海角大神

President Trump has signaled that containing Iran is central to his Middle East policy. What happens next in Syria will be a crucial test of the administration鈥檚 commitment to that vision.

For years, the momentum in Washington has been toward dysfunction and discord. But amid the shutdown there was also the spark of a rebellion against the conviction that this is the way it has to be. 聽聽

What is China today? It's the question reporter Ann Scott Tyson asked herself upon returning after 25 years away. She found elements of the stereotypical view of the country: lots of surveillance and booming materialism. But in the seams of everyday life, she also found more.聽

One of the great adventures of my 21 years at 海角大神 was the sheer joy of covering seven Olympic Games. Are you getting excited for Pyeongchang yet? Maybe you should be. 聽

When we created the EqualEd section, one of the things we wanted to look at were the hidden barriers that keep students from succeeding. The next story gets at one that many people think is a problem only in developing countries.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is called artificial for a good reason. Facebook made that point last week by ending its attempt to rely heavily on software algorithms to select news items for its 2 billion users. It announced Jan. 19 that the Facebook 鈥渃ommunity鈥� will be asked to rank news outlets by their trustworthiness.

This reader feedback will promote 鈥渉igh quality聽news聽that helps build a sense of common ground鈥� in a world with 鈥渟o much division,鈥� said chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. The first surveys have started in the United States and will soon expand to other countries. The company plans to include the local news outlets of users in its surveys.

Like many digital platforms that act as news providers, Facebook had great faith in a belief that programmed electrons in computer servers can discern qualities of thought such as trust, fairness, and honesty. Even in respected newsrooms, however, these traits of character require constant upkeep among journalists and, yes, feedback from paying customers. Good judgment on news relies on orders of consciousness beyond what a machine can do.

Rather than move toward becoming a hands-on gatekeeper of news, Facebook now hopes its 鈥渄iverse and representative鈥� sampling of users can lead to a ranking of news outlets 鈥� and that would bring a measure of objectivity in its news feed.

The company may be in the news business but it has chosen to outsource news credibility to the collective wisdom of individuals and their ability to distinguish truth from falsehood.

In other words, if people choose to be self-governing, they will also demand accurate knowledge from media.

By placing its trust in people as seekers of truth, Facebook could earn greater trust from its users. This is a lesson for many companies, especially digital platforms or those in the media business. According to the latest survey of trust in institutions worldwide by Edelman communications firm, 鈥渕edia has become the least-trusted institution for the first time,鈥� more so than other businesses or government.

Edelman鈥檚 survey of 28 countries also offers this insight: 鈥淎 majority of respondents believe that news organizations are overly focused on attracting large audiences (66 percent), breaking news (65 percent), and politics (59 percent).鈥�

In particular, the US is 鈥渆nduring an unprecedented crisis of trust鈥� among many of its institutions, says Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. 鈥淭he root cause of this fall is the lack of objective facts and rational discourse,鈥� he adds.

Facebook鈥檚 shift away from computer-driven news selection is a welcome step toward restoring trust in the overall business of news. This is not a new problem. 鈥淣othing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper,鈥� wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1807. Yet the Digital Age has forced the issue of trust for news providers. By inviting readers to participate in solving this problem, Facebook has itself set a new bar for earning trust.