Chapter 12. Media, Communication and Information Literacy

Communication involves a sender, message, medium, receiver and context, and can be verbal or non-verbal, interpersonal or mass [6].

The role of media. News, entertainment and social media shape public knowledge and opinion. Media can inform, mobilize and connect people, but can also spread rumour, misinformation (false information shared without intent to deceive) and disinformation (false information spread deliberately).

Information literacy. Skills include finding, evaluating, using and creating information responsibly [34].

Evaluating online information. Research on how expert fact-checkers work suggests lateral reading: leave a page quickly to check who is behind it, what other reliable sources say about the claim and its source, rather than judging only by the look of the site [34]. Also check:

Author and organization: who are they and what are their interests?

Evidence: are claims supported and traceable to original sources?

Date: is it current?

Corroboration: do other independent, reliable sources agree?

Emotion: strongly emotional or “shocking” content deserves extra checking.

Digital citizenship. Respect privacy, copyright and others’ dignity; consider the consequences of what you share; protect personal data.

Artificial intelligence. AI systems can produce persuasive but inaccurate text and images. Verify claims and consider issues of bias, privacy, transparency and accountability in the use of AI [35].

Review: What is lateral reading? (Answer: leaving a source to check what other reliable sources say about it and its claims.)