News Literacy for Virtual Protesters
Overview
Provides news literacy tips for virtual activists.
News Literacy for Virtual Protesters
Accessibility
NEWS LITERACY FOR VIRTUAL PROTESTORS
A Student Guide for Activism in Virtual Spaces
News Literacy:
- The internet and social media make it easy to cherry pick information that supports our preexisting beliefs, reinforcing them rather that challenging them.
- Whether it is a video, an article, or meme- consider where and how the information was gathered to support a specific bias.
Bias Check:
- We all have bias. The point is to consider how our bias is affecting our words and actions towards others. The information we share is powerful.
- Resources such as factcheck.org, Snopes, and Media Bias Fact Check are useful in determining bias before we share or form opinions.
- Conformation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that confirms or supports one’s personal beliefs or values. Diversify your sources to combat bias.
Close Read:
- Check for hashtags linked to news organizations, companies, etc. Read comments, search for new perspectives on a particular event, photo, or article. Do other credible sources confirm the original source?
- Look for triggering, sensationalist language such as “riot,” “overrun,” “armed,” “rebel” to determine the leanings of the source. Is their portrayl an accurate assessment of what really happened?
It Starts With You:
- Make it a practice to correct misinformation you’ve shared. Support the voices of citizens, academics, librarians, journalists, photographers, creators, etc. of diversity and color.
- Be mindful of what you share, what you voice, and how you share it.
- News literacy helps us not add to the noise, but amplify the voices of most importance to enact change.
"News Literacy for Virtual Protesters" by Shelby Pletcher is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 / A derivative from the original work by Elaine Levia.