Media Literacy and Fake News (1 Viewer)

[Ayo]

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.

Journalism group launches anti-fake news campaign ahead of Canadian election

Recent polling 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.

www.thestar.com

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.

 

[efil4]

https://www.wbtv.com/2020/08/11/police-have-man-custody-after-year-old-fatally-shot-nc/

By WITN web team | August 12, 2020 at 5:16 PM EDT - Updated August 12 at 7:19 PM
WILSON, N.C. (WITN) - Police said a man wanted for the killing of a 5-year-old is in custody.
Darrius Sessoms, 25, was arrested by Wilson police and the U.S. Marshals’ Carolina Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Police say Sessoms was located inside a residence in Goldsboro.
He’s charged with first-degree murder and is being held with no bond.
Cannon Hinnat was shot around 5:30 p.m. Sunday on Archers Road. Police say the boy later died at a hospital.
WRAL reported that Sessoms is the child’s neighbor.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the boy’s family.

“A beautiful 5-year-old baby boy riding his bicycle was shot by his neighbor point blank in Wilson, N.C. One minute he is enjoying his life, the next it all ends because he rode into his neighbor’s yard,” the page says.

I guess CNN was too busy covering the end of WW1 by the great Spanish Flu insurrection than to report anything on this?
It doesn't fit the narrative.
I am not surprised, I am well aware FOX does it as well, but again, the level of non-self awareness by the media is just crazy.

LOL no it was WWII that was ended by the 1917 pandemic.

The crazy starts at the top. It's really that simple. So if you have a problem with crazy, you have to turn your attention elsewhere to get to the root of the problem..

 

[Complex Kid]

https://www.wbtv.com/2020/08/11/police-have-man-custody-after-year-old-fatally-shot-nc/

By WITN web team | August 12, 2020 at 5:16 PM EDT - Updated August 12 at 7:19 PM
WILSON, N.C. (WITN) - Police said a man wanted for the killing of a 5-year-old is in custody.
Darrius Sessoms, 25, was arrested by Wilson police and the U.S. Marshals’ Carolina Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Police say Sessoms was located inside a residence in Goldsboro.
He’s charged with first-degree murder and is being held with no bond.
Cannon Hinnat was shot around 5:30 p.m. Sunday on Archers Road. Police say the boy later died at a hospital.
WRAL reported that Sessoms is the child’s neighbor.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the boy’s family.

“A beautiful 5-year-old baby boy riding his bicycle was shot by his neighbor point blank in Wilson, N.C. One minute he is enjoying his life, the next it all ends because he rode into his neighbor’s yard,” the page says.

I keep seeing this talking point all over my facebook feed. I'll steal one of my friends responses to it, because he sums it up way better than I ever could:

 

[Complex Kid]

https://www.wbtv.com/2020/08/11/police-have-man-custody-after-year-old-fatally-shot-nc/

By WITN web team | August 12, 2020 at 5:16 PM EDT - Updated August 12 at 7:19 PM
WILSON, N.C. (WITN) - Police said a man wanted for the killing of a 5-year-old is in custody.
Darrius Sessoms, 25, was arrested by Wilson police and the U.S. Marshals’ Carolina Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Police say Sessoms was located inside a residence in Goldsboro.
He’s charged with first-degree murder and is being held with no bond.
Cannon Hinnat was shot around 5:30 p.m. Sunday on Archers Road. Police say the boy later died at a hospital.
WRAL reported that Sessoms is the child’s neighbor.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the boy’s family.

“A beautiful 5-year-old baby boy riding his bicycle was shot by his neighbor point blank in Wilson, N.C. One minute he is enjoying his life, the next it all ends because he rode into his neighbor’s yard,” the page says.

I guess CNN was too busy covering the end of WW1 by the great Spanish Flu insurrection than to report anything on this?
It doesn't fit the narrative.
I am not surprised, I am well aware FOX does it as well, but again, the level of non-self awareness by the media is just crazy.

Oh and also:

A 25-year-old man has been charged in the shooting death of 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant | CNN

Police have charged a 25-year-old man with first-degree murder after they say he shot and killed a 5-year-old boy last week in Wilson, North Carolina.

www.cnn.com

 

[Farb]

I can only imagine the rush of the reporters(I use that term very loosely) at CNN falling all over themselves to get this story out...this morning.

That dude on my avatar didn't make it back to his bus before CNN/MSNBC/Comedy Central had uncovered and published what high school the kid went and attacked him for standing aggressively.

The media loves racial stories but from only one side. I know you all can actually see it but you guys are forced to defend it....or at the least ignore it.

