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Digital literacy, fake news and education / Alfabetización digital, fake news y educación

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Introduction with free access https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcye20/31/2 The role of digital literacy in strengthening citizens’ resilience to misinformation and ‘fake news’ has been the subject of research projects and networking and academic and policy discourses in recent years, given prominence by an escalation of the perceived crisis following election and referendum results in the US and UK respectively. This special issue sets out to take forward critical dialogue in the field of media and digital literacy education by publishing rigorous research on the subject. The research disseminated in this collection speaks to the political and economic contexts for ‘fake news’, the complex issue of trust and the risks of educational solutionism; questions of definition and policy implementation; teaching about specific subgenres such as YouTube and clickbait; international comparisons of pedagogic approaches and challenges for teachers in this changing ecosystem.
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Cultura y Educación
Culture and Education
ISSN: 1135-6405 (Print) 1578-4118 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcye20
Digital literacy, fake news and education /
Alfabetización digital, fake news y educación
Julian McDougall, Maria-José Brites, Maria-João Couto & Catarina Lucas
To cite this article: Julian McDougall, Maria-José Brites, Maria-João Couto & Catarina Lucas
(2019) Digital literacy, fake news and education / Alfabetización digital, fake news y educación,
Cultura y Educación, 31:2, 203-212, DOI: 10.1080/11356405.2019.1603632
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/11356405.2019.1603632
Published online: 20 May 2019.
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Digital literacy, fake news and education / Alfabetización digital,
fake news y educación
Julian McDougall
a
, Maria-José Brites
b
, Maria-João Couto
c
, and Catarina Lucas
d
a
Bournemouth University;
b
Universidade Lusófona do Porto/CICANT;
c
Universidad de
Vigo;
d
Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto - ISPUP
Abstract: The role of digital literacy in strengthening citizensresilience to
misinformation and fake newshas been the subject of research projects and
networking and academic and policy discourses in recent years, given prominence
by an escalation of the perceived crisis following election and referendum results
in the US and UK respectively. This special issue sets out to take forward critical
dialogue in the field of media and digital literacy education by publishing rigorous
research on the subject. The research disseminated in this collection speaks to the
political and economic contexts for fake news, the complex issue of trust and the
risks of educational solutionism; questions of definition and policy implementa-
tion; teaching about specific subgenres such as YouTube and clickbait; interna-
tional comparisons of pedagogic approaches and challenges for teachers in this
changing ecosystem.
Keywords: digital literacy; media literacy; fake news; education; pedagogy
Resumen: El papel de la alfabetización digital para fortalecer la resiliencia de los
ciudadanos frente a la desinformación y las fake news ha sido objeto de
investigación, discursos políticos y académicos y proyectos colaborativos en los
últimos años, y ha cobrado mayor relevancia debido a la escalada de la crisis
percibida tras los resultados electorales y del referéndum en EUA y RU respecti-
vamente. Este número especial pretende avanzar en el diálogo crítico sobre la
educación en el ámbito de la alfabetización mediática y digital mediante la
publicación de investigaciones rigurosas en este campo. Las investigaciones
publicadas en esta colección abordan los contextos político y económico de las
fake news, la cuestión compleja de la confianza y los riesgos del solucionismo
educativo, así como cuestiones de definición y de ejecución política, la enseñanza
sobre subgéneros específicos tales como YouTube y clickbait, comparaciones
internacionales de ciertos enfoques pedagógicos y los desafíos a los que se
enfrentan los educadores ante este ecosistema cambiante.
Palabras clave: alfabetización digital; alfabetización mediática; fake news;
educación; pedagogía
English version: pp. 203207 / Versión en español: pp. 208211
References / Referencias: pp. 211212
Translated from English / Traducción del inglés: Mercè Rius
AuthorsAddress / Correspondencia con los autores: Julian McDougall, Centre for Excellence
in Media Practice, Bournemouth University, UK.
