JOUR304.3001--Assignment: The Facebook 10-15 Expose-REAL OR FAKE NEWS?

JOUR304.3001
James L'Angelle
Univ of Nevada. Reno
Dr. Paromita Pain
01 July 2019

     Sweeping across the border earlier today, a breaking story has hit the internet like a dust storm. Based on just one report by AC Thompson, of the independent news agency ProPublica, the story has already been picked up, not completely verified, by most of the major news media and the gossip mongers as well. How accurate is the report?
    There doesn't appear to be any confirmation from Facebook of the secret group, there is yet to be any quantifiable evaluation of just how many CBP personnel are involved, there doesn't seem to be any concern at all for the facts, just take "ProPublica" report at face value. Certainly it's the way journalism is done today and if it will help drive the mindless gossip mongering goons over to the breaking news pages loaded with targeted ads, so much the better.

     It isn't about the story at all any more. It's all about getting eyeballs attached to the page, clickbait, pure and simple, at the expense first of the border agents entrusted to the security of the borders, but also the immigrants who are grossly misaligned by, and for whatever reason, whether the story is newsworthy in the first place. As for any type of verification at all, here is what the Thompson report looks like at Huff Post;
     "ProPublica contacted three spokespeople for CBP in regard to the Facebook group and provided the names of three agents who appear to have participated in the online chats. CBP hasn’t yet responded." (Thompson, HuffPost)
Clearly it was a matter of deadlines that prompted ProPublica to print the story without any verification from either Facebook or the CBP agency. There has yet to be any formal statement released from Facebook regarding the alleged secret group, even though the news has been out for at least 12 hours. As for ProPublica itself, the whois information on the organization is scant  noting only its registrar as register.com. (ip-tracker.org)

    The Customs and Border Protection Agency has made comments about the alleged activity on its Twitter site, apparently without any evidence from a preliminary internal investigation as to the veracity of the claim from the online news publication;
"Today, CBP was made aware of disturbing social media activity hosted on a private Facebook group that may include a number of CBP employees. CBP immediately informed DHS Office of the Inspector General and initiated an investigation. " (CBP, Twitter)
The agency has taken for face value the word of some dubious news site on the internet for some unverified story, not by a reliable, well established news organization such as what is known as "mainstream media" and all but confirmed it. It is exactly this sort of acceptance of information that is at the heart of why the internet has become the scourge of journalism.

Thompson's explanation of how he received information about the secret group is documented in his report;
"ProPublica received images of several recent discussions in the 10-15 Facebook group and was able to link the participants in those online conversations to apparently legitimate Facebook profiles belonging to Border Patrol agents,: (Thompson, ProPublica)
He goes on to say that the link was made to their profiles. Indeed, in a time when everyone and anyone can have their profiles stolen and recreated, Thompson drew an immediate conclusion without contacting those whose profiles are in question and admits he has been unable to reach them. Instead he fluffs up the article by quoting a U of Arizona sociologist completely ignorant of the story.

     ProPublica, a hodgepodge of ex-mainstream journalists and venture capitalist directors, showing little or no scruples at all for publishing the article without at first consulting with the official border patrol agency, has not only undermined trust and security of agency personnel, but has betrayed public trust in media and social media as well. It has no sensitivity at all in the face of such a revealing expose and ought to be shamed itself for its display of no class. One might expect that the usual suspects like HuffPost would immediately grab on to the news, real or false, in order to promote its own feeble online agenda. The rest followed suit as expected.


Works Cited
Thompson, AC, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/inside-the-secret-border-patrol-facebook-group-where-agents-joke-about-migrant-deaths-and-post-sexist-memes_n_5d1a424ee4b082e5536da6bf
CBP-Twitter, https://twitter.com/CBP
Thompson, AC, ProPublica,
ProPublica, https://www.ip-trahttps://www.propublica.org/article/secret-border-patrol-facebook-group-agents-joke-about-migrant-deaths-post-sexist-memescker.org/lookup/whois-lookup.php?query=Propublica.org
Cowboy Image, https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/slide-show/photos/2018-Sep/USBP-Horse-Patrol-Unit-Carousel.png

JOUR304.3001--Assignment: Activism, African Style--UNIV OF NEVADA, RENO; SUMMER 2019

