FINDING THE TRUTH

Be skeptical consumers of information. That’s the message we need to get across to our students, especially in light of fake news reports across the web and social media, as well as from the mouths of our politicians. Even high-profile media outlets such as Facebook and the Washington Post recently have been accused of bamboozling the public with untruths.

​Who can we trust these days? Ourselves.

Fake news is not really a new thing. Students in media literacy classes, for instance, long have been advised to practice skepticism and do their own fact checking when it comes to the news. Social media and the presidential election certainly have stimulated the discussion, though. According to a December 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center, in fact, 23 percent of the public says they have shared a made-up news story – either knowingly or not. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed say fake news causes “a great deal of confusion” about basic facts and current events, and only four-in-ten feel “very confident” that they can recognize news that is fabricated.

Let’s fix that.

When appropriate during your classes, please encourage students to read and view news with skepticism. Ask them to fact check. Explain ways they can determine whether or not a source is credible and/or discuss how, sometimes, generally credible sources even can make mistakes. 

In addition to the three-minute TedEd video above, below are resources to help you with your lesson planning. Please share with us any resources you have located or created, or reach out to Barb or me for support.
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• “News or Not” (American Association of School Librarians)
• "Fake News vs. Real News: Determining the Reliability of Sources" (The New York Times)
• "Many Americans Believe Fake News Is Sowing Confusion" (Pew Research Center)
• "How to Teach Your Students About Fake News" (PBS)