E-mail: jmcdougall@bournemouth.ac.uk
Cultura y Educación / Culture and Education, 2019
Vol. 31, No. 2, 203212, https://doi.org/10.1080/11356405.2019.1603632
© 2019 Fundacion Infancia y Aprendizaje
The COST IS1401 report on Digital Literacy and Education (Brites, 2017)
addressed, across Europe, a set of fundamental questions:
A revolution is going on at the very moment you read these words and you are
repeatedly participating in it every time you log in. As with every revolution, the
digital one started from a passion, a vision, an urgency to spread, and the promise
of qualitative changes to come. One such change was the recent declaration of the
United Nations (2016) on considering internet access a basic human right. How
spread is this right across Europe? Is it the case that the digital is fundamentally
changing literacy? What is the landscape of digital literacy and education interac-
tions across European countries? What challenges does digital literacy pose to
education in Europe? (Brites, 2017)
Since the report was published, the issue of fake newshas been high on the
agenda for media and digital literacy academics, teachers, journalists and
researchers. The need for education to offer a preventative antidote to the
dangers of fake news has been in the public discourse. Recently, the European
Commission (EC) published a report on effective media literacy education
practices to address disinformation) (McDougall, Zezulková, van Driel, &
Sternadel, 2018) and shared the findings in Brussels at a policy-facing event
on Strengthening Common European Values through Education. In the same
time frame, UNESCO produced a handbook for journalism education (Ireton &
Posetti, 2018) on the same theme and convened a panel at the end of the year at
the Reuters Institute at Oxford University.
We, the editors of this special issue, have been active members of the COST
IS1401 European Literacy Network (ELN), a European initiative to support
research in literacy across contexts and languages. Our participation in the ELN
and the elaboration of the COST report was a clear inspiration for the present
special issue. We aim to collect and publish empirical work from the field of
digital literacy and to frame this research in the context of resilience to fake
news. In this special issue we go even further than the ELN and publish research
with a broader scope, including different geographies and cultural and social
backgrounds. Digital literacy, in the context of media literacy, is one of the foci
of Culture and Education, a journal that often addresses issues related to educa-
tion research and pedagogical methodologies, all aspects that are at the core of
this special issue.
But what is fake news?
The ECs High Level Expert Group on the topic recently concluded that disin-
formationis a better term for the problem, and the UNESCO handbook cited
above has been published with a cross through Fake Newsin the title. So, we
accept its a problematic idea and thus use it under erasure(Derrida, 1976), and
this contested concept cannot be understood in abstraction from its political,
cultural and economic contexts.
204 J. McDougall et al.
The global economic crash, a decade on, has clearly caused seismic political
shifts, and the polarization of public discourse can be traced back to this,
according to Adam Tooze, who presents his account of the last 10 years as
both economic analysis and political horror story(Tooze, 2018).
Fake newshas, for a long time, had a number of subgenres’—from
clickbait to mal-information and it is nothing new (see Posetti and Matthews
timeline From Antony and Cleopatra to Cambridge Analytica,2018). What is
new, however, is the scale and speed of fake newsnow in the context of the
destabilization of the mainstream media this state of information disorder
(Wardle & Derekhshan, 2017) is a current phenomenon. Also new are the
powerful intersections, in this era of austerity-caused polarity, between disin-
formation and oppressive practices, racism, misogyny, the exploitation of the
vulnerable, the discursive power of partisanship. The convergence of oppressive
intent and information disorder leads us all to a state of confusion:
What is common to the Brexit campaign, the US election and the disturbing depths of
YouTube is that it is ultimately impossible to tell who is doing what, or what their
motives and intentions are. Its futile to attempt to discern between whats algorithmi-
cally generated nonsense or carefully crafted fake news for generating ad dollars; whats
paranoid fiction, state action, propaganda or Spam; whats deliberate misinformation or
well-meaning fact check. (Bridle, 2018, ch. 9, p. 51)
Perhaps in this point is where digital literacy is most needed, not necessarily to
distinguish truth from falsity, or to distinguish between the subcategories of fake
news or its motivations, but to read all digital media with the kinds of sceptical
resilience that are generated by critical literacy.
