Media Literacy and Navigating Misinformation

Understanding Media Literacy
and Managing Misinformation

Damian Radcliffe
Carolyn S. Chambers Professor of Journalism
University of Oregon
July 2023
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Today’s session
1. Definitions
2. Spotlight on misinformation
3. Tips and Tools
4. Alumni experiences
5. Q&A

Virtual Introductions
Where you’re Where you’re
Your name
based now heading to!

And who are you?
About Me
• British – in USA since 2015
• Married (Habiba)
• 3 x Children (Nyla, Yara and Rafi)

• 1 cat (Oreo)
• Love(d) to travel (57 countries)
• BA and MA Oxford University

Background + timeline
1995 2022
1995 – 1999: The Local Radio Company

1999 – 2003: BBC
2003 – 2008: CSV Media (NGO)
2008 – 2012: Ofcom (UK Office of Communications)
2012 - 2014: ictQATAR (Ministry of Information and Communication Technology)
2012 + Freelance journalist + trainer
2015+ University of Oregon
Many hats
Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism
University of Oregon
Fellow, Tow Center for Digital Journalism

Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
Honorary Research Fellow

Cardiff University, School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies
Fellow
Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)

Visiting Fellow
Oxford University

Output since moving to the USA (to March 2023)
Research
• 14 published reports as sole author
• 17 reports/books as co-author
• 10 book chapters, 4 journal articles, 3 conference papers
• 975+ Google Scholar citations

Public speaking
• 50 presentations given + 15 events / sessions chaired
• 29 guest lectures on campus, 19 public / guest lectures
• 19 industry training programs delivered worldwide
• 50 Events/multi-day campus visits organized
Media work
• 342 popular press articles and 81 podcasts published (54 as host/presenter)
• 659 media mentions/links to work/interviews
Those hats…
• Journalist
• Researcher
• Educator and Trainer
Lens for this session…

Yes, we’re cousins!

1. Definitions

“Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze,
evaluate and create media in a variety of forms.”
1992 Aspen Media Literacy Leadership Institute

“Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education.
It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate,
create and participate with messages in a variety of forms
— from print to video to the Internet.
Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of

media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and
self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.”
Center for Media Literacy
Ofcom (UK Comms Regulator)
Media literacy enables people to have the skills, knowledge and
understanding to make full use of the opportunities presented by both
traditional and new communications services.
Media literacy also helps people to manage content and

communications, and protect themselves and their families from the
potential risks associated with using these services.

Tl;DR > Multiple definitions, but typically include:
- Access – media plurality (e.g., FB = internet), affordability, freedom of information

- Understanding - critical thinking + how media works
- Ability to manage risks and potential harms

2. Spotlight on misinformation

Global Issue

Multiple
topics

How confident are you?
Post in the chat:
1-3 = Not very confident
4-6 = Somewhat confident
7-9 = Very confident
10 = I should be giving this talk Damian!

What do we mean by
misinformation?

How it works

Motive matters

5 x Examples
1. False context
Footage shown of President
Zelensky “out there fighting for
his country,” was filmed in 2021.
(Screenshot via NewsGuard)

Game footage also used to depict
war in Ukraine… and Syria…

2. Poor journalism

Time, Trump + MLK

3. Fake websites

4. Conspiracy theories

5. Humor – Parody - Satire
Covered by:
- Quartz
- Elite Daily
- Cosmopolitan
- BuzzFeed
- Digg
- MTV
- And more!

Denial covered by Quartz, Washington Post +
others.
What examples have you seen?

18 Century Europe
th
• Publishers of fake news fined

and banned in the Netherlands.
• Gerard Lodewijk van der Macht, banned four times by Dutch

authorities. Each time he moved and restarted his press.

1782: Boston, USA
Benjamin Franklin spread fake news to intensify the
American revolution.

1917: Yorkshire, UK

Why now? 9 key factors
1. Fake news looks a lot like real news
2. Tech doesn’t discern fact from fiction
3. Algorithms show us more of what
we like, not what we need to know
4. Tech has pulled money away
from sources of real reporting
= Fewer Journalists
+ Trust in Journalism
has declined globally

5. Society + media
= more partisan
6. Harder
than ever to
discern fact
from fiction

7. Different forms +
different platforms

Memes

Generative
AI

Claims can be more powerful – and memorable
when there’s an image associated with it.

Fake Review sites / Reviews

8. Bots + weaponization of the web
How a new breed of dictators holds power by
manipulating information and faking democracy
“In place of overt, mass repression, rulers such as

Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Viktor
Orbán control their citizens by distorting
information and simulating democratic
procedures. Like spin doctors in democracies, they
spin the news to engineer support.”

Media Capture
“In many parts of the world, special interests, from oligarchs and other elites to
governments, are influencing and controlling the media for personal gain.
When media is captured in this way, it is no longer independent.
Captured media loses the ability to reflect the broad interests of the community
and to hold power to account – the classic role of the fourth estate. Most often,
media is captured by governments, plutocrats or corporations or, in many cases,
a mixture of all three.”
Internews, 2017
9. Reduced media freedom

Q: How does your country rank?

https://rsf.org/en/index
How do we fix this?
Q: Who should be
responsible for
addressing this?

3. Tips and Tools
- 10 recommendations

1. Consume widely…
+ develop a list of trust sources

2. Understand your source

3. Double check everything

4. Be skeptical

5. Learn how to reverse image search

6. Slow Down

Misinformation can have major consequences
7. Be mindful as stories break

And where…

8. Check your emotions

9. Find the local
equivalent of
Snopes, PolitiFact
etc.

Also being
weaponized

10. Don’t automatically
trust authority figures



Remember!
“False information spreads just

like accurate information.”
Farida Vis, Sheffield University research fellow

Thanks for listening
Email: damianr@uoregon.edu
Twitter: @damianradcliffe
Web: www.damianradcliffe.com

Media Literacy and Navigating Misinformation

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Media Literacy and Navigating Misinformation

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Understanding Media Literacy

and Managing Misinformation

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

3. Tips and Tools

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

• 3 x Children (Nyla, Yara and Rafi)

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

1995 – 1999: The Local Radio Company

Fellow, Tow Center for Digital Journalism

Honorary Research Fellow

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Lens for this session…

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of

Media literacy also helps people to manage content and

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

- Access – media plurality (e.g., FB = internet), affordability, freedom of information

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

1-3 = Not very confident

4-6 = Somewhat confident

7-9 = Very confident

10 = I should be giving this talk Damian!

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

(Screenshot via NewsGuard)

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

• Publishers of fake news fined

• Gerard Lodewijk van der Macht, banned four times by Dutch

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

“In place of overt, mass repression, rulers such as

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

When media is captured in this way, it is no longer independent.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State