Understanding Fake News: Perspectives from the Scholarship on Digital and Media Literacy

Renee HobbsProfessor of Communication StudiesDirector, Media Education LabUniversity of Rhode Island USATwitter: @reneehobbs

Understanding “Fake News”

Perspectives from the Scholarship on Digital and Media Literacy

www.mediaeducationlab.com

We are socialized to beactive or passive consumers of media

RhetoricPrint Literacy

Visual LiteracyInformation Literacy

Media LiteracyCritical Literacy

Computer LiteracyNews LiteracyDigital Literacy

Literacy in Historical Context

Literacy is the

sharing of meaning in symbolic form

ACCESS

the process of digital and media literacy

LOVE HATE

PRINT VISUAL SOUND DIGITAL

EMPOWERMENT – PROTECTION PARADIGMPeople have a love-hate relationship with

media, technology and popular culture

Choice Overload

entertainmentinformationpersuasion

New Realities in a Networked Global Society

Cost to produce content is low

Massive fragmentation of production & consumption

Viral sharing means popularity = profit

Content is consumed as unbundled snippets on social media

Selective exposure

Confirmation bias

Reality maintenance

Performative sharing

60% of people share content without reading/viewing it

Essentials of Human Information Processing

New Forms of Authority & Expertise

Attention economics is surpassing traditional forms of authority and expertise

our attention — and most of it free — being found is valuable."

Immediacy Personalization InterpretationFindability

re

POSTED TO THE Seattle Tribune Sunday, Feb. 26

IDENTIFIED AS FAKESnopesThursday, March 2

PolitfactFriday, March 3

FLAGGED BY FACEBOOKSaturday, March 4

re

Sample: A representative sample of 1,684 UK adultsMethod. Participants were shown 6 news stories: 3 were true, 3 were falseFindings:• Only 4% accurately identified the stories

that were accurate and those which were fake

• 49% thought at least one of the fake stories was true

• Among those who consider Facebook a primary source of news, 71% thought at least one of the fake stories was true

SOURCE: Channel 4, UK. Fake News Research, February 7, 2017.

Six Types of “Fake News”

DisinformationPropaganda


HoaxesParody/Satire


Errors in JournalismPartisanship

Blurring Genres and Motives

DisinformationPropaganda

HoaxParody/Satire

Errors in JournalismPartisanship

Informing and Engaging the Public

Controlling Knowledge, Attitudes & Values

Cultural Criticism or Creative Expression

Can labeling and algorithms address the problem of fake news?

WTO 5 News

960,000 Facebook shares by November 8, 2016

Who decides what “signals of quality” should be used to label online news content?

Key Concepts of Media Literacy

Messages are ConstructedRepresentations

Messages are Constructed Representations

Messages Use Different Codes and Conventions


People Interpret Messages Differently





Messages Have Economic &

Political Power


Messages Influence Attitudes and Behaviors



Messages Have Economic &

Political Power

Algorithms are not neutral: because they are constructed by people, they have an author, purpose, point of view & bias

New forms of online news and information are evolving with a range of different “signals of quality”

Because people create & interpret messages in light of their lived experience, respect for diverse perspectives is needed

Everyone needs to understand the economics of the Internet, especially pay-per-click, sponsored content and native advertising

People need to take time to reflect on how they are using the media and how the media is using them

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Consumers and creators are both responsible for advancing digital and media literacy

“The Role of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Instructional Strategies in the Prevention of Violent Extremism,” United Nations, Febuary 9, 2017

Based on a major research project funded by the European Commission

Explores how discriminatory stereotypes are built online with a particular focus on right-wing populism

Recognizes that young people are the preferred target for promoting hate speech

Examines how media literacy education can help to deconstruct hate speech and promote young people’s full participation in media-saturated societies

Professor Maria Ranieri, University of Florence

Use of Media

“There have been no official and systematic policies created by the Italian Ministry of Education, and development in media education and its application has only been provided by some scholars in the universities and by teachers in the schools.

ICT and media literacy education are still not included as a compulsory part of the curriculum…”


www.mindovermedia.tv

Media organizations & educational leaders can reduce political polarization and strengthen

global democracy by building people’s digital and media literacy competencies

The highest result of education is tolerance. ~ Helen Keller

o Hobbs R. & Tuzel, S. (2017). The Use of Social Media and Popular Culture to Advance Cross Cultural Understanding. Communicar.

o Media Education Lab (2016). Mind Over Media: Analyzing Contemporary Propaganda. [Interactive media.] www.mindovermedia.tv

o Martens, H. & Hobbs, R. (2015). How media literacy supports civic engagement in a digital age. Atlantic Journal of Communication 23(2), 120 – 137.

o Hobbs, R. & McGee, S. (2014). Teaching about propaganda: An examination of the historical roots of media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education 6(2), 56 – 67.

o Hobbs, R. (2013). Improvization and strategic risk taking in informal learning with digital media literacy. Learning, Media and Technology, 38(2), 182-197.

o Hobbs, R. (2013). The blurring of art, journalism and advocacy: Confronting 21st century propaganda in a world of online journalism. I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society 8(3), 625 – 638.

o Hobbs, R., Yoon, J., Al-Humaidan, R., Ebrahimi, A. & Cabral, N. (2011). Online digital media in elementary school. Journal of Middle East Media 7(1), 1 – 23.

o Hobbs, R., Ebrahimi, A., Cabral, N., Yoon, J., & Al-Humaidan, R. (2011). Field-based teacher education in elementary media literacy as a means to promote global understanding. Action for Teacher Education 33, 144 – 156.

o Hobbs, R. (2011). A snapshot of multinational media education in six European countries. Trans: Un’istantanea multinazionale sulla ME in sei paesi europei. Media Education. Studi, ricerche, buone pratiche [Italy] 1(1), 53 – 70.

o Hobbs, R., Cohn-Geltner, H. & Landis, J. (2011). Views on the news: Media literacy empowerment competencies in the elementary grades. In C. Von Feilitzen, U. Carlsson & C. Bucht (Eds.). New questions, new insights, new approaches. The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media. NORDICOM. University of Gothenburg, Sweden (pp. 43 – 56).

o Hobbs, R. and RobbGrieco, M. (2010). Passive dupes, code breakers, or savvy users: Theorizing media literacy education in English language arts. In D. Lapp and D. Fisher (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts. Third edition. New York: Routledge (pp. 283 – 289).


http://www.mindovermedia.tv/

Renee Hobbs Professor of Communication StudiesDirector, Media Education LabHarrington School of Communication and MediaUniversity of Rhode Island USA

Email: [email protected]: @reneehobbsWEB: www.mediaeducationlab.com

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