Of course, we must also accept that fake newsis something of an empty
signifier, to be loaded with whichever discourse it is evoked to serve. The
European Commission states, Print press organizations and broadcasters are in
the process of intensifying their efforts to enforce certain trust enhancing prac-
tices ensuring the highest levels of compliance with ethical and professional
standards to sustain a pluralistic and trustworthy news media ecosystem
(European Commission, 2018, p. 41). But Alan Rusbridger, exGuardian editor
in the UK, observes that journalism is facing an existential economic threat in
the form of a tumultuous recalibration of our place in the world. And on both
sides of an increasingly scratchy debate about media, politics, and democracy,
there is a hesitancy about whether there is any longer a common idea of what
journalism is and why it matters(Rusbridger, 2018, p. 4). On the other hand,
these mainstream policy and media industry perspectives are challenged force-
fully by the media lens:
The source of fake newsis not only the trollism, or the likes of Fox News, or
Donald Trump, but a journalism self-appointed with a false respectability,
aliberaljournalism that claims to challenge corporate state power but in reality
courts and protects it. (Edwards & Cromwell, 2018, p. xii)
Digital literacy, fake news and education / Alfabetización digital, fake news y educación 205
The articles we disseminate in this special issue address the educational response
to these complex cultural challenges in specific contexts, asking the two key
questions we posed in our call concerning the difference that digital makes to
literacy and, following on, the difference digital literacy makes to fake news.
The collection opens with an invited article by David Buckingham, an
adapted reproduction of his recent blog posts and keynote speeches on this
subject. The article offers an important, nuanced framing for the issue, situating
fake news within the broader context of the breakdown of trust in the public
sphere, long-standing practices of media education in addressing bias and repre-
sentation and the importance of digital literacy seeing the bigger picture.As
Buckingham has been such an important, critical agent in this debate so far, we
see the inclusion of this adapted article as a vital positioning for this contribution
to new knowledge on this topic.
Ana Pérez-Escoda, Rosa García-Ruiz and Ignacio Aguaded give us a wider
view on digital literacy approaches. They contemplate the necessity of seeing
digital literacy as an educational priority, placing its relevance at the policy level.
Taking into consideration previous research and initiatives, the authors propose
four dimensions to define digital literacy.
Besides these two articles, with a broader and conceptual view on the issues of
fake newsand digital literacy, other articles stress specific points of these two
dimensions. Alfonso Gutiérrez-Martín, Alba Torrego-González and Miguel
Vicente-Mariño validate the existence of an easy context for the spreading of
fake newson YouTube (along with other online places), potentiated by commer-
cial interests, clickbaitsand I likerandom actions. María-Carmen Ricoy, Cristina
Sánchez-Martínez and Tiberio Feliz-Murias worked on the issues of credibility and
falseness of online news. The authors point to problems of online credibility, but
also to positive aspects of the news coverage, contributing also to an optimistic
debate on questions of trust and the online news. Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez,
Paloma Contreras-Pulido and Amor Pérez-Rodríguez reflect on Media competen-
cies of university professors and students. Comparison of levels in Spain, Portugal,
Brazil and Venezuela, taking note of essential skills to act in a digital world in
a critical form. The authors demonstrated the need to develop transversal actions
for instructing both university professors and students in media competences to face
an ecosystem dominated by fake news and disinformation, as well as public policies
directed at improving these skills among citizens at large. Also working with an
university-level sample, Christian Tarchi worked on Identifying fake news through
trustworthiness judgments of documents. The author confirmed that trustworthi-
ness was a very important factor for the Italian students to read information on
vaccination, and argues for the need to take efforts in promoting studentsinvolve-
ment with the subject to enhance their interest. Paula Herrero-Diz, Jesús Conde-Jim
énez, Alejandro Tapia-Frade and David Varona-Aramburu also used a sample of
university students, from Spain, to study issues of credibility of Internet news. This
research pointed to a students difficulties in establishing truthfulness of news
sources. Finally, Julio-César Mateus, Wilson Hernández-Breña and Mònica
Figueras-Maz give another dimension to the special issue. Considering that it is
206 J. McDougall et al.
fundamental to work on the teachers competences to improve issues of media
literacy and citizenship with students, they worked on an instrument for making
diagnostics to orient teachers, professors and education policy-makers.
