News Literacy: Essential skill for the 21st CenturyRole of Librarian in Empowering Communities

Overview

• Introduction• What is News Literacy?• Why should this matter to us?• Understanding Information Zones & their Purpose• What composed real news• What to think about when you think about the news• What is fake news? • What makes a news story fake• How to SPOT fake news• Conclusion

Introduction

The boundaries between news production and information creation and sharing are gradually blurring in the current online news environments and social media(Chen, Conroy, & Rubin, 2015).

Misinformation is more quickly disseminated through social media when there is high uncertainty and high demand for public information about the issues such as crisis and health concerns (Spence, 2016).

Filtering, vetting, and verifying online information continues to be essential in library and information science as the lines between traditional news and online information are blurring.

Introduction (continued)

News Literacy skills are essential to distinguish between fact and opinion in this ocean of data. In a democratic society, informed decision making and critical thinking requires that citizens develop news literacy skills.

Librarians need to provide citizens with tools to identify and refute fake news and misinformation.

What is News Literacy (NL)?

• The acquisition of 21st Century, critical-thinking skills for analyzing and judging the reliability and credibility of news and information, differentiating among facts, opinions and assertions in the media we consume, create and distribute. It is a necessary component for literacy in contemporary society ( Zimdars, 2019).

• This literacy will empowers news consumers to determine whether information is reliable and then act on it.

Why should this matter to us?

• As consumers of news and information it is our responsibility to identify what is true from what is false in the flood information we encounter every day.

• A healthy civil society can exist only if the public is well- informed. If citizens can be easily led to believe rumours and gossip, the consequences can be dangerous (Center for News Literacy, 2019).

• Overcome confirmation bias and selective attention.

Information Zones and their Purpose

• News- content created to inform you about something

• Opinion- content designed to persuade you with a reasoned argument

• Entertainment- to entertain, amuse, please or distract you- which often elicit an emotional response

• Advertising-sell you something: a product, or service

• Publicity- information created to promote something

• Propaganda- information designed to promote a cause and prompt you to take action

• Raw information- to document or record an event

What composed real news ?

• Real news is presented by real news sources. Check your news source for a code of ethics or mission statement.

• Real news is written by reporters. with degrees in journalism or within their specialized field.

• The primary goal of real news is to inform.

• Real news can be verified. supporting sources to what you are reading must be there.

What to think about when you think about the news• What is the main idea of this article?

What is the point this article is trying to make?

• How does this article want me to feel?

What kind of language is being used? Are images positive or negative?

• Does this article provide evidence for its claim from good sources?

Are links provided sending you to well researched publications?

• Am I able to independently verify claims in this article?

If no link can I find information on it myself?

What is fake news?

• Is fabricated information that mimics news media content in form but not in organizational process or intent. Fake news overlaps with other information disorders, such as misinformation(false or misleading information), and disinformation (false, fabricated, manipulated information purposely spread to deceive people) Lazer, et al. 2018.

• Is expressly disseminated- to mislead & misinform

• Goes viral- with astonishing speed- without being verified or confirm

• Even if it is eventually corrected or disproved- the damage has already been done.

What makes a news story fake?

• It can’t be verifiedA fake news article may not have links in it tracing its sources• Fake news appeals to emotionFake news plays on your feelings- it makes you angry, happy or scared• Authors usually aren’t expertsMost authors aren’t journalists, but paid trolls.• It can’t be found anywhere elseIf you look up the main idea of a fake news article, might not find any other news outlet reporting on the issue.• Fake news comes from fake sitesabcnews.com.co?

How to SPOT fake news

Conclusion

Information consumers today:

• need to be competent, knowledgeable, sharp, tireless, active and intelligent users (and creators) of information

• should be able and prepared to critique the news/information being broadcast/published

• should be able to seek and find the information that is not being broadcast or otherwise prioritized

• should be able to describe and understand the difference between the various providers and provocateurs of information

References

Allcott, H. & Gentzkow, M. 2017. Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election. Working Paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, No. 23089.

Brophy, P. 2005. The library in the twenty-first century: new services for the information age. London: Facet Publishing.

Center for News Literacy. 2019. Stony Brook University. New York.

Chen, Y., Conroy, NL. & Rubin, VL. 2015. Deception Detection for News: Three Types of Fakes. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Vol.52.

Reference (continued)

IFLA, 2018. How to SPOT fake news.

Lazer, DMJ., Baum. MA., Benkel, Y., Berinsky, AJ., Greenhill, KM., Menczer, F., Metzger, MJ., Nyhan, B., Pennycook, G., Rothschild, D., Schudson, M., Sloman, SA., Sunstein, CR., Thorson, EA., Watts, DJ. & Zittrain, JL. 2018. The science of fake news: addressing fake news requires a multidisciplinary effort. Science, 359(6380):1094-1096.

ProQuest. 2019. How to identify fake news in 10 steps. http://blogs.proquest.com/general/how-to-identify-fake-news-in-10-steps. Accessed:2019-09-01.

Reference (continued)

Spence, PR., Lachlan, KA., Edwards, A & Edwards, C. 2016. Tweeting fast matters, but only if I think about it: Information updates on social media. Communication Quarterly, 64(1):55-71.

Tandoc, EC., Lim, ZM & Ling, R. 2018. Defining “Fake News”, Digital Journalism, 6(2):137-153.

UNESCO. 2018. Journalism, “Fake News” & Disinformation.

Vosoughi, S., Roy, D & Aral, S. 2018. The spread of true and false news online. Science, 359 (6380),1146-1151.

Zimdars, M. 2019. Fake News: Understanding Media and Misinformation in the Digital Age. MIT Press.

Thank You

“With the knowledge we have, let others light their candles from it”