scholarly journals Educating for Democracy in a Partisan Age

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Kahne ◽  
Benjamin Bowyer

This article investigates youth judgments of the accuracy of truth claims tied to controversial public issues. In an experiment embedded within a nationally representative survey of youth ages 15 to 27 ( N = 2,101), youth were asked to judge the accuracy of one of several simulated online posts. Consistent with research on motivated reasoning, youth assessments depended on (a) the alignment of the claim with one’s prior policy position and to a lesser extent on (b) whether the post included an inaccurate statement. To consider ways educators might improve judgments of accuracy, we also investigated the influence of political knowledge and exposure to media literacy education. We found that political knowledge did not improve judgments of accuracy but that media literacy education did.

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 689-707
Author(s):  
Tanya Notley ◽  
Michael Dezuanni

Social media use has redefined the production, experience and consumption of news media. These changes have made verifying and trusting news content more complicated and this has led to a number of recent flashpoints for claims and counter-claims of ‘fake news’ at critical moments during elections, natural disasters and acts of terrorism. Concerns regarding the actual and potential social impact of fake news led us to carry out the first nationally representative survey of young Australians’ news practices and experiences. Our analysis finds that while social media is one of young people’s preferred sources of news, they are not confident about spotting fake news online and many rarely or never check the source of news stories. Our findings raise important questions regarding the need for news media literacy education – both in schools and in the home. Therefore, we consider the historical development of news media literacy education and critique the relevance of dominant frameworks and pedagogies currently in use. We find that news media has become neglected in media literacy education in Australia over the past three decades, and we propose that current media literacy frameworks and pedagogies in use need to be rethought for the digital age.


2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-167
Author(s):  
Aleš Kudrnáč

This study explores youth accuracy judgments of disinformative and nondisinformative claims. Analyses are based on a nationally representative youth (16–20 years old) survey experiment conducted in the Czech Republic in 2017. When they were exposed to posts regarding refugee crisis, young people were asked to judge the accuracy of the statements accompanying the posts. Motivated reasoning of youth depended primarily on the alignment with the posts and the ideology of participants. Results of this research suggest that motivated reasoning works differently for liberals and conservatives. Perceived amount of media literacy training does not seem to affect directional motivation. General trust works as moderator of motivated reasoning and, in combination with ideology, appears to be important for understanding directional motivation when exposed to disinformation.


Author(s):  
Stephanie Jean Tsang

With the hostile media phenomenon as an overarching framework, this chapter discusses how challenging it can be for media literacy education to successfully combat motivated reasoning in which individuals are likely to be hostile when exposed to news content that is incongruent with their personal point of view. Such discussion is vital in times when news audiences are cynical and skeptical towards both politicians and media agencies. Given the importance of understanding and studying individuals' perceptions of news biases and assessments of news credibility, this chapter makes a case for establishing more objective standards for journalistic work to overcome the challenges brought about by the rise of fake news in the digital era.


Author(s):  
Stephanie Jean Tsang

With the hostile media phenomenon as an overarching framework, this chapter discusses how challenging it can be for media literacy education to successfully combat motivated reasoning in which individuals are likely to be hostile when exposed to news content that is incongruent with their personal point of view. Such discussion is vital in times when news audiences are cynical and skeptical towards both politicians and media agencies. Given the importance of understanding and studying individuals' perceptions of news biases and assessments of news credibility, this chapter makes a case for establishing more objective standards for journalistic work to overcome the challenges brought about by the rise of fake news in the digital era.


Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miftachul Huda ◽  
Azmil Hashim

PurposeMedia literacy education is knowingly contributed to give insights in facilitating the interaction and communication, and thus enabling to understand the way we look at the world around us. However, the challenging issues emerged around need to take serious consent towards engaging the professional and ethical balance in the context of application strategy on media literacy education. This paper attempts to examine in addressing the ability with substantial foundation to recognize and understand between its benefit and its impacts assigned with analysing and evaluating the media engagement.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes the theoretical framework guideline with particular emphasis on empowering both professional and ethical dimensions relating to the media literacy and education to be keenly adhered to as a golden rule in media literacy, education and practice.FindingsThe findings reveal that such a marriage between the ethical dimensions and professional skills would promote the good of individuals, groups and broader society by addressing the inherent negative effects of media technology and practice. Consequently, the model would contribute to broader societal goodness and peaceful coexistence.Originality/valueThe professional and ethical balance being proposed here is necessary to reconsider the way and manner along with media technology tools utilized across different cultures with expressing the purpose of promoting appropriate and wise usage for the sustainable positive benefit of mankind at all times.


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