The materials in this post will come from the Sift, the organization’s e-newsletter for educators, which has additional than 23,000 subscribers. Published weekly during the college yr, it explores well timed illustrations of misinformation, addresses media and press freedom subject areas, discusses social media developments and issues, and incorporates dialogue prompts and things to do for the classroom. Get Sensible About Information, modeled on the Sift, is a free weekly newsletter for the community.
The Information Literacy Project’s browser-dependent e-understanding platform, Checkology, allows educators teach center and large college students how to identify credible facts, seek out out dependable sources and know what to believe in, what to dismiss and what to debunk.
It also offers them an appreciation of the worth of the To start with Amendment and a free push. Checkology, and all of NLP’s means and applications, are totally free. Considering the fact that 2016, extra than 37,000 educators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and extra than 120 other nations around the world have registered to use the platform. Considering the fact that August 2020, far more than 3,000 educators and additional than 125,000 pupils have actively applied Checkology.
Here’s material from the March 21 version of the Sift:
1. Dialogue about mis- and disinformation on line has spiked over the very last two a long time, reflecting a heightened public consciousness of the troubles introduced by common falsehoods. In accordance to information from the social media analysis business Zignal Labs, mentions of “misinformation” and “disinformation” on Twitter amplified 221 per cent in 2020 compared with 2019 — mainly coinciding with the rise of public discussions about covid-19 and vaccines. Other major functions, including the 2020 election and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have sustained the public’s focus on the subject.
Dig further: Use this think sheet to have students assess an article from this week’s Sift from a news literacy standpoint.
Sure: It is footage from the established of a 2020 rap new music video in Moscow.
Certainly: The clip was posted to TikTok on March 28, 2021, by Vasya Ivanov, who is also credited as the production designer on the movie.
NO: Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene didn’t refuse to applaud for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he spoke to Congress via videoconference on March 16.
Yes: Greene clapped at four distinctive points throughout Zelensky’s visual appearance, as documented in this Twitter thread (archived right here) by CNN’s Daniel Dale.
NewsLit takeaway: Controversial figures are frequent targets of misleading and bogus statements that resonate strongly amongst critics and partisan teams. The much more polarizing the person at the center of the rumor is, the additional inclined individuals who oppose them could be to uncritically settle for and spread damaging falsehoods. When a deceptive visible — in particular a video, which may possibly seem to be conclusive — is concerned, it can touch off a wave of viral outrage. Don’t forget: Our rational imagining is quickly bypassed when we’re hugely emotional. It is constantly most effective to pause before you share or amplify details, and this is specifically genuine when the material provokes a sturdy psychological response.
- Brazil’s Supreme Courtroom banned the social media app Telegram — which is favored by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — as section of a nationwide crackdown on hate speech and misinformation.
- As Russia becomes additional disconnected from the worldwide Internet, fears of an rising “splinternet” — exactly where “we have a selection of nationwide or regional networks that never speak to 1 another” — are growing.