor David Driesen’s important new book—”The Specter of Dictatorship: Judicial Enabling of Presidential Power” (Stanford, 2021)—reveals how the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidentialism threatens democracy and what the United States can do about it. To celebrate the publication of the…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
