Cri$cal Thinking in the Digital Environment: Discerning the Truth in - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Cri$cal Thinking in the Digital Environment: Discerning the Truth in News

Joyce Yukawa, PhD., Associate Professor Master of Library & Informa>on Science Program, St. Catherine University Hosted by St. Catherine University Alumnae Council January 16, 2018 Email: jyukawa@stkate.edu

Session Overview & Goals

• Importance of the liberal arts for civic par>cipa>on in the digital

age

• Ethical, social, and technological issues that affect online news

literacy

• Approaches and tools to cri>cally evaluate informa>on found
• n social media

Evalua$ng Informa$on: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning

“Overall, young people’s ability to reason about the informa>on on the Internet can be summed up in one word: bleak.”

• Less than ⅓ of the students fully explained how the poli>cal agenda of

MoveOn.org might influence the content of a tweet about a poll on gun control

• Only a few students noted that the tweet was based on a poll conducted by

a professional polling firm

• Over half of the students failed to click on the link to the press release

Stanford History Educa>on Group. (2017). Evalua>ng informa>on: The cornerstone of civic online reasoning execu>ve summary. Retrieved from h`ps://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/ Execu>ve%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf

Evalua$ng Informa$on: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning

“Never have we had so much informa>on at our finger>ps. Whether this bounty will make us smarter and be`er informed or more ignorant and narrow-minded will depend

• n our awareness of this problem and our educa>onal

response to it. At present, we worry that democracy is threatened by the ease with which disinforma$on about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish.”

Stanford History Educa>on Group. (2017). Evalua>ng informa>on: The cornerstone of civic online reasoning execu>ve summary. Retrieved from h`ps://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/ Execu>ve%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf

Liberal Arts & Civic Par$cipa$on

• Liberal arts goals extend to the digital environment
• Informa>on literacy, a St. Kate’s Liberal Arts Goal: “The ability to

gather, analyze, and cri>cally evaluate informa>on…. “

• Other liberal arts literacies needed to combat distor>ons of the

truth: digital literacy, poli>cal literacy, historical literacy, scien>fic literacy, transcultural literacy, among others

• Librarians support not only informa>on & digital literacies but

also lifelong learning

Challenges to Informa$on Consumers

Informa$on overload Exponen>al increase in informa>on, global user generated content, speed & ease of transmission, disparate pieces of informa>on, tension between speed vs. accuracy in filtering & verifying informa>on Confirma$on bias Overcoming our own biases in determining what is truthful Filter bubbles Algorithms filter what is presented to us based on

• ur preferences and past viewing behavior

The Digital News Environment

Post-truth environment “Alterna>ve facts,” fake news Viral posts on social media Communica>on speed, global reach, trolls, social bots Par$san gatekeepers Informa>on overload, poli>cal & social divisiveness, tradi>onal news gatekeepers

• ken bypassed

Weaponiza$on of social media ISIS recruitment, Russian interference in US elec>on Cri$cal role of verifica$on By people aided by technology

Types of Misleading News

False news Deliberate misinforma>on intended to mislead in order to gain poli>cally or financially Misleading news Some basis in fact but distorted or taken out of context Highly par$san news Serious manipula>on of facts to serve a poli>cal agenda Clickbait Sensa>onal headlines to get the reader to click on the link Sa$re Not intended to be real news Mistakes Honest mistakes made in repor>ng breaking news quickly; credible journalists correct their mistakes “Fake” news 2016 News from credible sources that is rejected and labeled fake

Truth in news is on a con$nuum

Source: Vanessa Otero’s news media con>nuum: h`ps://twi`er.com/vlotero/status/809098741647077376

Top Fake Poli$cal News Stories 2016

“Obama Signs Execu$ve Order Banning the Pledge of Allegiance”

“Obama Signs Execu$ve Order Banning the Pledge of Allegiance”

A closer look shows this is sa$re

URL: h`p://abcnews.com.co/obama-execu>ve-order- bans-pledge-of-allegiance-in-schools/

This site is now defunct; you can view archives in the Wayback Machine.

