Exercises: The news ecosystem

Explain the difference between reporting facts and expressing an opinion, and state in which sections of a digital newspaper each type of content usually appears.

Order these sources from most to least reliable for a school project and justify your order: an online encyclopaedia entry with references, an anonymous thread on social media, the website of an official organisation and an amateur's personal blog.

Many digital newspapers are free and survive on the advertising generated by page visits. Explain what clickbait is, why this business model rewards its use, and give an invented example of a clickbait headline alongside its informative version.

Explain what a news podcast is, how it differs from traditional radio (on demand, no set timetable, from any creator), and what checks regarding authorship and sources still need to be maintained.

Explain with an example how the news media decide which stories lead the news bulletin and which are left out, and reason who loses out when a topic never appears in any outlet.

Explain the difference between a correspondent, a staff writer and a columnist in a newspaper, and what you can expect from each person's work.

Explain what an erratum notice (or correction) is and reason whether publishing it visibly increases or decreases the trust a media outlet deserves.

Explain what a hyper-local news outlet (for a neighbourhood or town) is, what news it covers that major media outlets do not, and what risk there is in being financially dependent on the local council it is supposed to hold to account.

The figure compares three common news channels.

State which feature usually occupies the space marked with ?, explain how the answer affects the reliability of each channel and propose an appropriate use for each of the three in a school project.

A tech blog publishes smartphone "reviews" that include commission affiliate links, without disclosing it anywhere. Analyse how this differs from traditional advertising, what transparency obligations exist for sponsored content, and how this changes the trust you would place in those reviews.

Compare how a digital newspaper, a trade union blog and an anonymous social media account would cover the same news story — for example, a transport strike: what each brings, what predictable biases each has, and why it is useful to consult several sources.

A news outlet runs the headline "The city is outraged" based on a poll conducted on social media. Explain why this sample does not represent the city (who uses that social network, who chooses to respond) and what minimum data a reliable poll must provide: sample size, margin of error and who commissioned it.

Compare the front page of a print newspaper with the homepage of its digital version, which rearranges itself according to the most read articles. Analyse how the hierarchy of news changes when every click is measured, and what effect it has on your news intake.

Many newspapers publish the exact same news story sourced from a press agency. Explain what a news agency is, why this is not necessarily "copying", and which part of the article is worth comparing across media outlets: the headline and angle chosen.

A "current affairs" video channel mixes facts, opinions and jokes without separating them. Explain what obligations a traditional media outlet has that this format fails to meet (separating facts from opinion, issuing corrections, identifying advertising) and why viewers find it hard to distinguish between these levels.

Compare two headlines about the same event: "Group of youths causes public disturbance in the square" versus "Local residents protest against youth centre closure". Analyse which words shape your opinion before reading the article and what technique both headlines use.

A content creator with 1,5 million followers publishes a video about their study routine. At minute 3, they praise headphones from brand X for two minutes, stating that "they have changed the way I focus", and include a purchase link in the description with the text "Get them here: #partner". The brand paid them €2 500 for this mention.

1. a) Justify why this practice constitutes covert advertising according to Spanish audiovisual regulations and which consumer rights it violates.
2. b) Design the correct way in which the creator should identify this commercial collaboration (in image, sound, and text) to comply with the law without losing communicative appeal.
3. c) Predict what ethical consequences and impacts on audience trust this creator faces if it is discovered that in their daily life they use a completely different brand.

Analyze these two headlines shared on social media about a municipal fault in the water supply network:

• Headline A: "The City Council will shut off the water from 15:00 to 19:00 in the central district due to maintenance of the main network" (shared 18 times).

• Headline B: "SCANDAL! They are cutting off our water without prior notice while lining their pockets. Share this before it gets censored!" (shared 2 450 times).

1. a) Interpret the data: justify which cognitive biases and which recommendation algorithm mechanisms (prioritizing engagement and outrage) explain why headline B spreads more than 100 times faster than A.
2. b) Design a four-step technical "critical pause" protocol (verifying authorship, reverse data search, cross-checking official sources, and detecting emotional bias) that a user must apply in under one minute before sharing alarmist content.

Imagine three media outlets covering the same news story: the implementation of a municipal tax on fast-food home delivery companies.

• Media Outlet A: Digital newspaper funded 80% by member subscriptions and 20% by local advertising.

• Media Outlet B: Free news portal whose two largest advertisers are the country's two main delivery platforms.

• Media Outlet C: Public municipal radio station funded 100% by the City Council promoting the tax.

1. a) Predict the editorial approach (favorable, critical, or neutral) and the possible biases or conflicts of interest that each outlet will foreseeably display in their headlines and coverage.
2. b) Justify why knowing the ownership structure and funding sources of a media outlet is essential to critically interpret the information it publishes.