 

[Nebaghead]

I can only imagine the rush of the reporters(I use that term very loosely) at CNN falling all over themselves to get this story out...this morning.

That dude on my avatar didn't make it back to his bus before CNN/MSNBC/Comedy Central had uncovered and published what high school the kid went and attacked him for standing aggressively.

The media loves racial stories but from only one side. I know you all can actually see it but you guys are forced to defend it....or at the least ignore it.

Comedy Central is the news?

 

[CoolBrees]

I am trying to remember when the news ever cared, let alone reported on Blacks being killed unless it was in cold blood on tape by a cop.

 

[brandon]

I had started a new thread, but realized the post was better suited here. And I also found that @Complex Kid's friend largely came to the same conclusions I did.

A 25-year-old man has been charged in the shooting death of 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant | CNN

Police have charged a 25-year-old man with first-degree murder after they say he shot and killed a 5-year-old boy last week in Wilson, North Carolina.

www.cnn.com

So I find this topic to be interesting, but not for the topic itself. People are murdered all the time. Even children. It's awful, but it happens all the time.

But this particular murder seems to have gotten a lot of play from right-wing media. Why? It appears that it's only because of the racial element - an innocent 5-year-old white child was murdered in cold blood by a 25-year-old black male.

There appear to be two parts to the right-wing argument:

1) There is a clear left-wing (and by implication, anti-white) bias in mainstream media, as this was not picked up by traditional mainstream media until days after it hit right-wing sites.
2) Black people also kill white people, therefore the demands of BLM are unnecessary or overblown.

Obviously, there are extreme racial under and overtones all over the internet on this one. There appears to be an attempt to make this situation and the situation of black males being murdered by cops analogous, but they obviously aren't the same thing. The murder of Cannon Hinnant, while utterly vile, is not analogous to the systematic murder of black males by police officers. This particular murder was not committed by someone in a place of authority entrusted with the safety of the public. At this point, he's just a common criminal.

Further, this wasn't a completely random act. The murderer apparently knew the family and had dinner and drinks with the father the night before. Therefore, it's quite possible there's also mental health issues to consider.

Lastly, this murderer was immediately arrested and charged. There's no thin blue line protecting him, and outside of an insanity defense, no chance he's going to get off from this. This also has no bearing on the "defund the police" narrative, as the fully-funded police could not save this child.

It appears to be more analagous to a typical serial killer who only got to one victim, rather than what is going on with BLM, and explains point number one why mainstream media didn't pick up on the story. It would appear they didn't report it because, while heinous, it simply wasn't a big enough story to merit national airtime.

Now, if we suddenly start to see a pattern, where week after week, black males are murdering white children, then of course there's a story there to be discussed. But if that were happening, wouldn't right-wing media make sure we knew about it, based on this story? We can only draw one conclusion - there is no pattern. This was a one-off terrible murder, and that's unfortunately all it was. Meanwhile, the murder of black males by police officers has happened so many times that the pattern necessarily warrants coverage.

 

[insidejob]

I had started a new thread, but realized the post was better suited here. And I also found that @Complex Kid's friend largely came to the same conclusions I did.

A 25-year-old man has been charged in the shooting death of 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant | CNN

Police have charged a 25-year-old man with first-degree murder after they say he shot and killed a 5-year-old boy last week in Wilson, North Carolina.

www.cnn.com

So I find this topic to be interesting, but not for the topic itself. People are murdered all the time. Even children. It's awful, but it happens all the time.

But this particular murder seems to have gotten a lot of play from right-wing media. Why? It appears that it's only because of the racial element - an innocent 5-year-old white child was murdered in cold blood by a 25-year-old black male.

There appear to be two parts to the right-wing argument:

1) There is a clear left-wing (and by implication, anti-white) bias in mainstream media, as this was not picked up by traditional mainstream media until days after it hit right-wing sites.
2) Black people also kill white people, therefore the demands of BLM are unnecessary or overblown.

Obviously, there are extreme racial under and overtones all over the internet on this one. There appears to be an attempt to make this situation and the situation of black males being murdered by cops analogous, but they obviously aren't the same thing. The murder of Cannon Hinnant, while utterly vile, is not analogous to the systematic murder of black males by police officers. This particular murder was not committed by someone in a place of authority entrusted with the safety of the public. At this point, he's just a common criminal.

Further, this wasn't a completely random act. The murderer apparently knew the family and had dinner and drinks with the father the night before. Therefore, it's quite possible there's also mental health issues to consider.

