https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-05-05-are-we-doomed-to-a-culture-where-fake-news-wins-not-if-schools-can-help-it
this infographic from the European Association for Viewers Interests which took me on a tour of ten types of misleading news—propaganda, clickbait, sponsored content, satire and hoax, error, partisan, conspiracy theory, pseudoscience, misinformation and bogus information.
- recognize our own biases
- “nonsense detectors
- we examine and analyze the authority of the original source
- we should triangulate the information
New method detects deepfake videos with up to 99% accuracy
Two-pronged technique detects manipulated facial expressions and identity swaps
https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2022/05/03/new-method-detects-deepfake-videos-99-accuracy
Critical news literacy session for social policy analysis course
Katie Querna, Thursday, 11AM, Stewart Hall
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/21/dumb-and-lazy-the-flawed-films-of-ukrainian-attacks-made-by-russias-fake-factory
https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2022-02-24/the-war-in-ukraine-via-tiktok-how-ordinary-citizens-are-recording-russian-troops.html
+++ please cover this information at home and bring your ideas and questions to class +++++
Most students can’t tell fake news from real news, study shows
Read more: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/03/28/fake-news-3/
Module 1 (video to introduce students to the readings and expected tasks)
- Fake News / Misinformation / Disinformation
- Definitions
- Fake news, alternative facts
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=fake+news
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=alternative+facts
- Misinformation vs disinformation
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2018/02/18/fake-news-disinformation-propaganda/
- Propaganda
- Conspiracy theories
- Bots, trolls
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/11/22/bots-trolls-and-fake-news/
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2020/04/30/fake-social-media-accounts-and-politicians/
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2020/01/20/bots-and-disinformation/
- Clickbait
Filter bubbles, echo chambers
(8 min) video explains filter bubbles
https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter
+++++ thank you for covering this information at home. Pls don’t forget to bring your q/s and ideas to class +++++
Why we are here today?
We need to look deeper in the current 21stcentury state of information and disinformation and determine how such awareness can help policy analysis.
How do we make up our mind about news and information; where from we get our info; who do we believe, who do we mistrust.
What do you understand under the following three items and their place in our efforts to analyze policies?
“critical thinking,” https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2014/05/11/the-5-step-model-to-teach-students-critical-thinking-skills/
“media literacy,” “Media Literacy now considers digital citizenship as part of media literacy — not the other way around”
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2020/01/07/k12-media-literacy/
“critical [news] literacy”
https://youtu.be/i2WyIkK9IOg
how do these three items assist a better analysis of policies?
Class assignment:
Share a topic which is very much to your heart.
Please feel welcome to use the following resources and/or contribute with your own resources to determine the sources and potential bias
library spot fake news
fake news resources
fake news and video
Feel free also to use the following guidelines when establishing the veracity of information:
Here is a short (4 min) video introducing you to the well-known basics for evaluation of academic literature:
https://youtu.be/qUd_gf2ypk4
- ACCURACY
- Does the author cite reliable sources?
- How does the information compare with that in other works on the topic?
- Can you determine if the information has gone through peer-review?
- Are there factual, spelling, typographical, or grammatical errors?
- AUDIENCE
- Who do you think the authors are trying to reach?
- Is the language, vocabulary, style and tone appropriate for intended audience?
- What are the audience demographics? (age, educational level, etc.)
- Are the authors targeting a particular group or segment of society?
- AUTHORITY
- Who wrote the information found in the article or on the site?
- What are the author’s credentials/qualifications for this particular topic?
- Is the author affiliated with a particular organization or institution?
- What does that affiliation suggest about the author?
- CURRENCY
- Is the content current?
- Does the date of the information directly affect the accuracy or usefulness of the information?
- OBJECTIVITY/BIAS
- What is the author’s or website’s point of view?
- Is the point of view subtle or explicit?
- Is the information presented as fact or opinion?
- If opinion, is the opinion supported by credible data or informed argument?
- Is the information one-sided?
- Are alternate views represented?
- Does the point of view affect how you view the information?
- PURPOSE
- What is the author’s purpose or objective, to explain, provide new information or news, entertain, persuade or sell?
- Does the purpose affect how you view the information presented?
In 2021, however, all suggestions above may not be sufficient to distinguish a reliable source of information, even if the article made it through the peer-reviewed process. In time, you should learn to evaluate the research methods of the authors and decide if they are reliable. Same applies for the research findings and conclusions.
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Aditional topics and ideas for exploring at home:
civil disobedience
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2014/09/30/disruptive-technologies-from-swarming-to-mesh-networking/
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2019/08/30/tik-tok-students-and-teachers/
https://news.softpedia.com/news/Venezuela-Blocks-Walkie-Talkie-App-Zello-Amid-Protests-428583.shtml
http://www.businessinsider.com/yo-updates-on-israel-missile-attacks-2014-7
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/11/14/internet-freedom/
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/08/31/police-to-block-social-media/
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/04/04/technology-and-activism/
Death threats, ghost researchers and sock puppets: Inside the weird, wild world of dodgy academic research
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-31/on-the-trail-of-dodgy-academic-research/100788052
More than 46 of Shadi Riahi’s publications with Dr Nazari have now been retracted for plagiarism, duplication of data and forged authorship.
“People try and fake everything,” said Ivan Oransky, who has spent years researching scientific misconduct on his blog Retraction Watch.
investigative journalist Brian Deer, who discovered Dr Wakefield had multiple undisclosed conflicts of interest and that the study of just 12 children had been rigged.
But the damage had already been done.
Vaccination rates in the United Kingdom hit a low of 80 per cent in the early 2000s, leaving children unprotected from serious diseases. The repercussions are still being felt today, with Dr Wakefield being hailed as a hero by vaccine sceptics.
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more on peer reviewed fake papers in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=china+peer+review
See both sides of important issues— in 5 minutes a day.
https://www.theflipside.io/
Sweden launches ‘Psychological Defence Agency’ to counter propaganda from Russia, China and Iran
The new agency is tasked with countering disinformation and boosting the population’s resilience in the face of possible influence operation
https://www.mpf.se/en/
The agency’s main mission is the coordination and development of agencies’ and other actors’ activities within Sweden’s psychological defence.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3383c0a2-6d94-11ec-a1b8-3009dadbed4f
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2022/01/05/sweden-launches-psychological-defense-agency-to-counter-disinformation/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/01/04/sweden-launches-psychological-defence-agency-counter-complex/
When is fact-checking more rhetoric than fact
https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/chronicle-review/2021-07-29
“Twitter’s enforced brevity privileges the factoid,” for instance, and outlets like Vox have “built a brand around a house style that blends earnest righteousness and complacent, self-satisfied wonkery.” (https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-rise-of-the-pedantic-professor/)
“fact-grubbing” rhetoric, not fact-checking; their purpose was to persuade, not to explain, and at their worst they shaded into propaganda.
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more on fake news in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=fake+news
https://youtu.be/t5UPnuSTRjA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnotology
<https://youtu.be/t5UPnuSTRjA?t=2384> in 2000, it was genomics, in 2010, it was nanotechnology and in 2020 is AI
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more on fake news in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=%23fakenews