True Media Literacy: 3 Strategies for Dealing With Social Media

Examples of news media include local new stations that provide reports as they happen, newscasts, radio news, and video or streaming news. There are four categories of news media: traditional print media (news magazines), broadcast media (news stations and television stations), wire services (wire services include internet services like YouTube, Al Jazeera, and Yahoo! ), and video or streaming news. In this article, we will focus on news channels and news coverage.

Fake news stories are usually spread by either paid online advertisements or by “viral” marketing techniques. They can be created through misleading or false information spread through social media websites, by creating buzzworthy but exaggerated claims through blogs and by using simple news release methods, such as a news story that is quickly spread via email. Some fake news stories have the added effect of causing outrage and generating mass media coverage. Such examples include the recent outbreak of swine flu in China and its purported link to various health problems in the US. Other fake news stories include that the Malaysian airlines flight was diverted due to smoke in the cabin, the death of Princess Diana, the missing Malaysian flight, the conviction of a Germanwings flight crew in relation to hiding drugs in the cabin, and many others.

Media literacy refers to a set of attitudes and actions that support the spread of false information, particularly on the media. This includes viewing stories on television, listening to the radio, following news updates on the internet, and generally participating in the creation of false information or “fake news”. Media literacy is evident in the low incidence of the term “fake it” in the general vocabulary.

To develop true media literacy, it is important to regularly check sources and ensure that the information you are receiving is correct. Additionally, conducting research and having multiple sources available helps verify information. For example, if a reporter tells you that 100 million people have lost their lives in the last year’s hurricane, but you research that claim, you find out that a far lower figure of 45 million people died. Similarly, if you see a story on the news about a natural disaster in the region in which you live, but another source tells you that there has been no natural disaster in that area in recent history, make sure to check both sources to verify the information.

The second step towards developing true media literacy is avoiding fake news altogether. There is a vast amount of fake content on social media sites, including misleading or completely false information. For example, if a social media story claims that a candidate for a local office was arrested for child pornography, but a different story says that the candidate was arrested for drug possession, you will often find that the fake news story is more believable. Similarly, if your local news station reports that a person was arrested for DUI, but another story say that the person was arrested for driving under the influence, you may assume that the latter story is true.

As well as avoiding fake news stories and false information, another key component of true media literacy involves checking your sources. After all, if one story is reporting false information, it doesn’t matter how many other sources the story is quoting from, if the story is false. In this way, newsrooms avoid spreading false information through false information. Another important aspect of this social media strategy is correcting misinformation. Many newsrooms are removing inaccurate stories from their websites and removing their websites from the social media sites.