Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Dec. 22, 2018, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
VOLUME 97 - NUMBER 50 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA -SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2018 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 50 CENTS Russia social media, Republicans influence efforts target A frican Americans ongoing, report says By Mary Clare Jalonick WASHINGTON (AP) - Russia’s sweeping political disinformation campaign on U.S. so cial media was more far-reaching than originally thought, with troll farms working to discourage black voters and “blur the lines between reality and fiction” to help elect Donald Trump in 2016, according to reports released Monday, Dec. 17, by the Senate intelligence committee. And the campaign didn’t end with Trump’s ascent to the White House. Troll farms are still working to stoke racial and political passions in America at a time of high political discord. The two studies are the most comprehensive picture yet of the Russian interference campaigns on American social media. They add to the por trait investigators have been building since 2017 on Russia’s influence - though Trump has equiv ocated on whether the interference actually hap pened. Facebook, Google and Twitter declined to comment on the specifics of the reports. The reports were compiled by the cyberse curity firm New Knowledge and by the Compu tational Propaganda Research Project, a study by researchers at the University of Oxford and Graphika, a social media analysis firm. The Oxford report details how Russians broke down their messages to different groups, includ ing discouraging black voters from going to the polls and stoking anger on the right. “These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African- American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead,” the research ers wrote. At the same time, “Messaging to conservative and right-wing voters sought to do three things: repeat patriotic and anti-immigrant slogans; elicit outrage with posts about liberal appeasement of 'others’ at the expense of US citizens, and en courage them to vote for Trump.” The report from New Knowledge says there are still some live accounts tied to the original In ternet Research Agency, which was named in an indictment from special counsel Robert Mueller in February for an expansive social media cam paign intended to influence the 2016 presidential election. Some of the accounts have a presence on smaller platforms as the major companies have tried to clean up after the Russian activity was discovered. “With at least some of the Russian govern ment’s goals achieved in the face of little diplo matic or other pushback, it appears likely that the United States will continue to face Russian interference for the foreseeable future,” the re searchers wrote. The New Knowledge report says that none of the social media companies turned over complete data sets to Congress and some of them “may have misrepresented or evaded” in testimony about the interference by either intentionally or unintentionally downplaying the scope of the problem. The Senate panel has been investigating Rus sian interference on social media and beyond for almost two years. Intelligence committee Chairman Richard Burr said in a statement that the data shows how aggressively Russia tried to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology and erode trust in institutions. “Most troublingly, it shows that these activi ties have not stopped,” said Burr, a North Caro lina Republican. One major takeaway from both studies is the breadth of Russian interference that appeared on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook and was not frequently mentioned when its parent com pany testified on Capitol Hill. The study says that as attention was focused on Facebook and Twit ter in 2017, the Russians shifted much of their activity to Instagram. The New Knowledge study says that there were 187 million engagements with users on Ins tagram, while there were 77 million on Facebook. “Instagram was a significant front in the IRA’s influence operation, something that Facebook executives appear to have avoided mention ing in congressional testimony,” the researchers wrote. They added that “our assessment is that Instagram is likely to be a key battleground on an ongoing basis.”' The Russian activity went far beyond the three tech companies that provided information, reaching many smaller sites as well. The New Knowledge report details sophisticated attempts to infiltrate internet games, browser extensions and music apps. The Russians even used social media to encourage users of the game Pokemon Go - which was at peak popularity in the months before the 2016 presidential election - to use po litically divisive usernames, for example. ■ The report discusses even more unconven tional ways that the Russian accounts attempted to connect with Americans and recruit assets, such as merchandise with certain messages, spe cific follower requests, job offers and even help lines that could encourage people to unknowing ly disclose sensitive information to Russia that could later be used against them. (Continued On Page 14) Ms. Ernesha Ballard, mother of senior