 JOUR304.3001
James L'Angelle
Univ of Nevada, Reno
Dr. Paromita Pain
30 June 2019

Activism, African Style

     Upheaval not seen since the Arab Spring swept across north African nations several years ago, a new and similar movement, fueled by social media, is taking shape from Zimbabwe to Chad, from Sudan to Ethiopia, from the Congo to Mauritania. The causes are familiar; dictatorship, famine, disease and especially the rise of social media itself to connect dissidents in each of the hotspots.
     Zimbabwe has seen a great deal of unrest since the new government took power with the ouster of Robert Mugabe in late 2017. (Wikipedia) Gasoline shortages soon followed and the financial status of the nation has been unstable ever since. Very recently, the government announced it would place a ban on foreign currency drawing threats of even more violent protests;
     “'If the government does not reverse this ruinous policy immediately and announce U.S. dollar salary payments, we will immediately mobilise workers for mass action,' Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Peter Mutasa told a news conference." (CNBC)
ZCTU's online presence exists with a Facebook page. (Facebook) and a Twitter online presence, @ZctuZimbabwe. (Twitter) The Facebook page has 3000 followers and the Twitter page has 13,500 followers. However, the news that it will organize a strike appears to be, "fake;"
     "'We are not involved in the current calls for protests on Monday (July 1), we are not involved. Some people have just been trying to use our name, without seeking our consent or talking to us,' said ZCTU president Peter Mutasa on Saturday." (RosGwen24News)
To what degree CNBC is responsible for circulating the false news story is not verified. Zimbabwe has nearly 900,000 Facebook users in a population of 17 million. (Internet World Stats)
     Across the board shutdowns in Africa frequently occur for the same reason as in Zimbabwe, as reported by Daniel Mumbere in Africa News;
     "Chad which has implemented a social media blackout for over a year now claims applications like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp have helped to organize anti-government protests and threatened internal security." (Mumbere, Africa News)
Chad has only 260,000 Facebook subscribers in a population of 15 million. (Internet World Stats) It appears to be enough possibly due to a high level of education or an advanced degree of internet savvy in the nation.

     Sudan and Ethiopia are ground zeros for internet organizing of protests with the recent clashes of citizens as Sunday's "Million Man March" in connection to online organizing by activist Azaz Alshami (Twitter);
     "At least seven protesters were killed and more than 180 wounded Sunday during mass demonstrations in Sudan, according to health ministry officials, as tens of thousands answered the opposition’s call for a “million-man march” to end military rule." (France24)
Alshami's Twitter page has 22,400 followers but the link to her website appears either expired or blocked.                 Ethiopia restored internet access to its 4.5 million Facebook users following one week of shutdown in the wake of a failed military coup. (BBC) Mauritania, in West Africa followed the rest of the despotic mid-African nations into the denial-of-service pit shutting down the web to its nearly 800,000 Facebook users (Internet World Stats);
     "The outage has taken its toll on all of Mauritania’s consumer internet providers, with 92 percent of nationwide connectivity knocked out. Nonetheless, a small number of users have reported that they have been able to maintain intermittent connection." (Andrew Christian, Gadgets-Africa)
The blackout was a direct result of a shaky government following dubious election results and the fear of online protest organizing.
     Dissent, African style, is no different than anywhere else in the world. Reports of denial-of-service due to online organizing are becoming more frequent, in particular where the government is the sole service provider. The advantages of organizing campaigns through social media are plenty; easy access to a population base, combined with advertising targeting the affected regions and utilizing instant messaging to coordinate street level tactics. The disadvantages may affect the entire population.

Works Cited
Mugabe, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe
ZCTU, https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financial/2019/06/25/labour-group-in-zimbabwe-threatens-protests-over-ban-on-foreign-currencies/
ZCTU Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Zimbabwe%20Congress%20of%20Trade%20Unions
@ZctuZimbabwe
Fake Strike, https://www.facebook.com/RosGwen24News/
Zimbabwe Population, https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm
Mumbere, D., https://www.africanews.com/2019/06/18/scitech-governmentscitizens-battle-over-access-to-the-internet//
Million Man March, https://www.france24.com/en/20190630-sudan-braces-million-man-protest-march-against-military-rule
Azaz Alshami/Twitter, https://twitter.com/3ozaz
Ethiopia, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48653392
Christian, A., https://gadgets-africa.com/2019/06/28/mauritania-internet-shutdown-internet-ethiopia-restored/
Link