Looking forward to the future, this special issue points out some conceptual
forms of looking at the contexts of fake newsand digital literacy and also presents
very different types of research points of view and methodologies that can be
inspiration for future work in the field. Without the intention of being exhaustive,
we consider that there are still a considerable number of side issues that were not
covered by this special issue, but that can be of relevance for future research.
Considering these two axes, there is the need to think about contexts of childhood
and teenagers, intergenerational interaction, disadvantaged communities, journal-
istic commitments and the subject of data-driven knowledge, among others.
Digital literacy, fake news and education / Alfabetización digital, fake news y educación 207
Alfabetización digital, fake news y educación
El informe COST IS1401 sobre alfabetización digital y educación (Brites, 2017)
aborda una serie de temas fundamentales en toda Europa:
En el preciso momento en que usted lee estas líneas está teniendo lugar una revolución,
y cada vez que se conecta, está participando en ella. Como toda revolución, la digital
surgió de una pasión, una visión, una necesidad de divulgar y la promesa de cambios
cualitativos venideros. Uno de ellos lo expresa la reciente declaración de Naciones
Unidas (2016) que considera el acceso a internet un derecho humano. ¿Cómo se ha
difundido este derecho en Europa? ¿Es cierto que lo digital está cambiando de manera
fundamental la alfabetización? ¿Cuál es el estado actual de la interacción entre
alfabetización digital y educación en los países europeos? ¿Qué desafíos plantea la
alfabetización digital a la educación en Europa? (Brites, 2017)
Desde la publicación del informe, el tema de las noticias falsas (fake news) ocupa un
puesto preferente en los medios y entre académicos, periodistas e investigadores de
este campo de conocimiento. La necesidad de que la educación ofrezca un antídoto
que prevenga de los peligros que plantean las noticias falsas forma parte del debate
público. Hace muy poco, la Comisión Europea publicó un informe sobre prácticas
educativas efectivas en materia de alfabetización digital para combatir la
desinformación (McDougall, Zezulková, van Driel, & Sternadel, 2018) y presentó
los resultados en un evento titulado Reforzar los valores europeos comunes mediante
la educación, celebrado en Bruselas. En paralelo, la UNESCO publicó un manual
sobre el tema para la formación de periodistas (Ireton & Posetti, 2018) y organizó un
panel a final de año en el Instituto Reuters de la Universidad de Oxford.
El equipo editorial de este número especial está formado por miembros activos del
programa COST Action IS1401 European Literacy Network (ELN), una iniciativa
europea de apoyo a la investigación sobre la alfabetización en diversos contextos
y lenguas. Nuestra participación en la Red de alfabetización europea (ELN) y en la
redacción del informe COST fue una fuente de inspiración para este número especial.
Nuestro objetivo era recabar y publicar estudios empíricos en el ámbito de la
alfabetización digital y enmarcar estas investigaciones en el contexto de la resiliencia
ante las noticias falsas. El alcance de este número especial va más allá de la ELN
puesto que incluye trabajos de ámbitos más amplios, de geografía diversa y distintos
contextos sociales y culturales. La alfabetización digital, en el contexto de la
alfabetización mediática, es uno de los focos de Cultura y Educación, una
publicación que con frecuencia aborda temas relacionados con la enseñanza, la
investigación y sus metodologías, todos ellos aspectos esenciales de este número
especial.
208 J. McDougall et al.
Pero, ¿qué son las fake news?
El grupo de expertos de alto nivel de la Comisión Europea afirmó recientemente
que el término desinformaciónrefleja mejor el problema, y el manual de la
UNESCO citado anteriormente publicó el término Fake News tachado en el
título. Así pues, aceptamos que se trata de un concepto polémico y, por tanto,
lo utilizamos suprimido(Derrida, 1976), puesto que este disputado concepto no
puede entenderse abstraído de sus contextos político, cultural y económico.
Una década después, resulta evidente que la crisis económica global ha
causado movimientos políticos radicales y que la polarización del discurso
público tiene su origen en ella, según Adam Tooze, quien presenta su visión
de los últimos 10 años como a la vez análisis económico e historia de horror
político(Tooze, 2018).
