propaganda | InforMedia Services (IMS)

Why we are here today?
We need to look deeper in the current 21^stcentury 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
1. Does the author cite reliable sources?
2. How does the information compare with that in other works on the topic?
3. Can you determine if the information has gone through peer-review?
4. Are there factual, spelling, typographical, or grammatical errors?
AUDIENCE
1. Who do you think the authors are trying to reach?
2. Is the language, vocabulary, style and tone appropriate for intended audience?
3. What are the audience demographics? (age, educational level, etc.)
4. Are the authors targeting a particular group or segment of society?
AUTHORITY
1. Who wrote the information found in the article or on the site?
2. What are the author’s credentials/qualifications for this particular topic?
3. Is the author affiliated with a particular organization or institution?
4. What does that affiliation suggest about the author?
CURRENCY
1. Is the content current?
2. Does the date of the information directly affect the accuracy or usefulness of the information?
OBJECTIVITY/BIAS
1. What is the author’s or website’s point of view?
2. Is the point of view subtle or explicit?
3. Is the information presented as fact or opinion?
4. If opinion, is the opinion supported by credible data or informed argument?
5. Is the information one-sided?
6. Are alternate views represented?
7. Does the point of view affect how you view the information?
PURPOSE
1. What is the author’s purpose or objective, to explain, provide new information or news, entertain, persuade or sell?
2. 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.

++++++++++++++++++++
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/

03
Jan
2021

China Trolls

categories: information literacy, information technology, media literacy, social media

Leaked Documents Show How China’s Army of Paid Internet Trolls Helped Censor the Coronavirus from r/worldnews

https://www.propublica.org/article/leaked-documents-show-how-chinas-army-of-paid-internet-trolls-helped-censor-the-coronavirus

At a time when digital media is deepening social divides in Western democracies, China is manipulating online discourse to enforce the Communist Party’s consensus. To stage-manage what appeared on the Chinese internet early this year, the authorities issued strict commands on the content and tone of news coverage, directed paid trolls to inundate social media with party-line blather and deployed security forces to muzzle unsanctioned voices.

+++++++++++++++++
more on trolls in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=trolls

17
May
2019

teaching visual literacy

categories: media literacy

Teaching Visual Literacy: Images and Propaganda

BY FRANK BAKER · 05/15/2019

Teaching Visual Literacy: Images and Propaganda

Ask your students some of these questions:

What is propaganda?
Can the same photograph be used as propaganda and as ‘pure’ reporting? (Can they cite other examples?)
What was the mission of the FSA photographers? Did they adhere to the mission or stray from it?
Did the photographers themselves believe they were on a “propaganda” mission or something else?
Did President Roosevelt see the images as helping get political support for “The New Deal”?
Did the FSA photographs result in “social change”? (What was Lange’s conclusion?)
In what ways is photography being used today to document people and conditions we might not be aware of? Locate examples.

Image literacy is important

Today’s students are part of an increasingly visual world. Images in textbooks, in the news, and elsewhere are perfect teachable texts that can be engaging and thought-provoking for tweens and teens. They also have potential as part of lessons that emphasize social-emotional learning and empathy.

When teachers take the time to introduce students to historical images, and the photographers who captured them, we are once again satisfying many of the goals of American education.

++++++++++++
more on visual literacy in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=visual+literacy

18
Feb
2018

fake news disinformation propaganda

categories: digital citizenship, digital identity, Digital literacy, information technology

the secret of freedom

Posted 2016-12-26; Harold Jarche

the secret of freedom

if we are in a post-truth moment then we need to understand the tools we have at hand to deal with falsehoods.

Tom Dickinson describes four different types of distributed ‘fake news’.

‘Fake news’ is lazy language. Be specific. Do you mean:
A) Propaganda
B) Disinformation
C) Conspiracy theory
D) Clickbait

The RAND Corporation, a US think-tank with strong ties to the military industrial complex, recently looked at the influence of the Russian Propaganda Model and how best to deal with it.

Three factors have been shown to increase the (limited) effectiveness of retractions and refutations: (1) warnings at the time of initial exposure to misinformation, (2) repetition of the retraction or refutation, and (3) corrections that provide an alternative story to help fill the resulting gap in understanding when false ‘facts’ are removed.

Critical thinking requires us to constantly question assumptions, especially our own. To develop these skills, questioning must be encouraged. This runs counter to most schooling and training practices. When do students or employees get to question underlying assumptions of their institutions? If they cannot do this, how can we expect them to challenge various and pervasive types of ‘fake news’?

++++++++++++++
more on fake news in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=fake+news