Media Literacy

Economic Reporting in Conservative Media

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Article in FAIR by Conor Smyth, 11/20/21

Headline:  “It’s the Economic Reporting, Stupid”

“Conservative media, unsurprisingly, appears to be a major culprit in the miseducation of the American public, with people whose primary media source is conservative media registering lower familiarity with reality than those who stuck mainly to other media sources. (Reliance on social media, too, was associated with less knowledge of basic facts.)

“But even among those who primarily get their news from the more general category of cable/national newspapers, a third didn’t realize that inflation had declined over the past year. Voters’ lack of knowledge, therefore, cannot simply be laid at the feet of the conservative press. Corporate outlets more broadly must share the blame.”

https://fair.org/home/its-the-economic-reporting-stupid/

Where People Get Their Fake News

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Article on AP by Haleluya Hadero, 11/18/24

Headline:  “About 20% of Americans regularly get their news from influencers on social media, report says”

About one in five Americans – and a virtually identical share of Republicans and Democrats – regularly get their news from digital influencers who are more likely to be found on the social media platform X, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Research Center.

The findings, drawn from a survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults and an analysis of social media posts posted this summer by influencers, provide an indication of how Americans consumed the news during the height of the U.S. presidential campaign that President-elect Donald Trump ultimately won.

https://apnews.com/article/influencers-election-trump-harris-news-eacd42bce73d6e11cbc760caf28c993a

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Article in The Hill by Joanne Haner

Headline:  “1 in 5 get news from social media influencers: Pew poll “

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4996144-news-influencers-social-media/

Technofascism and the Media

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Article in The Guardian by Joan Donovan, 11/11/24

Headline: “First came the bots, then came the bosses – we’re entering Musk and Zuck’s new era of disinformation”

Subhead: “Tech leaders’ politics are encoded into their platforms – and with Trump’s ascent, they have direct access to the Oval Office”

“. . . When tech CEOs encode their political beliefs into the design of platforms, it’s a form of technofascism, where technology is used for political suppression of speech and to repress the organization of resistance to the state or capitalism.

“Content moderation at these platforms now reflects the principles of the CEO and what that person believes is in the public’s interest. The political opinions of tech’s overlords, like Musk and Zuckerberg, are now directly embedded in their algorithms.”

“. . .Whether it’s Musk’s strategy of overloading users with posts from himself and Trump, or Zuckerberg’s silencing of political discussion, it’s citizens who suffer from such chilling of speech.”

“If we are to disarm disinformers, we need a whole of society approach that values real Talk (Timely, Accurate Local Knowledge) and community safety. . . .  But most of all, it’s going to require that you and I do something quickly to protect those already in the crosshairs of Trump’s new world order, by donating to or joining community organizations tackling issues such as women’s rights and immigration. Even subscribing to a local news outlet is a profound political act these days. Let that sink in.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/12/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-disinformation

Media Literacy is Important

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Graphic from FAIR

Article in FAIR

Headline:  “Media Literacy Guide: How to Detect Bias in News Media”

“Media have tremendous power in shaping political and cultural narratives—telling us what and who matters, why things are as they are and what it would mean to change them. An informed and critical audience challenges news media to be fair, independent and accurate.

” . . .  some questions to ask yourself about news you consume, whether it’s in print, online, on TV or radio or in your social media feed.”

https://fair.org/take-action-now/media-activism-kit/how-to-detect-bias-in-news-media/

Which Podcasts are Reliable?

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From Ad Fontes Media 10/24/24

Headline:  “Junk News is Like Junk Food”

Subhead:  “We love them, but both damage our health and our society as a whole. What can we do?”

“We, as humans, have basic needs for several things. One of them is food. Another is information. We are always, by necessity and want, taking in both.”

“. . .Ad Fontes Media has known for years that podcasts, as well as YouTube and other social media platforms, have become a popular place for people to get their information. For that reason, we began analyzing news and news-like podcasts for their bias and reliability in 2021.

“As Podcasts Grow in Popularity, Harris and Trump Appear as Guests to Reach New Audiences

“Find out which shows can be trusted on the October Media Bias Chart for podcasts.

“Our team has now rated more than 740 of them, and 48 are featured on the October Media Bias Chart® for podcasts that was released earlier this week. Learn more about the chart, including which eight podcasts are included for the first time:”

https://adfontesmedia.com/podcasts-grow-popularity-oct-24-chart/?utm_source=Ad+Fontes+Media&utm_campaign=348e0cf117-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_07_17_01_44_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-e5ace1450d-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&goal=0_7489d5d067-348e0cf117-433946301&mc_cid=348e0cf117

World Media Literacy is Important

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Article in Poynter by Muskan Bansal, Renata Salvini and Brittani Kollar, 10/25/24

Headline:  “An academic’s media literacy journey from India to Oman”

Subhead:  “Dr. Tamilselvi Natarajan’s passion for media literacy led to the creation of a media literacy club at Bayan College”

“The International Center for Journalists’ (ICFJ) Disarming Disinformation initiative is a three-year program, supported by the Scripps Howard Fund, that aims to slow the spread of disinformation through multiple programs such as investigative journalism, capacity building and media literacy education. ICFJ partnered with MediaWise from the Poynter Institute to develop and deliver media literacy programming.

“The media literacy training of trainers program accepted global participants for two different cohorts. The participants are community leaders who will educate others on the importance of media literacy and how to apply those skills in real life. The article below is one of five impact stories selected from the first cohort in celebration of media literacy week. ”

https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2024/an-academics-media-literacy-journey-from-india-to-oman/

 

Documentaries on How Media Impact the World

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From the Media Education Foundation – documentary films on the media

The MEF has a variety of films about the media which.  They can be used for media community literacy efforts or as a part of school programs.

Headline: “Films That Inspire Critical Reflection on the Social, Political, & Cultural Impact of American Mass Media”

“Media Education Foundation produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical thinking about the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media.”

https://www.mediaed.org/

 

Foreign Manipulators, Social Media and Elections

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Article By Filippo Menczer, Indiana University in UPI 10/8/24

Headline: “Foreign operations manipulate social media to influence your views”

“. . . we found accounts that flood the network with tens or hundreds of thousands of posts in a single day. The same campaign can post a message with one account and then have other accounts that its organizers also control “like” and “unlike” it hundreds of times in a short time span. Once the campaign achieves its objective, all these messages can be deleted to evade detection. Using these tricks, foreign governments and their agents can manipulate social media algorithms that determine what is trending and what is engaging to decide what users see in their feeds.

“. . . The consequences of such operations are difficult to evaluate due to the challenges posed by collecting data and carrying out ethical experiments that would influence online communities. Therefore it is unclear, for example, whether online influence campaigns can sway election outcomes. Yet, it is vital to understand society’s vulnerability to different manipulation tactics.”

https://www.upi.com/Voices/2024/10/08/foreign-operations-manipulate-social-media-influence-views/7961728392145/

How to Identify Fakes in the Media

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Article by Annique Mossou from Bellingcat.com, 11/1/21 (over a year old, but still good)

Headline: A Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Verification

“How can we tell whether the posts, articles and claims we see on the internet and social media sites are true? Online conspiracies and deliberately misleading, partisan content are serious issues, after all.”

. . . “Verification doesn’t need to be difficult. It also doesn’t require any complicated algorithms or access to advanced tools or programs that automatically detect whether an image may be fake or manipulated.

“A critical mindset and a close look at the context of an image or post, allied with simple tools such as a Google search or reverse image platforms, are often all it takes to discover whether a piece of content is genuine.”

https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2021/11/01/a-beginners-guide-to-social-media-verification/