The ability to find and analyze reliable information and be a critical news consumer.
Take a look at the Fact checking, verification and fake news guide for tips and resources. As news consumers and as journalists, it is critical to understand how to evaluate your information sources.
We have responsibilities as creators and consumers because the way we understand and incorporate news can affect our lives as individuals as well as the world we live in.
There are a growing number of useful sources addressing news literacy. These are just few hand-picked by us for you. Feel free to suggest more that you have found especially helpful. Email Professors Alexa Capeloto or Kathleen Collins with your ideas.
Readings:
Potter, J.W. (2016). Media Literacy. SAGE, 8th Ed.
Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Reasoning
Fake News is Not the Only Problem
How Facebook Makes Us Dumber (re confirmation bias)
How does misinformation spread online?
How the web distorts reality and impairs our judgment skills
Fake News Outperformed Real News on Facebook in 2016 Election
Seven Ways to Spot and Debunk Fake News
Videos:
Other Resources:
Combating Fake News: An Agenda for Research and Action (Harvard U.'s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy)
Reuters policy on social media
Types of Online Fakes from the Verification Handbook created by leading journalists
AllSides looks at current issues from left, right and centrist views