Lastly, this murderer was immediately arrested and charged. There's no thin blue line protecting him, and outside of an insanity defense, no chance he's going to get off from this. This also has no bearing on the "defund the police" narrative, as the fully-funded police could not save this child.

It appears to be more analagous to a typical serial killer who only got to one victim, rather than what is going on with BLM, and explains point number one why mainstream media didn't pick up on the story. It would appear they didn't report it because, while heinous, it simply wasn't a big enough story to merit national airtime.

Now, if we suddenly start to see a pattern, where week after week, black males are murdering white children, then of course there's a story there to be discussed. But if that were happening, wouldn't right-wing media make sure we knew about it, based on this story? We can only draw one conclusion - there is no pattern. This was a one-off terrible murder, and that's unfortunately all it was. Meanwhile, the murder of black males by police officers has happened so many times that the pattern necessarily warrants coverage.

All this logic is just stupid because "it doesn't fit the narrative" (whatever the Fox News acolytes consider that to be....it changes with the wind.)

 

[Farb]

Comedy Central is the news?

I have seen you guys post "the Daily Show" clips in an actual debate, so I put that more in there for you guys.
I would not consider it news but you and I consider what is news very differently.

 

[Farb]

A good example would be to look at how the coverage of an 'hate' crime gets covered. 9 out of 10 times, they are not hate crimes and often just completely made up. The speed and coverage of the media to put that front and center, just remind everyone that America is a super duper racist nation is dishonest and a very bad thing for this country.

 

[brandon]

I have seen you guys post "the Daily Show" clips in an actual debate, so I put that more in there for you guys.
I would not consider it news but you and I consider what is news very differently.

To be fair, Trevor Noah, and Jon Stewart before him, as well as most of the late night political comedians, make pretty strong arguments pretty regularly.

 

[efil4]

The speed and coverage of the media to put that front and center, just remind everyone that America is a super duper racist nation....

good lawd....we agree AGAIN.

 

[zztop]

But this particular murder seems to have gotten a lot of play from right-wing media. Why? It appears that it's only because of the racial element - an innocent 5-year-old white child was murdered in cold blood by a 25-year-old black male.

I'll never forget a few years back when my uncle, who is a die hard faux news watcher, ranting about a female (I forgot her age) got raped and killed by some non-whites (forgot which ethnicity) and it was ONLY reported on faux news and how "you would never see this on the communist news network"

and I sat there and was like "what happened was horrible, but what about all the other women that this has happened to? why did they single out this ONE instance and decide THAT one was newsworthy?" (of course it was to play to the race of the victim and perpetrator)

 

[Nebaghead]

A good example would be to look at how the coverage of an 'hate' crime gets covered. 9 out of 10 times, they are not hate crimes and often just completely made up. The speed and coverage of the media to put that front and center, just remind everyone that America is a super duper racist nation is dishonest and a very bad thing for this country.

You have a citation for this 9 out of 10 are made up or can I just make up statistics for the sake of arguing?
if you really think that is the truth you will never get it. When I lived in Baton Rouge as a kid I was taunted on the bus for being Jewish. I was beat up, picked on told I was going to hell on a damn near daily basis. So you can take your 9 out of 10 and do something with it I can’t say on this board.

 

[Farb]

You have a citation for this 9 out of 10 are made up or can I just make up statistics for the sake of arguing?
if you really think that is the truth you will never get it. When I lived in Baton Rouge as a kid I was taunted on the bus for being Jewish. I was beat up, picked on told I was going to hell on a damn near daily basis. So you can take your 9 out of 10 and do something with it I can’t say on this board.

Sorry that happened, I know how that sucks. Children are vicious. I was bullied too a lot when I was younger.
I don't have a citation for the 9 out of 10 and I did completely make that number up, but I will see what I can dig up on the actual numbers.
I want to also point that I did not intend for this to include all hate crimes, but just the ones the main stream media picks up and runs with with. I am sure a lot of hate crimes don't get front page treatment for weeks by the MSM but it seems to me the ones they do, tend to be a hoax.
Its almost as if the supply of racism doesn't hold up to the demand from the media.

 

[The moose]

I have seen you guys post "the Daily Show" clips in an actual debate, so I put that more in there for you guys.
I would not consider it news but you and I consider what is news very differently.

Well back in the day yes John Stewart was taking fox anchors to the woodshed in debates I would.

When jokes are told it doesn't mean that the truth is not coming out also.

 

[TheRealTruth]

Was this a meme or was it something CNN actually did?

 

[BobE]

Was this a meme or was it something CNN actually did?

They did it , 99% sure