Who is the author? Trace back links in the story

“Obama Signs Execu$ve Order Banning the Pledge of Allegiance”

Top search results are from fact checkers

• Search other news sources to verify the story
• Search exact phrases from the ar>cle (in quotes)
• Do a reverse image search

Use search engines to:

“Obama Signs Execu$ve Order Banning the Pledge of Allegiance”

How and why did this fake story go viral?

• 2,177,000 Facebook shares, comments, and

reac>ons

• Par>san websites linked to and reposted the

story

• Confirma>on bias so strong that readers didn’t

read beyond the headline before sharing and commen>ng

• Trolls incited emo>onal responses
• Social bots increased the number of FB

responses by spreading the news in targeted networks and liking and commen>ng on posts related to the story

News Literacy Prac$ces

Evaluate the source

• Is the URL ques>onable?
• Is the author named and thus accountable?
• Is the author a journalist with professional responsibility to

verify informa>on?

• Is it a repost or retweet from someone who has no way of

knowing if the informa>on is reliable?

• Is it from a par>san in a dispute or an independent source?

Verify the Quality of Evidence

Read beyond the headline Does the headline match the informa>on in the ar>cle? Are other news outlets repor>ng it? Check the date Old stories & events can resurface as

• current. Check links & read carefully to

determine when it actually happened. Trace back to original sources Examine & evaluate linked sources Are quotes authen$c? Use search engines to do a verba>m search Are photos credible? Do a reverse image search

Consult Fact-Checkers and Experts

Fact-checkers

• Snopes
• FactCheck.org
• Poli>Fact
• Washington Post Fact Checker
• Snopes' Field Guide to Fake News

Sites and Hoax Purveyors

Experts

• Ask experts you know
• Research what experts say

News Literacy Educa$on

Center for News Literacy Stony Brook University, Making Sense of the News: News Literacy Lessons for Digital Ci>zens Poynter Ins>tute Interna>onal Fact-Checking Network, Free courses & webinars on fact-checking Journalist’s Resource Harvard Kennedy School, Shorenstein Center Fake news and the spread of misinforma>on News Literacy Project checkology Virtual Classroom (middle & high school)

Social Media Fights Fake News

Facebook Works with fact-checking organiza>ons to flag fake news Changed its algorithms for trending news Blocks ads that link to fake stories & websites that share fake news Revealed Russian elec>on trolls Instagram Cracking down on fake influencers who pay for likes from bots Google Changing its search algorithm aided by human editors & user repor>ng Twi^er Recently joined FB & Google in using “trust indicators” Wikitribune Jimmy Wales’ site to support collabora>on between professional & ci>zen journalists on breaking news

Facebook reveals Russian elec$on trolls to its users

Cons>ne, J. (2017, November 22). Facebook will show which Russian elec>on troll accounts you followed. Retrieved from h`ps://techcrunch.com/2017/11/22/russian-trolls/

News Media Fights with The Trust Project

The Trust Project Trust indicators Collaborators Facebook, Google & Twi^er

Interna>onal consor>um of news organiza>ons & the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics collabora>ng to create standards of transparency in journalism through the use of “trust indicators.” Adherence to journalis>c standards, iden>fying types of content, providing references for in-depth stories, showing if a story is locally sourced, sta>ng how the newsroom promotes diverse perspec>ves. The Economist, The Globe and Mail, the Independent Journal Review, Mic Media, Italy’s La Repubblica and La Stampa, and The Washington Post, BBC News As of mid-November 2017, plan to use the “trust indicators” to help users evaluate the reliability of the publica>ons and journalists behind ar>cles appearing in news feeds.