Hace ya algún tiempo, las fake news presentan diversos subgéneros, desde el
clickbait a la desinformación, y han dejado de ser novedad (véase la línea
temporal de Posetti y Matthews From Antony and Cleopatra to Cambridge
Analytica,2018). No obstante, lo que sí es nuevo es la escala y la velocidad
que han adquirido las fake news en un contexto de desestabilización de los
medios; este estado de desorden informativo (Wardle & Derekhshan, 2017)es
un fenómeno actual. También son nuevas las potentes intersecciones, en esta era
de polaridad provocada por la austeridad, entre la desinformación y las prácticas
opresivas, el racismo, la misoginia, la explotación de lo vulnerable y el poder
discursivo del partidismo. La convergencia del propósito opresor y el desorden
informativo nos conduce a un estado general de confusión:
UnelementocomúndelacampañaafavordelBrexit,laseleccionesenEstados
Unidos y las inquietantes profundidades de Youtube es que es imposible saber quién
hace qué, o cuáles son sus intenciones. Es inútil tratar de discernir entre contenidos
absurdos generados por algoritmos y noticias falsas cuidadosamente elaboradas para
generar ingresos a través de la publicidad; qué es ficción paranoica, acción estatal,
propaganda o correo basura y qué es desinformación deliberada o una revisión
bienintencionada de datos factuales. (Bridle, 2018, ch. 9, p. 51)
Quizás en este punto sea donde más se necesita la alfabetización digital, no
necesariamente para distinguir lo verdadero de lo falso, o para diferenciar entre
las subcategorías de fake news o sus intenciones, sino para leer todos los medios
digitales con el tipo de resiliencia escéptica que genera la alfabetización crítica.
Obviamente, debemos aceptar que el término fake news constituye también una
especie de significante vacío, que puede llenarse con el tipo de discurso que se desea
evocar. La Comisión Europea afirma que la prensa escrita y los medios de
comunicación están intensificando sus esfuerzos por implementar diversas prácticas
que generen confianza garantizando un cumplimiento máximo de los estándares
éticos y profesionales para mantener un ecosistema mediático plural y fiable
(Comisión Europea, 2018, p. 41). Pero Alan Rusbridger, ex editor del diario
británico The Guardian, observa que el periodismo se enfrenta a una amenaza
económica existencial en forma de una reevaluación tumultuosa de nuestro lugar en
Digital literacy, fake news and education / Alfabetización digital, fake news y educación 209
el mundo. Y en ambos lados de un debate cada vez más áspero sobre los medios, la
política y la democracia, existe la duda de si sigue existiendo una idea común sobre
qué es el periodismo y por qué es importante(Rusbridger, 2018, p. 4). Por otro lado,
estas perspectivas convencionales de la política y la industria de la comunicación se
enfrentan al desafío radical de la lente mediática:
La fuente de fake news no se limita al trollismo, o a canales como Fox News, o a
Donald Trump, sino que incluye un periodismo autoinvestido de falsa respetabilidad,
un periodismo liberalque asegura desafiar al poder del estado corporativo pero
que, en realidad, lo corteja y protege. (Edwards & Cromwell, 2018,p.xii)
Los artículos que publicamos en este número especial abordan la respuesta
educativa a estos retos complejos en contextos específicos, formulando las dos
preguntas clave que lanzamos en nuestra convocatoria, sobre la diferencia que
supone la dimensión digital en el ámbito de la alfabetización y, por extensión, la
diferencia que supone la alfabetización digital respecto a las fake news.
Esta recopilación comienza con un artículo de David Buckingham, una
reproducción adaptada de las entradas más recientes de su blog y sus principales
discursos sobre este tema. El artículo ofrece un marco matizado importante para
esta cuestión, situando las fake news en un contexto más amplio de la pérdida de
confianza en lo público, las prácticas de educación mediática tradicionales en el
tratamiento del sesgo y la representación de la importancia de la alfabetización
digital para ver la imagen completa. Dado el papel relevante de David
Buckingham en el debate como agente crítico, consideramos la inclusión de
este artículo adaptado como posicionamiento clave en esta contribución al nuevo
conocimiento sobre el tema.
