Voter Forums 2020: News & Media Literacy

An excellent, well researched, resource for identifying the slant and purpose of a wide variety of traditional and alternative media sources.

Trolls and other Fake News sites and Posts often use stock photos, or stolen photos to give themselves a sense of legitimacy. Fake News also frequently uses improperly labeled images.   Doing a reverse image search can find other places where an image exists on the internet, and can help trace them to their original context.

These are great activities to help you practice your News Media Literacy skills.

Did you read an inspirational quotation from a famous person online?  There's a good chance it's mis-attributed, or made-up!

From the News LIteracy Project's  "Beyond 'Fake News': Types of Misinformation"

"Fake News" is a term that once had a specific meaning, which has been lost as the term has become politicized.  Instead be aware of these 5 types of Misinformation.

• False content. : real information presented in the wrong or misleading context;  old photos or  articles presented as new or as related to something they are not
• Impostor content. :  incorrectly cited or sourced quotations;  Fake Tweets;  intentionally misattributing.
• Manipulated content. : edited photos / 'photoshops', etc
• Fabricated content. :  Entirely made up.
• Satire. : humorous or other content that is meant to resemble something real

Crash Course: Media Literacy with Jay Smooth 

a 12-part Crash Course (see all videos here) covering the history, psychology, economics, ethics, and more, of Media and Media Literacy.