Media Literacy

Consequences of Misinformation

Misinformation can cause panic and uncertainty, as well as create distrust in the media.

Distrust in mainstream media leads people to seek out alternative, less-than-credible sources, which leads to belief in conspiracy theories, causing them to flourish and become mainstream beliefs.

Is it Misinformation or Fake News?

The terms misinformation and fake news have become catch-alls to refer to any content or information that someone doesn’t like or doesn’t agree with. Clare Wardle, co-founder and first director of First Draft, published a document in 2019 called First Draft’s Essential Guide to Understanding Information Disorder, where they discuss the term fake news:

“The term ‘fake news’ doesn’t begin to cover all of this. Most of this content isn’t even fake; it’s often genuine, used out of context … And most of this can’t be described as ‘news’. It’s good old-fashioned rumours, it’s memes, it’s manipulated videos...” 

In Wardle’s document, she classifies the whole subject as “Information Disorder.”

"Information Disorder"

Wardle identified three categories of  information disorder: dis-information, misinformation, and mal-information.

Disinformation:

• Refers to content that’s purposefully fabricated, sometimes to cause fear or meant to be destructive.
• Something that’s meant as satire or parody. For example, an article from The Onion may turn into disinformation when someone believe the content is real and shares it as such.
• Disinformation also appears in videos. Videos that are completely fabricated for the purpose of causing harm are called deep fakes and they can be extremely hard to detect. Real videos that are purposely altered in order to cause harm are called shallow fakes.

Misinformation:

• Refers to content that’s purposely false, perhaps something that starts as an internet rumor or prank, but then shared by those who don’t know that it’s false.
• These internet rumors and pranks often take hold quickly on social media. Snopes.com calls these posts “viral scarelore,” or “fictional tales intended to frighten audiences, often prompting them to share without questioning the story."

Mal-information:

• Is true information that’s spread in order to harm, mislead, manipulate, or spread fear or panic. Phishing, doxing, and swatting are three examples of mal-information.
  • Phishing: someone presents themselves as from a reputable agency to convince people to give out personal information.
  • Doxing:  someone’s private identifying information is purposely released, like the name of their workplace, in order to harass them.
  • Swatting: The act of making a prank call to 911 for the sole purpose of sending a large number of armed emergency responders to a specific address.

Developing Our Media Literacy Skills

Media literacy: "Proficiency in the evaluation, analysis, and understanding of mass media; esp. the ability to analyze critically any story or event presented in the media and to determine its accuracy or credibility." 

Source: “Media Literacy, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/5783886846.

Rather than only skimming headlines and social media content, actively engage with the information and ask questions about it. This will help us to combat information disorder and improve our media literacy skills.

Here are some strategies to help you develop you media literacy skills.