Ana Pérez-Escoda, Rosa García-Ruiz e Ignacio Aguaded nos presentan una
visión más amplia sobre los diversos enfoques de la alfabetización digital. Los
autores contemplan la necesidad de considerar la alfabetización digital como una
prioridad educativa, situando su relevancia en el plano normativo. Teniendo en
cuenta investigaciones e iniciativas previas, los autores proponen cuatro dimen-
siones para definir la alfabetización digital.
Junto a estos dos artículos, y con enfoques conceptuales más amplios sobre las
fake news y la alfabetización digital, otros artículos ponen de relieve aspectos
específicos de estas dos dimensiones. Alfonso Gutiérrez-Martín, Alba Torrego-
González y Miguel Vicente-Mariño validan la existencia de un contexto más fácil
para la divulgación de noticias falsas en YouTube (junto a otras plataformas en
línea), potenciado por intereses comerciales, clickbaits yme gustaaleatorios.
María-Carmen Ricoy, Cristina Sánchez-Martínez y Tiberio Feliz-Murias trabajan
los conceptos de credibilidad y falsedad de las noticias en línea. Los autores señalan
los problemas de la credibilidad en línea, pero apuntan también aspectos positivos
de la cobertura informativa, contribuyendo a un debate optimista sobre la relación
entre la confianza y las noticas digitales. Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, Paloma
Contreras-Pulido y Amor Pérez-Rodríguez reflexionan sobre las competencias
mediáticas de profesores y estudiantes universitarios, comparando los niveles de
210 J. McDougall et al.
España, Portugal, Brasil y Venezuela. Los autores tienen en cuenta las capacidades
esenciales para actuar de forma crítica en un mundo digital y demuestran la
necesidad de desarrollar acciones transversales para dotar tanto a profesores
como a estudiantes de competencias mediáticas que les permitan enfrentarse a un
ecosistema dominado por las noticias falsas y la desinformación, así como de
políticas estatales dirigidas a mejorar dichas competencias entre la población en
general. También centrado en una muestra universitaria, el trabajo de Christian
Tarchi se centra en Identificar noticias falsas mediante juicios de fiabilidad de los
documentos. El autor confirma que la fiabilidad es un factor de gran importancia
para un grupo de estudiantes italianos que leen información sobre la vacunación,
y argumenta la necesidad de fomentar la participación de los estudiantes en el tema
para favorecer su interés. Paula Herrero-Diz, Jesús Conde-Jiménez, Alejandro
Tapia-Frade y David Varona-Aramburu recurren también a una muestra de estu-
diantes universitarios españoles para estudiar la credibilidad de las noticias en
Internet. Esta investigación pone de relieve las dificultades del estudiante para
determinar la fiabilidad de las fuentes de información. Por último, Julio-César
Mateus, Wilson Hernández-Breña y Mònica Figueras-Maz aportan otra
dimensión a este número especial. Teniendo en cuanta que es fundamental mejorar
las competencias de los profesores para mejorar la alfabetización mediática y la
ciudadanía de los estudiantes, los autores elaboran un instrumento para realizar
diagnósticos que orienten a maestros, profesores y actores políticos del mundo
académico.
Con la vista puesta en el futuro, este número especial señala algunas formas
conceptuales de observar los contextos de las fake news y la alfabetización
digital y presenta distintos enfoques investigativos y metodologías que pueden
inspirar trabajos futuros en este campo. Puesto que no pretende ser exhaustivo,
somos conscientes de que sigue habiendo un número considerable de temas
secundarios que no se han incluido en este número especial, pero que pueden
ser relevantes en investigaciones futuras. En combinación con estos dos ejes
temáticos, es necesario reflexionar también sobre contextos de la infancia y la
adolescencia, la interacción intergeneracional, las comunidades desfavorecidas,
los compromisos periodísticos y el conocimiento basado en datos, entre otros.
