Tech Media Democracy

The Cornell Tech section of a NYC-Wide Course

INFO 5330, Spring 2019
Prof. Mor Naaman
Monday 7:00-8:30pm, Rotating locations
Wednesday 3:20-4:35pm, Bloomberg Center 165
Slack team (mandatory, sign in with your Cornell.edu email)
#techmediademocracy

Detailed schedule and readings

What is this Course?

How does the information ecosystem contribute to the health of representative democracies such as the United States? How do we move towards communities that are equipped with the knowledge and deliberation mechanisms required to address the challenges that face us? How does the relationship between technology platforms, media, governments and citizens determine which voices get heard?

These are some of the central questions that will animate Tech, Media & Democracy 2019: Who Counts?, a first-of-its kind collaboration between five major New York City Universities: Columbia, Cornell Tech, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, The New School, and NYU.

In our city-wide meeting over the course of the semester, we will explore the following topics:

• New investigative tools to build our understanding of technology, media and social issues;
• The current structures, mechanisms and designs of our information ecosystem platforms and their impact informed society outcomes
• How media, propaganda and misinformation affect knowledge and participation in the functions of democracy, such as elections and the census;
• How the voices of vulnerable populations of people- such as minorities, immigrants and the poor- fare in our information and media landscape;
• The decline of local journalism, its effect on the health of communities and what can be done to repair it.

The city-wide course sessions will feature ten joint group lectures and activities taking place on Monday nights across New York City at participating universities and host organizations such as media companies; a hackathon that will compel teams to develop solutions to the problems posed in the course; and an opportunity to present prototype solutions publicly at the close of the semester. The goal of the course–which will include students with backgrounds in engineering, computer science, design, journalism and other relevant disciplines–is to bring diverse perspectives to these challenging problems.

Cornell Tech Section

The Cornell Tech section will particularly examine the socio-technical aspects of our information ecosystem and how they may hinder, or challenge, our democracy, with a specific emphasis on the role of journalism and media in (1) monitoring the platforms (2) providing high-quality, trustworthy information and (3) enabling a healthy public sphere. The key units on the Cornell Tech section include

• Journalism and Data Journalism - the very basics of journalism, free press, the media; how data-driven approaches support journalism; and how data-driven journalism addresses our information ecosystem challenges
• Platform Mechanisms - how does the design of platforms, algorithms, monetary models, and online communities impacts our information ecosystem
• Credibility, Trust, and Misinformation - what are some of the challenges for credible and trustworthy information and how can they be addressed
• Adversary Online - who are some of the adversarial actors online, what are they goals, methods, and how can they be countered
• A New Hope - how can new systems and innovative models enable better information ecosystem, from local news to global blockchains

Class Requirements

Reading and Quizzes

There is only a minimal amout of mandatory reading in this class: one or two readings, mostly popular press or media reports, due for the Cornell Tech sessions (mostly Wednesdays, some Mondays). Everyone must do these readings. Each Cornell Tech session, there is a 30% chance (determined by random draw) of a classs quiz about the reading, for an expected total of 4-5 quizzes during the semester. In addition, each session, 10% of the class (determined by random draw) will be asked to comment about the mandatory reading in class. Quizzes are part of your grade as noted above. In-class comments are part of your participation grade.

Presentations

Each student will take part in one class presentations, each about one of the optional (“other”) readings. Exact instructions and guidelines for presentations are below. Each presentations will be done by a single student or a pair of students, as assigned by the instructors.

Project 1: Data Analysis

The goal of this project is to demonstrate your ability to collect and analyze data related to the course topics, and think critically about our information ecosystem and its outcomes. The emphasis is not on the type of statistical analysis, or the visualizations (although sophisticated but justified approaches there would give you extra points). The emphasis is on connecting themes, topics and theories we covered in class to real-world data. As you do it, you are expected to collect, analyze and process a significant amount of data, and present the results in an visual, effective and understandable way (as much as one can do that in a Jupyter notebook).

Hackathon Project

For the Hackathon, you will create groups (ideally with students from other schools), design and then build a system, or collect and perform a large-scale data analysis with specific goals, clear outcomes and insights. The system or data analysis will reflect the ideas we covered in class, and will work to improve, or describe, the state of our information ecosystem.

Participation

Class participation is a significant part of your grade, and is function of the quantity and quality of your class discussion. Not being able to discuss the readings in class will cost you participation points.

Throughout the semester, several TMD-relevant events on and off campus will be announced that are not part of the course. You will get a 2-point bonus in your participation grade (0-100 scale) for attending each. A few of these can tip your final grade one level up! Slack/email the TA to certify you were at the event within a day of attendence.

Attendance

You may miss up to one class without notice, and no more than two absences are acceptable, even with excuse. In any case, please do let the instructors know if you happen to miss a class session, either in advance or retroactively.

Exams

There are no exams. Yay!

Grades

Your grade breakdown (G for Group grade):
40% Hackathon Project (G)
20% Class presentations (G)
15% Reading quizzes
15% Project 1 (G)
10% Participation

Note: the average grade in this class is likely to be a B or B+. You will need to really stand out to get an A, let alone an A+.

MBA and LLM students may take the class for a grade or pass-fail with prior approval. All the requirements for class would still stand. To get a passing grade, a student would need a B- and above grade for each of the class components.

Class Presentations

Requirements and procedures

Class presentations will be assigned by the teaching team.

The basic presentations should be 6-8 minutes long, strictly enforced. The presentation must touch on:

• The main idea/goal of the article/reading (1-2 minutes)
• The methods used in the study or the system described (1-2 minutes)
• A summary of results and takeaways (3-4 minutes)
• The implications of the article for this course.

The teaching team will be available to provide some pointers and directions as needed; you will need to approach us by the Friday before your presentation, at the latest, to get assistance.

While the presentations are done in groups, each presentation should be 100% coherent and consistent. In other words, presentations that are clearly based on “split work” where each partner is respobsible for her/his own part are unacceptable. Work together to create a flowing, coherent and meaningful presentation!

Your presentation grade will be based on the quality and clarity of your presentation.

Academic Integrity

Each student in this course is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit will be the student’s own work. In this course collaboration is allowed in the group projects and presentations.

Students with Disabilities

Your access in this course is important. Please give the teaching team your Student Disability Services (SDS) accommodation letter early in the semester so that we have adequate time to arrange your approved academic accommodations. If you need an immediate accommodation for equal access, please speak with your teaching team after class or send an email message to us and/or SDS at sds_cu@cornell.edu. If the need arises for additional accommodations during the semester, please contact SDS.

The teaching team

Mor Naaman

Instructor, Associate Professor
mor -AT- jacobs.cornell.edu
@informor

Where to find him: Bloomberg, 2nd floor
When to find him: sign up for office hours (Monday 4:45pm-6:00pm) here

Maurice Jakesch

Teaching Assistant
mpj32 -AT- cornell.edu

Where to find him: Bloomberg, 2nd floor
When to find him: email or Slack to schedule time to chat