New Evidence of the Effect of Literacies in Reducing Disinformation and Fake News

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 300-333
Author(s):  
José Ricardo Ledur ◽  
Renato P. dos Santos

Context: The production of scientific knowledge is not clearly understood by most individuals. In the information age, society faces challenges generated by discrediting institutions, including science, the proliferation of false news, disinformation and the relativisation of truth. These are significant issues that the school cannot refrain from discussing if it wants to educate for citizenship. Objectives: To investigate how conceptions about science influence and are influenced by fake news conveyed by the media and the contribution of literacy to minimise the effects of misinformation. Design: The methodology used in this research used a mixed-methods approach through content analysis of students’ responses combined with descriptive statistical techniques. Environment and participants: The research was carried out with 32 students, divided into two groups, attending the 9th grade of an elementary public school in Bom Princípio/RS. Data collection and analysis: Two questionnaires were applied: one for the conceptions about science and another to identify fake news. Results: Most students have a limited view of science and find it difficult to identify fake news through verification criteria. A correlation between student perceptions and the identification of false news was observed. Conclusions: Knowledge about science possibly enhances students’ perception of doubtful information. It is crucial to develop mediatic and information literacy skills as they can positively impact the identification of fake news and reduce its shares.

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 19-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniella Smith

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine student perceptions of flipped learning lessons designed to teach information literacy skills. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method design was implemented using a paper-based survey and an online focus group. The survey asked questions about the participants’ perceptions of the flipped lessons. The focus group was used to clarify the participants’ responses to the survey questions. Findings A majority of the students enjoyed completing the lessons. Responses also indicated that a majority of the students felt that the lessons helped them prepare for class. However, issues with computers and internet connectivity at home resulted in some of the students completing the lessons before or after school. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to a class of 21 students enrolled in a public school in North Texas. Originality/value There is limited research supporting the value of flipped learning in relation to the technology implementation role of school librarians. This study provides insights into how school librarians can develop flipped learning lessons in collaboration with classroom teachers to improve the information literacy skills of students.


Author(s):  
M. І. Hordiichuk

The article studies the concept of “fake news,” focusing on researching its etymology and the scope of its meaning. The meaning of the concept of “fake news” is studied based on the contrast with the word combination“false news”. The coinages “post-truth” and “fake news” have been recognized as the words of the year by different dictionaries in the recent years, which contributes to the image of the present-day media. Various definitions of fake news of different scholars were analyzed. It was found that fake news are relatively easy in making and spreading due to the advancement of modern technologies. However, they disrupt the faith of readers in media, which stands for the need for the detection of fake news in mass media. Consequently, the detection of fake news has been acknowledged as a crucial skill in the modern era. The paper analyzes the ways communicative theory can be used in the detection of fake news in the media. Four main strategies were identified, namely argumentative, appellative, evaluative, and the strategy of optimizing of perlocutionary effect. Each of the strategies is applied in various ways in fake news making with the use of appropriate tactics within their scope. The argumentative strategy operates with the tactics of manipulation and detalization. Tactics of ideologization, appeal to addressees’ needs and retrospection are used within the appellative strategy. Evaluative strategy includes the tactics of positioning, discrediting the opponent and distancing. And within the strategy of optimizing of perlocutionary effect the tactics of emotion evocation, mnemonization and visualization are identified. The paper provides a theoretical background to all of these strategies. Also, their practical application in the media was analyzed based on the examples taken from the independent fact-checking organization “StopFake”. It was found that all of them are frequently used in the hybrid war against Ukraine to disrupt its official government, treaties with European partners, and provoke chaos within the state.


Author(s):  
Yosra Sobeih ◽  
El Taieb EL Sadek

Modern communication means have imposed many changes on the media work in the different stages of content production, starting from gathering news, visual and editorial processing, verification and verification of the truthfulness of what was stated in it until its publication, so the changes that were stimulated by modern means and technologies and artificial intelligence tools have affected all stages of news and media production, since the beginning of the emergence of rooms. Smart news that depends on human intelligence and then machine intelligence, which has become forced to keep pace with the development in communication means, which has withdrawn in the various stages of production, and perhaps the most important of which is the process of investigation and scrutiny and the detection of false news and rumors in our current era, which has become the spread of information very quickly through the Internet and websites Social media and various media platforms