Disclosure statement / Declaración de divulgación
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. / Los autores no han
referido ningún potencial conflicto de interés en relación con este artículo.
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Derrida, J. (1976). Of grammatology. New York, NY: Johns Hopkins Press.
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... Thus, the most significant contribution of this program is the transfer of skills and knowledge that high school students still need to gain. This is because education is the best "antidote" to online threats such as fake news (McDougall et al., 2019). Even though the lack of formal and informal educational processes in digital media can affect students' perceptions, digital literacy programs such as the "Not Just Understanding" discourse are crucial in helping adolescents to effectively discern the truth when searching for information and news online (Herrero-Diz et al., 2020). ...
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Purpose During the postpandemic era, owing to the widespread integration of technology, a greater abundance of information is circulating among young consumers compared to any previous period. Consequently, there exists a possibility that the disseminated information may not be accurate and ultimately prove to be fake. The purpose of this study is to conceptualize fake news, the definition and drivers of fake news from the perspective of young consumers in the postpandemic period. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was undertaken in the current study. A total of 30 interviews were conducted utilizing semistructured questionnaires. The interviews were audio recorded and subsequently transcribed. The data was analyzed using the Gioia methodology. Findings The study proposes a definition of fake news from the perspective of young consumers. Further, drawing on attribution theory, the three categories of reasons for sharing fake news were delineated: content related, source related and user related. Practical implications Drawing on the findings of the study, policymakers and other stakeholders working on the issues of fake news can acquaint themselves with the underlying reasons. Furthermore, they can devise policies to prevent the sharing of fake news. Social implications It is important for practitioners and society to understand the reasons behind the sharing of fake news among young consumers to combat the spread. Originality/value The present study will contribute to the literature by understanding the perspective of young consumers who intentionally or unintentionally share fake news. Additionally, attribution theory is used in the context of fake news to understand the dissemination behavior.
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The increasing consumption of digital content has highlighted the importance of digital literacy education, particularly in dealing with controversial content. This research analyzes the case of the viral video 'Pastor Gilbert' on social media. The research method used is qualitative with a case study approach, referring to Jurgen Hubermas' communication theory. Data was obtained through content analysis of discussions that emerged on social media as well as public discussion forums. Pastor Gilbert's controversial statement that sparked public outrage shows the importance of understanding and verifying digital content. The research emphasizes that digital literacy equips individuals with the ability to critically assess content, mitigate disinformation, and participate in constructive discussions. Through analyzing responses on social media, the study reveals a spectrum of reactions based on varying levels of digital literacy, highlighting the need for comprehensive digital education. Effective digital literacy programs can encourage healthier public discourse, prevent conflict escalation and promote a more harmonious society. This study recommends the integration of digital literacy into formal education and community training programs to improve critical thinking, ethical communication and responsible use of social media. The findings suggest that improved digital literacy is essential for navigating and resolving religious controversies in the digital age
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Purpose Fake News, a disruptive force in the information world, has been extensively researched across various academic domains. This study, however, takes a unique approach by using bibliometric analysis to explore the specific link between fake news and the erosion of media trust. The purpsose of this study is to introduce novel and unexplored research questions that have not been thoroughly investigated, opening up exciting avenues for future research. Design/methodology/approach A thorough bibliometric analysis was conducted on 480 papers published between 2015 and 2023, using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software packages. These papers were sourced from the well-known electronic research database, Scopus. The study included cluster analysis, bibliographic coupling, citation analysis, content analysis, keyword analysis and a three-field plot, providing a robust examination of the research landscape. Findings The bibliometric content analysis gave eight research clusters in the area. Future research guidelines are proposed, followed by conclusions, limitations and research and management implications. (1) Distrust in media and populism; (2) Social media, conspiracy theories and COVID-19; (3) Fact-checking, misinformation and media dynamics; (4) Fake news, trust and political bias; (5) Polarisation, echo chambers and information bubbles; (6) Political communication and media trust; (7) Media literacy and mass communication; and (8) Disinformation, trust and political consequences. Research limitations/implications The analysis reveals gaps in existing literature, highlighting the need for comprehensive studies that explore the nuanced relationships between fake news and media credibility by using interdisciplinary approaches, combining insights from communication theory, psychology and sociology. This analysis can guide scholars in identifying new research directions. Practical implications Media organisations can use this knowledge to develop strategies that enhance their credibility and counteract the effects of fake news. Policymakers can design informed regulations to combat misinformation and protect public trust. Educators can integrate these insights into curricula to prepare future journalists and media professionals for the evolving landscape. Tech companies can leverage these findings to mitigate fake news and build media trust. Social implications Public trust in media is foundational to democratic societies. Understanding the dynamic of fake news helps recognise broader societal consequences, such as increased polarisation and decreased civic engagement. By addressing the issues, society can work towards restoring faith in the institution of media. Originality/value There is a lack of comprehensive research using bibliometric analysis to understand how the rise of fake news has affected the reputation of traditional media. This study makes a significant contribution, using a bibliographic lens to highlight key themes and pave the way for future research.