DeAndre Ballard who died tragically in September, accepts posthumous degree for son. (NCCU Photo) NCAA appeals panel upholds penalties against NC Central (AP) - An NCAA appeals committee has upheld a ruling requiring North Carolina Central to vacate football, baseball and men’s basketball records due to certification errors that allowed ineligible athletes to compete. The NCAA announced the decision Wednesday, Dec. 12. An infractions committee panel had issued penalties in May , including two years of probation for the errors involving 22 athletes in seven sports from 2012-15. In an email Wednesday, Dec. 12, athletics spokesman Kyle Serba said the school will vacate 19 foot ball wins, including co-championships in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for 2014 and 2015. The baseball program will vacate 19 wins for 2013 and two for 2014, while the men’s basketball program will vacate 16 wins for the 2012-13 season. Administrative errors in the certification process led to the violations, which were determined to be unintentional. How Zip Codes Relate to Achievement Gaps By: Akil Wilson There’s no question that edu cation quality has an extraordi nary impact on the future lives of students. As a parent of a new middle school student, I can per sonally attest to the importance of dedicated teachers, early childhood education and a fo cused, personalized approach to education. In numerous studies it has been shown that the quality of education, especially within the country’s public school sys tem, varies widely by location. There are several factors that contribute to success in adult hood. However, routinely we find that early childhood educa tion and the empowerment of excellent teachers plays a pivotal role. Students from economically- disadvantaged areas of inner-city school districts have a plethora of obstacles to overcome, in cluding but not limited to: lack of economic mobility, reduced health care options, and expo sure to crime. Where schools should pro vide some relief from these chal lenges, they often serve as a grim reminder of how difficult it can be to, escape difficult circum stances. Harvard University Econo mist Raj Chetti has researched this topic extensively, compiling data from millions ofAmericans, he found that education quality relates to economic and social mobility. According to Mr. Chet- ti’s research, on average, “only about 7.5% of ch children from the bottom l/.5th of incomes will reach the top l/5th of incomes nationwide. However, those odds tend to rise to 14-15% in rural areas and places with higher social capital. They sometimes decrease to be low 5% in impoverished or so cioeconomically-disadvantaged places.” Children in lower income brackets disproportionately tend to be the recipients of sub-par educational resources. As Mr.. Chetti points out on NPR’s ‘Hid den Brain’ Podcast, larger class sizes and less experienced teach ers are all indicators that students are much less likely to obtain the cognitive and social skills neces sary to advance themselves and their families. The fact that these lower-per forming public schools tend to be found in more impoverished or socially/culturally isolated ar eas is not a coincidence. Prior to the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in the 2017-2018 school year, education standards were largely determined by fed eral standards outlined in No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This structure did very little to address the specific needs of the most disadvantaged communi ties. ESSA seeks to improve stu dents’ chances at success by encouraging a more personal ized approach to students’ needs, strengths and interests as well as improving and decreasing the emphasis on standardized testing. Much of the research suggests this approach will do more to advance specific, indi vidual state school system goals and impact students’ lives. It’s very important that par ents, teachers, administrators and community members take strategic steps to address factors contributing to the educational shortcomings in some of our schools while working with poli cy makers to equitably utilize all the tools and resources available. The future is now, and if our community ever hopes to elimi nate the disparities that are at the root of many of the issues we are often confronted with (i.e. pov erty, mass incarceration, chronic unemployment) we have to be gin with education. By requiring states to identify and intervene with their lowest- performing schools and take a more tailored approach to their improvement, ESSA is poised to have a significant and measur able impact on the state of public education in America. There is a very real correla tion between underperforming schools and generational pov erty. If we wish to eliminate the latter, we must tackle education with a focus and energy that is specifically tailored to the needs of our communities. Akil Wilson is a native Wash ington, DC-based, podcaster, and parent. He is a contributing writer for the Washington In former in addition to providing broadcast commentary for a va riety of media outlets. WHERE YOU LIVE HAS AN ECONOMIC IMPACT
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 22, 2018, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75