You must coordinate the rundown for an exactly 10-minute school video news bulletin. Your team proposes four candidate news stories, but due to time constraints, you can only include three:

1. Student complaints regarding heating failures in several classrooms, featuring viral videos on social media but no official response from the management team (estimated duration: 3,5 min).

2. The high school's robotics team wins the regional stage and advances to the national final (estimated duration: 3,5 min).

3. A rumor in messaging groups that final exams will be moved forward by two weeks (estimated duration: 3 min).

4. Announcement of the school council elections featuring the proposals from the student candidates (estimated duration: 3 min).

1. a) Select the three news stories and design the timed rundown, justifying the broadcast order based on journalistic criteria of relevance, timeliness, and proximity.
2. b) Justify which one you discard by expressly applying ethical standards of verification and rigor.
3. c) Draft a mandatory style rule for the team to distinguish objective facts from personal opinions in the heating story.

In a television debate about the safety of Wi-Fi networks in educational centers, the program gives equal speaking time (10 minutes each) to a CSIC researcher (who summarizes the scientific consensus of hundreds of studies endorsed by the WHO) and a citizen with no technical training who claims that Wi-Fi waves cause illnesses based on anonymous internet testimonials.

1. a) Justify why granting 50% of the time to each position does not represent true neutrality, but rather "false balance" (false balance bias).
2. b) Predict the perceptual impact this coverage has on a non-specialist viewer regarding the real level of scientific consensus.
3. c) Design a proposal for an informative format on this topic that ensures scientific rigor without censoring the legitimate doubts or concerns of citizens.

In a fictional country, two business groups control 82% of the radio and television audience and 75% of digital press readership. Both groups share two banking institutions and an international investment fund as majority shareholders.

1. a) Interpret these data: if a financial fraud scandal breaks involving one of those banks, predict what risks pluralism faces and how the agenda-setting of these media outlets might be affected.
2. b) Justify why the existence of independent public media and community or cooperative platforms serves as a necessary democratic counterweight against corporate concentration.
3. c) Design a "pluralistic news diet" using three operational guidelines for a 3rd-year ESO student to cross-check technological and social current affairs without relying on a single media group.

A bystander records with their mobile phone a 15-second altercation between two people in the street and posts it on social media with the caption: "Brutal assault right in the city centre and the police do nothing!". The video reaches half a million views. Hours later, it is confirmed that the scene was part of the authorized filming of a movie and that the people involved were actors.

1. a) Justify, based on this case, why the mere recording and dissemination of images by witnesses (citizen journalism or direct eyewitness account) is not equivalent to professional journalistic work.
2. b) Detail three stages of the journalistic method (technical verification of metadata/geolocation, consulting and cross-checking official sources, and temporal contextualization) that would have prevented this hoax from going viral.
3. c) Design a three-step verification protocol that your secondary school's news channel should apply if it receives a shocking video before deciding whether it is truthful and publishable.

In today's digital environment, a paradox arises: media outlets with professional investigative newsrooms set up paywalls with subscriptions ranging between 6 and 15 € per month, while clickbait, hoax, and disinformation websites are completely open and free to access, sustained by massive advertising.

1. a) Interpret the socio-political consequences of this situation: predict what will happen to the disinformation gap between social sectors with different purchasing power if this model becomes consolidated.
2. b) Critically evaluate two possible solutions: 1) funding free access to quality information through a universal public fee or tax; 2) offering free digital press licenses through the network of public libraries and secondary schools. Point out an advantage and a technical or management limitation for each one.
3. c) Design a proposal of two concrete measures that your secondary school could implement to ensure that all students have access to rigorous sources without direct financial cost.

Unit challenge. Become a digital auditor and investigate vulnerability to disinformation and fraud in your environment, analyzing it within the current information ecosystem.

1. Data collection: Design a micro-survey and conduct it with $5$ people in your environment ($N = 5$). Ask them how many dubious news stories or phishing attempts they have received this month and what method they use to verify their accuracy.

2. Analysis and comparison: Record the responses in LibreOffice Calc. Calculate the corresponding percentages (for example, $3$ out of $5$ affirmative responses represent $60{,}0\,\%$) and generate a bar chart. Then, go to the official website of the National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE, "Avisos" section) or the INE to compare your results with real frauds and digital habits in Spain.

3. Reasoned proposal: Prepare a one-page report in LibreOffice Writer containing your chart, the comparative analysis with official data, and a three-step guide to verify sources and stop the spread of hoaxes.

Assessment criteria:

• Accuracy in data collection, tabulation, and percentage calculation in the spreadsheet.

• Rigor when comparing your own results with official sources such as INCIBE or the INE.

• Technical quality, clarity, and feasibility of the proposed guidelines against disinformation.