Media Literacy: Needed for Adults
I have been searching for some time for books or articles on digital or media literacy since we have so many people falling into the QAnon rabbit hole. A lot of us need to know how to determine the validity of what we are reading, seeing or hearing. I’ve searched over the years, but have had no luck. If I did see anything related to education on media literacy, the material was usually stated as classes for children in school.
But what about adults? The QAnon phenomena is exhibit A on the need for vast education on how to ascertain truthful sites. A couple of articles have stated that boomers were the ones most susceptible to falling prey to conspiracy thinking or extremism. I want to know how to protect myself and others.
The only thing I have been able to find, and that was just recently, was this Mashable article that laid out some precepts to use when searching for valid information.
In the interest of preserving in a succinct manner what the article lays out so that in the future I can refer to it, I will present a short version of the article. This is just a summary version; for more and better details, it would be best to read the article. The article includes links to more articles that may be useful.
This is meant to be a quickie post because I’m going to spend some time reading on the analysis of the impeachment trial. I won’t make any comments on it – at least, I don’t think so – but I do want to understand what happened on January 6th and understand all sides thinking of what transpired on that day.
9 Media Literacy Tips
3 WIKIPEDIA IS ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD – I suspected, hoped it was pretty good because I do use Wikipedia as a first go-to source to get an initial influx of information. So it’s good to know that I can rely upon this site for the time being.
5 MEDIA IS CRAPSHOOT – This one is rather harsh and I don’t totally subscribe to it because if you did, where would you get your news? Or search for information? I mean, that is the problem the conservatives face: they think all media is fake and therefore turn to Fox News (actually, maybe not even them anymore since the election), AON, and Newsmax. There is a danger is applying such a broad stroke over all media. So I go to the grand dames of the news sources – those that have been around for a while and thus are more likely to apply journalistic standards: CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, New York Times, Washington Post.
9 LOOK FOR THE SIMPLEST ANSWER – You know how the QAnon theories get rather convoluted to explain a situation? Or how Sidney Powel claims Hugo Chavez had a role in the election somehow, even though he’s been dead for around 7 years? Well, that’s what we’re trying to avoid. Generally the truth is a lot simpler.
1 NEVER TRUST A SINGLE SOURCE – This is definitely one I already use. I always search for multiple sources to see what facts the articles or books or videos converge upon.
4 YOUTUBE IS TRASH – I use YouTube only for education on web design or design in general or Excel or for short entertainment. I do look at news but choose only the ones that I think could be the more reliable sources: MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS. Unfortunately Fox can be in that selected group due to the full on Trump support over the last four or five years. Their information has become highly suspect. If I did listen to Fox News, it would be Chris Wallace or Shepard Smith when he was still employed by them.
7 LOOK FOR PERFECT SPELLING AND GRAMMAR – This one is basically saying: Look for professionalism. If an article contains lots of spelling or grammatical errors, then it’s likely the author is not steeped in professional code of journalism and may not be seeking accuracy in facts.
2 BE SKEPTICAL OF GOOGLE RESULTS – As a matter of fact, I typically use Google for only a few things: math, programming and Excel how-to questions, and definitions. Or I might use it to find a specific article that I have already read before and noted down for later reference.
6 TRIANGULATE – This is what I do when I’m reading or watching the grand dame news sources. Yes, it takes a lot of time but I generally start out perusing the headlines and then delve more deeply into certain articles to get a fuller picture (and to make sure the headline was not duplicitous). I can conceive of no other way if I want to be more fully informed – I just compare the various news.
8 DOES AUTHOR GIVES OPPOSING ‘TO BE SURE’ ARGUMENTS? – I believe this ‘to be sure’ quote is meant to convey the idea that the author covers all possible viewpoints in his article or video. You want to make sure that you hear or read about other possibilities and not just one side.
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