Social Media Tool Promotes Media Accountability and Citizen Journalism to Counter Media Bias
The new, free, social media service launched at www.AmericaTalksBack.com
gives citizen journalists a platform to share news important to them,
while allowing members of the public to rate and rank major media
stories on their news merits, media biases, and more. The service
places the power of media accountability in the hands of the average
news consumer.
Charleston, SC (PRWEB)
November 18, 2007 -- Media bias is rarely more evident than during
election season, including the current lead-up to the presidential
primaries. Seekers of unbiased news often must spend their time
browsing several media takes on the same story to get the full picture.
The new online service, America Talks Back,
aims to give readers a voice in holding the media accountable for their
actions and biases, while also offering a platform where citizen
journalists can contribute their own news which they feel is being
neglected by major media outlets.
America Talks Back is a free membership site where, unlike typical
news aggregators and social news services, users can evaluate major
media news stories on multiple criteria including the importance of the
news, their perceived media bias (liberal, conservative, biased against
or towards the story's subject, or fair and unbiased), their personal
reaction to the story, and the general tone of the story. Registered
users can also comment directly on any news story, and can "vote" in
agreement with comments left by other users.
"In today's world, news is still provided within a 'broadcast'
paradigm, in which major media outlets determine what is news, frame
each story, and then present that story," says Erick Recors, VP of
Marketing for America Talks Back. "It is a system rife with
opportunities for distortion and bias. It is also a system in which
'authority' speaks to, and thereby controls, the lay population. What
we do at America Talks Back is report on stories presented by major
print and broadcast media in summary form. Our goal is to provide a
place where both sides of the aisle come together and knock heads,
triggered by news stories. It's primarily up to users to point out and
comment on bias. We don't want to be an echo room for either side."
The site's latest feature, youNews, allows registered members to act
in the role of citizen journalist by contributing their own stories
based on the news that is most important to them, or news not being
featured by major media outlets (smaller-scale stories, unpopular
stories, overlooked stories, local coverage, and more). The citizen
journalists have the ability to publish stories on America Talks Back
under their username, or they can apply for certification to publish
under their own name. "Certification means that [the America Talks Back
team have certified that they are who they say they are, and their
avatar becomes an emblem of this certification," says Recors. All youNews stories are published in a separate section of the site, treated collectively as one media outlet.
Another way in which America Talks Back counters bias in the media is
to cover news from a wide variety of sources, providing users with a
balanced overview. It is possible to catch up on a whole broadcast day
of news from both CNN and Fox in half an hour. The site currently
features fifteen major media outlets, such as CNN, Fox News, and The
New York Times, and even Radio Havana. Approximately fifteen to twenty
five new stories are published each day, and around one thousand
registered members since the site's launch in October. Additional media
outlets will be added in the future.
About America Talks Back:
America Talks Back is a website allowing members of the public to "talk
back" to major media outlets and major media personalities, to enable
the public to hold the media accountable for their actions and biases.
The free service also allows citizen journalists to contribute their
own news stories (which are held equally accountable by members), to
include news not being presented by major media outlets. America Talks
Back was launched in October 2007.
For additional information about America Talks Back, please visit www.AmericaTalksBack.com or contact Michael Watts at 
843-971-4480
.