Media Literacy and Fake News (1 Viewer)

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    Ayo

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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.
     
    The Washington Post frames a GAO report under Obama quite differently than under Trump

    IMG_20200116_174608.png

    IMG_20200116_174616.png

    The Government Accountability Office released a review Thursday stating that the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap broke a law mandating that Congress be informed of prisoner transfers from Guantanamo. The review handed opponents of President Obama powerful reinforcement of two of their key critiques: that Obama routinely oversteps his executive authority, and that his maneuvers on foreign policy make the country less safe. But the actual effect of the letter from the nonpartisan agency may be only that — that it becomes a political talking point.
     
    You do know that the word “Analysis” above the article means it’s an opinion piece, right? The Fix is basically a blog for the Post, not news reporting.
     
    You do know that the word “Analysis” above the article means it’s an opinion piece, right? The Fix is basically a blog for the Post, not news reporting.
    Not sure what you mean - The Fix seems to cover news. Being a blog or blog-style does not mean its an OpEd. It may be less formal than the front page reporting, but I don't think it means it is an Opinion column or section.
     
    The Washington Post frames a GAO report under Obama quite differently than under Trump

    IMG_20200116_174608.png

    IMG_20200116_174616.png

    The Government Accountability Office released a review Thursday stating that the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap broke a law mandating that Congress be informed of prisoner transfers from Guantanamo. The review handed opponents of President Obama powerful reinforcement of two of their key critiques: that Obama routinely oversteps his executive authority, and that his maneuvers on foreign policy make the country less safe. But the actual effect of the letter from the nonpartisan agency may be only that — that it becomes a political talking point.
    You didn't provide a link to the first article, so it's hard to make a comparison. I wouldn't just go on headlines.

    The second one, saying it hasn't resulted in much, actually listed a number of GAO violations and what the outcomes were.. i.e. low to no punishment or severe. So, it was a comparative analysis. Also, I don't think there was a potential impeachment of Obama over the prison transfers. And I'm not sure there were news stations giving daily/nightly defenses of Obama on that topic, nor elected officials giving defenses of him on a daily basis. So, there is no context there to make a slightly more snarky headline.

    Whereas the first one, regarding the GAO report and Trump, has lots of context about the GOP being lock step in defending his actions as 'perfect' (As the president states), so it's fair to state it that way, even if a bit snarky. But without going to google (I could, but meh), I can't really judge it.

    So, in terms of media literacy, I'd think the overall idea is two things.

    1. Knowing the potential bias a writer or paper may have. Clearly the WaPo leans left in article choice, headlines, and editorials.

    2. Reading the article, thinking about it, and drawing my own conclusions. The best way to stay media literate is to not get caught up in the emotions of a headline and be willing to agree or disagree with what is written or how it was written.

    2B. That really means, if you only read the headline to make your judgement, then more media literacy is probably needed. I see far too many Facebook reactions off of news headlines, that purposefully bait people into an emotional response.
     
    Not sure what you mean - The Fix seems to cover news. Being a blog or blog-style does not mean its an OpEd. It may be less formal than the front page reporting, but I don't think it means it is an Opinion column or section.

    If it’s not the author’s opinion on the news, then what is it? What category would you put it in? It’s not simple reporting, it’s an interpretation of what the news means. If that’s not opinion, then what would you call it?

    Just because they consider it an educated opinion, or analysis, doesn’t make it not an opinion.
     
    If it’s not the author’s opinion on the news, then what is it? What category would you put it in? It’s not simple reporting, it’s an interpretation of what the news means. If that’s not opinion, then what would you call it?

    Just because they consider it an educated opinion, or analysis, doesn’t make it not an opinion.
    I am going by what the Post itself says.

    Here is one of the writers for "The Fix" - The Post describes him as "Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix"


    That does not sound like an opinion columnist.
     
    My editors used to send notices for reporters to stop using this word, or that word, because they had become overused, trite and meaningless.

    It reaches a point where readers either read past the word or ignore any story that contains such a word in the headline.

    Such is the case with "bombshell" and "explosive" of late.

    Previous posts and discussions about the overuse of the term "bombshell" by CNN and the NYT:

    We have another bombshell . . . Bombshell . . . BOMBSHELL!!! WHOOT!!!

    1580153583711.png


     
    Isn’t it the point of the thread that we can’t trust the media to not sensationalize, but instead it is up to us to learn how to see through the BS?

    There was an example earlier today in another thread where one of our fellow posters cited a news story to claim one thing but the article said the exact opposite? I don’t know if that’s a media literacy thing or just a literacy thing.
     
    Isn’t it the point of the thread that we can’t trust the media to not sensationalize, but instead it is up to us to learn how to see through the BS?

    There was an example earlier today in another thread where one of our fellow posters cited a news story to claim one thing but the article said the exact opposite? I don’t know if that’s a media literacy thing or just a literacy thing.

    I feel like that post, if it was genuine, was a literacy thing regarding media and not media literacy, if that makes sense.
     
    Even MORE BOMBSHELLS!!!
    Eventually, this word is going to replace all other words. Hooray!

    1580170113567.png
    Is your point that if you harp on something long enough it will lose meaning?
    And do you mean your point to be ironic?

    Also know that megaphoning the news is central to the Murdock/ailes shtick
     
    Is your point that if you harp on something long enough it will lose meaning?
    And do you mean your point to be ironic?

    Also know that megaphoning the news is central to the Murdock/ailes shtick
    See Post 401 in this thread for the answers to your questions.
     

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