We (at least adults over forty) used to be able to consume news without worrying about any of these, but our students and most young adults have grown up in a world where these are prevalent and, in some cases, more widely spread and believed than the real news.
So, let's look at some problem areas students may need help with.
Fake News
Media Columnist Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post defines fake news as "...deliberately constructed lies, in the form of news articles, meant to mislead the public." She adds that fake news is not "Liberal claptrap. Or opinion from left-of-center. Or simply anything in the realm of news that the observer doesn't like to hear." Students should have this definition clear in their minds to avoid confusing news with opinion or commentary, or worse, dismissing news as opinion or commentary.
The examples below show that fake news can be found on both ends of the political spectrum. Notice how bias can be seen in the headlines and the language of the summaries (before you even click on the story). Also, it's not uncommon to see exhortations of "Make this go viral!" accompanying the content.
Examples of Fake News
Donald Trump News
Liberal Society
Fact vs. Opinion (and Commentary)
We may take it for granted that high school students will know the difference between facts and opinions, but this is not always the case. A review of the basics of these two concepts may be in order. Also, since most of us (again those over forty) grew up with traditional newspapers, we probably know what an editorial page is and what its function is, but many young adults and our students may not realize that commentary is different from news, especially when you factor in the amount of commentary they're likely to see on cable news programs these days.
The examples below concern the same topic and come from the same newspaper, but one is a factual news article about the topic, and the other is an opinion column on the topic, expressing how the newspaper's editorial leaders feel about the topic.
Examples of Fact vs. Opinion (and Commentary)
U of L is pulling Papa John's off Cardinal Stadium after N-word scandal
U of L's president made a tough call on Papa John, and we applaud her
Sponsored Content
Another tricky, gray area is sponsored content, those "stories" or "articles" that appear to be written by someone on the publication staff, many times complete with headlines and photos...but with a difference. These items are usually some form of advertising, and if you look carefully in the fine print at the top or the bottom of the page, you will be told this, but who looks at the fine print? If adult readers miss these little labels, students may miss them as well and mistake the material for news, when in fact, it is advertising.
Each of the examples below was published on the Opinion page of The State newspaper online on Thursday, July 26, 2018. At first glance, each piece of sponsored content has a headline and photo and appears to be a story, but when you click the headlines, you'll find that you will be taken to ads. The Dyson Air Purifier ad even looks like a page from the newspaper, complete with The State's logo and navigation menu at the top. The other piece of sponsored content is an ad for SkyLink Antenna. Notice this one grabs your attention by naming a local city, West Columbia. Examine the screenshots below: The State labels each of these as "Sponsored Content" in blue (as opposed to the labels on the real stories, which are in gray) and shades the background of each (as opposed to the white background of real stories), but some readers (like our students) may not even notice those design features, especially if they're searching in a hurry.
Examples of Sponsored Content
Dyson Air Purifiers—Designed for Real-world Conditions
West Columbia: New 'Super' Antenna Picks Up Over 50 HD Channels
Satire and Parody
Making fun of people, especially those in the public eye (like politicians, entertainers, celebrities, and other news makers), is big business. Many instances of satire and parody can be found on late-night television, and some online publications appear to be real news sites, but they actually exist to poke fun at people, events, or situations. There are two concerns here. First, we have to teach students to recognize the difference between real news and a satirical article or a television sketch parody. Second, we have to help them understand intentions—even though satire and parody aren't real news, they also aren't fake news, which is created and spread with malicious intent. Satire and parody can be used to entertain by shedding light on a controversial topic or person to spur the audience to take a stand or take action. These are two very different reasons. So we have to show students that satire and parody aren't real...nor are the fake. Sounds easy, right?
Below you will find some examples of such sites. Satire and parody can also be found on television—think The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live.
Examples of Satire and Parody
The Onion: America's Finest News Source
Satire from the Borowitz Report
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Let's break it down further to help students remain vigilant about the content they see on the internet and social media? Below are some things for students should be looking out for when they come across questionable content.
