Media Literacy and Fake News (1 Viewer)

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    Ayo

    Spirit Grocer
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    The Canadian Journalism Federation is taking fake news very seriously. I've worked with media literacy for years, and this is - to date - the most expansively public approach that I've seen, in advance of the Federal Election.


    If you are engaged online, you have likely been subjected to something that was not true, and yet there isn't much pursuit in trying to determine factual accuracy of the articles and information. And most of us - probably every single one of us here - have fallen for it.

    Recent polling by Ipsos, Earnscliffe Strategy Group and MIT researchers suggests nearly all Canadians have come across misinformation online, yet only 40 per cent feel they know how to differentiate between fake news and the real thing.

    The polls also found 90 per cent of Canadians admitted to falling for fake news in the past, and only a third of them regularly check to see if the stories they’re consuming are legitimate.

    I don't think that their approach is going to be enough. I think the most effective utility it will have is bringing awareness. But fuller approaches to media literacy are going to be necessary to combat the deluge of increasingly deceptive media. These are hard skills that can be learned, but with the advent of new 'deep fake' technology, media literacy is going to have adapt, too.

    I would like to see greater emphasis on media literacy in the US. Because even though this statement is for the Canadian audience, it definitely - maybe even more so - applies to the US where news is more infotainment and sensationalized than it is up here:
    “To be an engaged citizen, you have to have access to quality journalism… you have to understand what is quality journalism and what is not,” said Richard Gingras, vice-president of Google News.

    Another source includes one approach - the SPOT approach: https://www.manitoulin.ca/news-media-canada-launches-new-tool-to-help-people-spot-fake-news/

    SPOT is an acronym that acts as a simple way to remember the four principles of identifying misinformation. It works like this:
    S: Is this a credible source? Check the source of the article—and be skeptical.
    P: Is the perspective biased? Think critically and look for varying viewpoints on an issue.
    O: Are other sources reporting the same story? Be your own fact-checker and verify the validity of the story.
    T: Is the story timely? Check the date the story was published—sometimes, stories use old information to take advantage of a timely occurrence.

    It's obviously not enough, but a decent start.
     
    If people even did as little as cross check against one neutral source, imagine the difference we’d see.

    There are, indeed, pretty easy steps - with little effort - that can and should be integrated into regular practice of media engagement and consumption
     
    There should be some serious consideration to include this topic in schools.

    There is. In a *lot* of places. I presented on it to a rural school district a couple hours outside of Toronto around a decade ago. And it's only proliferated exponentially since then.

    What's interesting is that I find the kids more skeptical and, thus, capable and willing to question and doubt. It's the adults in the room who usually need to be equipped with the tools and a disposition to engage critically. But they are often the more gullible.

    Getting it into schools, in that regard, is the easy part.

    And a lot of parents think it's part of some liberal cabal and propaganda, which also compounds the difficulty adults add into the calculus.

    I would also add that if you're reading this and it's *not* on the radar of your school district, you should be getting in touch with people.

    I will also add that I'm more than happy to check out curriculum of districts for anyone here and give you talking points or questions if you are looking to reach out to a school or district. Just shoot a PM

    This is an urgent issue, imo, and schools need to be out in front of this if they aren't already.
     
    There should be some serious consideration to include this topic in schools.
    there is broad talk for including a 'life skills' component to schools:
    media literacy, financial literacy, practical how tos. etc
    problem is most curricula are stuffed to the gills with TESTING and AP classes so there's not a lot of room for very necessary classes like these
     
    there is broad talk for including a 'life skills' component to schools:
    media literacy, financial literacy, practical how tos. etc
    problem is most curricula are stuffed to the gills with TESTING and AP classes so there's not a lot of room for very necessary classes like these

    Not being tethered to a high stakes standardized test is.... liberating.
     
    We had six weeks Propaganda study my senior year in high school.
    Our English teacher was a Northwestern (Chicago) alumna who took assignment to our small town Louisiana school as part of her graduate studies.

    "Doctors prefer Tylenol 3 to 1 over aspirin."

    I recall that lesson in particular.

    Instead of thinking, "Wow, Tylenol is great!" the course taught us to ask, "What doctors? When did they say this? Under what circumstances?"

    That six weeks changed my view of commercial advertising for the rest of my life. So, I'll agree completely and say it is possible to offer up these kinds of classes in public schools. Moreover, they can have a significant impact on the perceptions of youth that can carry over into adulthood.

    Call it healthy skepticism.
     
    We had six weeks Propaganda study my senior year in high school.
    Our English teacher was a Northwestern (Chicago) alumna who took assignment our small town Louisiana school as part of her graduate studies.

    "Doctors prefer Tylenol 3 to 1 over aspirin."

    I recall that lesson in particular.

    Instead of thinking, "Wow, Tylenol is great!" the course taught us to ask, "What doctors? When did they say this? Under what circumstances?"

    That six weeks changed my view of commercial advertising for the rest of my life. So, I'll agree completely and say it is possible to offer up these kinds of classes in public schools. Moreover, they can have a significant impact on the perceptions of youth that can carry over into adulthood.

    Call it healthy skepticism.
    so what happened?:p
     
    so what happened?:p
    In college I attended a presentation by the author of "Subliminal Seduction" which built upon the previous class and increased my skepticism to the point of suspicion that corporate advertisers were out to brainwash everybody to buy their products. Who knew that ice cubes in a booze ad were actually carefully constructed abstract art depicting sexual scenes?

    1570066553021.png
     
    In college I attended a presentation by the author of "Subliminal Seduction" which built upon the previous class and increased my skepticism to the point of suspicion that corporate advertisers were out to brainwash everybody to buy their products.

    Zizek says it's all just desire, anyway. Desire for the sake of desire and the commodity itself is not the actual thing, but the metaphysical associations of that thing. And it happens subconsciously.

    So maybe he's onto something....

    Do you want the Coke or do you want to want the coke? If you follow that, wait until he gets to the void of the Kinder Surprise Egg lol

     
    Do you see what you want or do you want what you see? This is not a photo. It's a painting. And that's not just an ice cube. Or is it?

    1570067752162.png
     
    Media literacy is very important part of subject here.

    The students in high school are actually allowed to bring a pc with internet to some of the exams, since it would be their usual tools when writting papers at home but without proper source description and evaluation in their exam papers, they will fail the subject.
     
    And a lot of parents think it's part of some liberal cabal and propaganda.

    I don't blame them for being skeptical. I would need to see a syllabus, and even then I don't think I would be persuaded if I knew that the instructor was particularly biased.
     

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