Clay Calvert comments on Facebook’s ‘Liberal Bias’ Controversy

A commentary by Clay Calvert, UF College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Eminent Scholar in Mass Communication and Director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, was published in the May 24, 2016 edition of fortune.com. “Here’s Why Everyone Overreacted to Facebook’s ‘Liberal Bias’ Controversy” focuses on the changes that will be made to the Trending Topics feed after an internal investigation on possible bias.

Calvert indicates that “Objectivity in journalism is a myth and always has been. Subjective decisions are made every day in traditional newsrooms across the country about which stories to cover, how many inches those stories merit, where those stories are placed on the front page or buried on A14 – and who gets to write them.” He continues “So why did some somehow expect Facebook to be any different? Because machines using algorithms were supposedly more neutral than humans in identifying trends? Humans created those algorithms, and it is natural for Facebook, as a business, to want as many people to stay tuned – to use an antiquated legacy media phrase – as possible to its site.”

Posted: May 25, 2016
Category: College News, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project News
Tagged as: Clay Calvert, Facebook, Fortune magazine, fortune.com, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project