About or About Us
Read the "About" or "About Us" section of the website. If one doesn't exist, this should be a huge red flag. Any reputable news organization will maintain transparency by providing information about itself and its owners here. There may also be some sort of mission statement and possibly a statement of ethics in this section. Read these as well, paying attention to the language (more on that later), which should be neutral and professional in tone. Finally, any material in the "About" or "About Us" section can be verified by doing a little more research. If no other information about the organization or its owners exists on the internet, chances are it's fake.
Appearance
Scan the website, paying close attention to its appearance. Reputable news websites are maintained by professional journalists and will appear as such. Websites that have distracting fonts, colors, flashing elements, poor graphics, and an overall amateur look should be avoided. With that said, disreputable websites are becoming better at making themselves look real, so this is only one test to perform.
Comments
Check the website comments or social media comments after the story to see how others are reacting to it. Of course, some will disagree and try to discredit the story or its writer, but if the story is generating many comments that seem to be genuinely concerned about its truthfulness, remain cautious.
Language
Skim the article for its language. Professional journalists will use impartial, dignified language in their stories. Slang, profanity, and inflammatory language can signify bias or a vengeful attitude that will not be present in properly written news.
Photos
If a photo appears to be altered or manipulated in any way, perform a reverse image search in Google by uploading the photo to Google Images to see if it has been used in other, unrelated stories or if there are altered versions of it out there. Fake content usually accompanies such photos.
Quotes
Any properly written news story will have quotes to back it up. If there are no quotes at all (in other words, no one qualified has said anything to back the story up), it's probably not real. There should also be multiple quotes from a variety of sources, so look for those, too.
Sources
Those quotes have to come from someone, right? Even if quotes are included in the story, an easy search will reveal if the speakers are real and if they are qualified to comment on the content of the story. Also search for the quote itself to make sure it was actually said and to see the context in which it was said. Good journalists are careful to not take people's words out of context.
Web Address
Carefully examine the web address from which the content comes. If it looks questionable, it probably is. Look for extensions (like ".co") after the ".com" or ".org"; reputable news organizations will have web addresses ending in either of these domain names.
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If you're finding all of that too much to remember, James Klurfield and Howard Schneider of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, have devised a couple of acronyms to help.
I'M VAIN
Sources are...
Independent—No affiliation with anyone or any organization means no source bias.
Multiple—Many sources provide balance and multiple perspectives.
Verified—Sources verify facts and information instead of asserting their own opinions.
Authoritative—Sources are knowledgeable and qualified to comment on the topic.
Informed—Sources are informed on the topic and able to provide useful commentary.
Named—Sources named and identified; anonymous sources are used little if at all.
VIA
Verification—All sources, quotes, and facts are verified as accurate and truthful.
Independence—No affiliation with anyone or any organization means no reporter bias.
Accountability—The reporter is willingly responsible for all aspects of the reporting.
References
Klurfield, J. and Schneider H. (2014). News literacy: Teaching the internet generation to make reliable choices. Washington, DC: The
Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Klurfield-Schneider_News-Literacy_June-2014.pdf
Sullivan. M. (2017). It's time to retire the tainted term "fake news." The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/
style/its-time-to-retire-the-tainted-term-fake-news/2017/01/06/a5a7516c-d375-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5_story.html?
utm_term=.576ee9c76229
Adapted from
Chen, A. (2017). Real news, fake news or opinion? Teaching our students to discern the difference. KQED Education.
https://ww2.kqed.org/education/2017/03/14/real-news-fake-news-or-opinion-teaching-our-students-to-discern-the-difference/?
utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaing=&mc_key=00Qi000001c6GZtEA&utm_source=March+2017+Org+
Partner+Bulletin&utm_campaign=Summer+2015+Org+Members+e-Newsletter
Davis, W. (2016). Fake or real? How to self-check the news and get the facts. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/
2016/12/05/503581220/fake-or-real-how-to-self-check-the-news-and-get-the-facts
