Week 3 News Literacy PDF

News Literacy Veri cation | Week 3 Harry Febrian, Ph.D. fi News literacy is… …the ability to determine the credibility of news and other information using the standards of quality journalism. It helps foster healthy scepticism while avoiding cynical distrust of all news and information News lit...

News Literacy Veri cation | Week 3 Harry Febrian, Ph.D. fi News literacy is… …the ability to determine the credibility of news and other information using the standards of quality journalism. It helps foster healthy scepticism while avoiding cynical distrust of all news and information News literacy is foundational to a bigger media literacy. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=xs6FliSsoW4&t=2s verification, independence, transparancy Verification a process that takes newsworthy information and checks its credibility and reliability before it is published or broadcast as news. one of journalism’s most treasured clichés, spouted by seasoned editors who ruthlessly slash other clichés from stories, is: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out. 5 Pillars of Verification PROVENANCE: Are you looking at the original account, article, or piece of content? SOURCE: Who created the account or article, or captured the original piece of content? DATE: When was it created? LOCATION: Where was the account established, the website created, or piece of content captured? MOTIVATION: Why was the account established, the website created, or the piece of content captured? Activity See Canvas! How and why does misinformation spread? People are more likely to share misinformation when: it aligns with personal identity or social norms when it is novel when it elicits strong emotions Tools/Websites snopes.com Google reverse image search to be continued… Provenance/Origin This is the most important check in the veri cation process and the one you should always run rst. Understanding provenance unlocks context and motivation. If you are not looking at the content in the form it originally appeared online, you could miss how the same content rst appeared in an article years earlier. It may have been part of a running joke on 4chan or emerged as the result of a coordinated campaign in a Facebook group. If you’re not looking at the original, then a lot of the other details — who posted it, when, where, why — could also be incorrect which compromises the rest of your veri cation. fi fi fi fi Source Basic questions to ask: Who is the uploader? Look at other content they uploaded: What does it tell you about the account? Is it possible they uploaded this content but didn’t create it? Does it make sense that the person who holds the account was near the location when the event took place? Can you nd any contact information? Look for a phone number or an email so you can talk to them directly. You want to speak to the source before making any claims about their identity. fi Five steps for vetting a news source Many sources compete for attention online, including partisan blogs and bogus sites posing as legitimate news organizations. It can be tough to know what information to trust. So what does “credibility” look like, and how can you recognize it? Five steps for vetting a news source Do a quick search: Conducting a simple search for information about a news source is a key rst step in evaluating its credibility. Look for standards: Reputable news organizations aspire to ethical guidelines and standards, including fairness, accuracy and independence. Check for transparency: Quality news sources should be transparent, not only about their reporting practices (see above), but also about their ownership and funding. Examine how errors are handled: Credible news sources are accountable for mistakes and correct them. Do you see evidence that this source corrects or clari es errors? Assess news coverage: An important step in vetting sources is taking time to read and assess several news articles. fi fi Example: The NYTimes Editorial Standards https://www.nytimes.com/ editorial-standards/ethical- journalism.html Example: BBC’s Corrections and Clari cations page https://www.bbc.co.uk/ helpandfeedback/ corrections_clari cations/ fi fi Game: The goal of the game is to expose the tactics and manipulation techniques that are used to mislead people and build up a following. Bad News works as a psychological “vaccine” against disinformation: playing it builds cognitive resistance against common forms of manipulation that you may encounter online. https://www.getbadnews.com/en/play Finish all your class activities. Thursday, October 10 23:59 is the deadline