November 29, 2016

FAKE NEWS versus The Truth: how to spot the difference

One of the biggest discussions right now is about the use of fake news in social media sites, especially on Twitter and Facebook, and how quickly it can be shared.

Here are just a few articles concerning this trend:

• Students have 'Dismaying' Inability to Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds - NPR
• Facebook, Fake News and the Meaning of Truth - BBC
• We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs. Here's What We Learned - NPR

School Librarians are Information Teachers and are here to help. We are at the forefront of teaching Information Literacy.  These are must-have skills both students and adults should process such as the ability to:

• Consider the source. (Authority) 
• Read beyond the headline. (Authority)
• Check the author. (Authority) 
• What's the support? (Accuracy & Reliability) 
• Check the date. (Relevance and Reliability) 
• Is this some kind of joke? (New in the post-truth world!) 
• Check your biases. (Questioning) 
• Consult the Experts. (Questioning)

The above information was shared in a wonderful blog post by Judi Moreillon: https://goo.gl/OLqpC