Author(s):  
Victoria Dorofeeva

The author attempts to provide theoretical understanding of the essence and content of the media space. It was determined that the primary task of the media space is to understand our reality, to implement effective communication and to form public opinion. The author mentions that the modern media space functions in the conditions of increasing speed of communication processes which generate “waves” of information noise. Thus, fake news appears in the media field increasingly frequently. The author found out that the content of the «fake news» concept has not been clearly defined yet and comprehensive studies of this relatively new phenomenon are not available either. There are no definite criteria for classifying news as fake. According to the author, fake news is completely or partially fictional information about certain individuals, public events and events in general, which is presented in the media as real authoritative journalistic materials. The article describes the mechanism of the origin of fake news and its distribution in the media space. The main reasons for faking include the high rate of content delivery, the “infotainment” and the relaying nature of journalism. The results of the study allow the author to define fake news as discretely existing types of news. The author also considers national cultural features and the mechanism of distribution of false news in Internet networks. Specific Russian- and English-language sites hosting fake news are analyzed, their impact on society is studied. The author concludes that systematic misinformation of the audience leads to de-professionalization, discrediting of media workers and de-institutionalization of journalism. The article presents data indicating the concern of the world community about the distribution of fake Internet content. There are examples of the creation of special government organizations and the development of legislative initiatives to combat fakes. The author gives a number of recommendations to identify fake news in the wide media space.


Author(s):  
Oloo Ong’ong’a

The rise of fake news into the new media platform has raised significant concern in Africa and Kenya in recent years. The new media has embedded itself with fake news, which sometimes has led to the misunderstanding and misinformation of particular events that might be of the public interest. The general public, policymakers, and scholars, as well as the media, have found this as a very challenging issue. The upsurge of the new technologies, mainly social media, has posed challenges as youth immerse themselves in utilizing these social media for their own benefits. This is coupled with the creation and spreading of fake news, which sometimes when it goes viral; they lead to stress, panic and uncertainty to the individuals that come across them. The ability of users’ exceptional capacity to produce, reproduce, and distribute their information to a broad audience makes social media, an essential tool in the information age. The article critically reviews the literature on fake news and recommends for media literacy, strengthening the legal structures and use of sophisticated technologies as a strategy to fight fake news in the social media in Kenya.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-85
Author(s):  
Edlira PALLOSHI DISHA ◽  
Demush BAJRAMI ◽  
Agron RUSTEMI

In the conditions of a technological transformation of the media, professional credibility and reliability in information are fading due to the manipulative role that the media have taken. This paper, among other things, highlights exactly the editorial lines of the media, which do not build them on principles based on professional cause, but rather on the causes of political-media oligarchies. The fake news industry in the world is currently the most profitable product, and this is the most serious threat to democracies, which cannot be properly consolidated without a regulation in the dense "traffic" of online communication. In this industry Russia leads with its Sputnik, which has created a widespread establishment in the media space of Central and Eastern Europe. Preventing of this media "pandemic" is extremely complicated and costly, because this type of information is camouflaged in various forms and the public needs a proper media education to identify and differentiate fake news from true ones. Therefore, it is very necessary to create a national strategy of each state, to prevent the spread of this media "pandemic", while the most effective "virus" is the professionalization of the media and its detachment from the influence of political oligarchies. False news is creating its bedrock of influence and this is especially evident in the division of society as a result of political tensions and inter-ethnic discontent. Moreover, this paper shows that in such a divided society, the disinformation that circulates incessantly in the public space, sows fear. If a disinformation protection strategy were to be developed, then public confidence would not be in crisis, as it is currently in the Western Balkans, and the media would return to its primary role: independent and objective information.


Author(s):  
Maria Victoria E. Dela Cruz

The study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the Media Instruction Program (MIP) of the Ateneo de Manila Grade School through the MIP Modules taught to selected Grade Five students enrolled for SY 2015-2016. Students were given a pre-test at the beginning of SY 2015-2016 to measure their information literacy skills. After attending MIP sessions at the Katigbak Educational Media Center (KEMC), they were given post-test to measure the difference in their pre-test and post-test scores. There was an observed increase and significant improvement in the test scores of Grade Five students after they have been exposed to Media Instruction Program.


2019 ◽  
pp. 163-176
Author(s):  
Tracy Simmons

“Fake news” isn't a new phenomenon, but it began trending in 2016 during a contentious presidential election. Particularly with the rise of social media, people saw the dangerous impact this movement had, and continues to have on society. People easily bought into false stories, shared them online and even acted on them. Because of this, the importance of fact checking and analysis has surged, and the responsibility falls on both news consumers and practitioners. Additionally, the term fake news has been used repeatedly to inaccurately label news that people do not agree with or do not like. By learning to identify the differences between truth, satire, falsity, dislike, error, and learning why fake news has gone viral, individuals can enhance their media literacy skills. This will in turn improve the media landscape because news consumers will be required to become proficient in knowing how to produce, interpret, and share news in an ethical and honest way.


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