Summary: What we can do to keep truth in news

• Learn about algorithms that filter

what you see online

• Be careful about who you friend
• Watch out for social bots
• Read before sharing
• Fact-check
• Evaluate informa>on
• Be skep>cal
• Seek informa>on beyond your filter

bubble

• Use verifica>on and educa>on

tools

• Understand and speak out on the

need for news organiza>ons and social media sites to take responsibility for comba>ng fake news

Be informa+on literate and liberal arts literate

Master of Library & Informa$on Science Program

• 36-credit program
• Informa>on management, literacy & learning, social jus>ce,

research & analysis, use of technology, leadership

• Prepares students to work as librarians & informa>on

professionals in diverse setngs, not only public, school, academic & corporate libraries, but also with nonprofits, digital collec>ons, museums & archives, social media sites …

• Accredited by the American Library Associa>on

References

Bessi, A., & Ferrara, A. (2016). Social bots distort the 2016 U.S. Presiden>al elec>on online discussion. First Monday, 21(11). Retrieved from h`p://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/ar>cle/view/7090/5653 Braucher, D. (2016, December 28). Fake news: Why we fall for it. Retrieved from h`ps://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/contemporary-psychoanalysis-in-ac>on/201612/fake-news-why-we-fall-it Brooking, E. T., & Singer, P. W. (2016. November). War goes viral: How social media is being weaponized across the world. The

• AtlanIc. Retrieved from h`ps://www.theatlan>c.com/magazine/archive/2016/11/war-goes-viral/501125/

Burkhardt, J. (2017). Comba>ng fake news in the digital age. Library Technology Reports, Nov/Dec. 2017. Calfas, J. (2017, April 25). Google is changing its search algorithm to combat fake news. Retrieved from h`p://fortune.com/2017/04/25/google-search-algorithm-fake-news/ Facebook now flags and down-ranks fake news with help from outside fact checkers. (2016, December 15). Retrieved from h`ps://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/facebook-now-flags-and-down-ranks-fake-news-with-help-from-outside-fact-checkers/ Fiegerman, S. (2017, November 16). Facebook, Google, Twi`er to fight fake news with 'trust indicators’. Retrieved from h`p://money.cnn.com/2017/11/16/technology/tech-trust-indicators/index.html Kiely, E., & Robertson, L. (2016, November 18). How to spot fake news. Retrieved from h`p://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/ Lintao, C. (2017, July 3). Instagram is cracking down on fake influencers. Retrieved from h`ps://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/07/04/instagram-is-cracking-down-on-fake-influencers/#.tnw_Da4cuvoJ

Maheshwari, S. (2016, November 11). How fake news goes viral: A case study. Retrieved from h`ps://www.ny>mes.com/2016/11/20/business/media/how-fake-news-spreads.html Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. (2017). The Trust Project. Retrieved from h`ps://thetrustproject.org Oremus, W. (2016, December 6). Stop calling everything “fake news.” Retrieved from h`p://www.slate.com/ar>cles/technology/technology/2016/12/stop_calling_everything_fake_news.html Palma, B. (2017, August 28). Facebook introduces measure to block adver>sements from sites that share fake news. Retrieved from h`p://www.snopes.com/2017/08/28/faceboo-to-block-ads-fake-news/ Pariser, E. (2011). The filter bubble. New York: Penguin Press. Popken, B. (2017, November 30). Russian trolls pushed graphic, racist tweets to American voters. Retrieved from h`ps://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/russian-trolls-pushed-graphic-racist-tweets-american-voters-n823001 Silverman, C. (2016, December 16). These 6 easy steps will help you spot fake news every >me. Retrieved from h`ps://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/detect-fake-news-like-a-pro?utm_term=.ecy2KOabQ#.gsZGnAWB3 Silverman, C., & Singer-Vine, J. (2016, December 16). The true story behind the biggest fake news hit of the elec>on. Retrieved from h`ps://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/the-strangest-fake-news-empire?utm_term=.yx2kOg49n#.xeGop2vZ8 Stanford History Educa>on Group. (2017). Evalua>ng informa>on: The cornerstone of civic online reasoning execu>ve summary. Retrieved from h`ps://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Execu>ve%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf Summers, N. (2017, April 24). Wikipedia co-founder launches Wikitribune to fight fake news. Retrieved from h`ps://www.engadget.com/2017/04/25/wikitribune-fake-news-jimmy-wales/ Willingham, A. J. (2016, November 18). Here's how to outsmart fake news in your Facebook feed. Retrieved from h`p://edi>on.cnn.com/2016/11/18/tech/how-to-spot-fake-misleading-news-trnd/

Thank you!

Joyce Yukawa, PhD. Associate Professor Master of Library & Informa>on Science Program Email: jyukawa@stkate.edu