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La sociedad actual se enfrenta al desafío y la incertidumbre generada por el aluvión de Fake News(FN) difundidas en las redes sociales. Por su parte, la emergencia de la Inteligencia Artificial (IA) aboca a un estado de desinformación que amenaza a las democracias, la salud pública y la credibilidad de los medios de comunicación. En este contexto, laciudadanía -en general-y los jóvenes -en particular-no están preparados suficientemente para responder a esta problemática. Así pues, esta investigación presenta la validación de un instrumento para conocer las estrategias cognitivas que los universitarios activan frente a las FN, categorizándolas jerárquicamente, atendiendo a la taxonomía de Bloom. En el proceso de validación participó una muestra de 543 universitarios españoles. La fiabilidad se calculó con el coeficiente Alfa de Cronbach y Omega de McDonald. Se validó mediante el análisis factorial exploratorio de rotación oblicua y el análisis factorial confirmatorio con el método de mínimos cuadrados ponderados. Los resultados demuestran un alto nivel de consistencia interna, garantizando la fiabilidad y validez de constructo. El instrumento final consta de 9 variables y 52 ítems, acorde al modelo de partida. Su robustez científica lo convierte en idóneo para conocer las estrategias cognitivas activadas por los jóvenes ante las FN. Finalmente, cabe señalar que conocer estas estrategias cognitivas puede facilitar el diseño de intervenciones educativas adaptadas a las necesidades detectadas, con el fin de proporcionarles fórmulas adecuadas para que sepan responder críticamente ante las FN y a los retos que plantea la IA a este respecto.
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Media literacy is a tool of prevention, which is useful in strengthening the resilience to disinformation. Artificial intelligence (hereinafter AI) offers solutions in the fight against fake news, but also implies ethical challenges regarding its use. This research explores the use of AI in Europe for verifying information, as well as the development of training programmes focused on AI literacy in relation to disinformation. To this end, the authors have used semi-structured interviews with verifiers who belong to the European Fact-Checking Standards Network. The results confirm that the literacy of fact-checkers is still in the nascent stages, and that the use of AI continues to evolve, especially around image verification. Although its implementation in newsrooms is quite common nowadays, there is still a lack of policies and principles needed in order to achieve a true symbiosis.
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While the historical impact of rumours and fabricated content has been well documented, efforts to better understand today’s challenge of information pollution on a global scale are only just beginning. Concern about the implications of dis-information campaigns designed specifically to sow mistrust and confusion and to sharpen existing sociocultural divisions using nationalistic, ethnic, racial and religious tensions is growing. The Council of Europe report on “Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy making” is an attempt to comprehensively examine information disorder and to outline ways to address it.
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The spread of disinformation and ‘fake news’ pose acute challenges for Member States’ education systems. Students (and indeed all citizens) need to develop pertinent competences to navigate these fast-changing environments. Research shows that education in media literacy can have positive outcomes on students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes in analysing and critically understanding the media and disinformation. Media literacy competences are required to actively participate in democratic society; they enable citizens to access, understand and deal with the media, and encourages them to become political agents. This report details the latest research in the area of media literacy and media education with regard to primary and secondary education in Europe. The report is aimed at policymakers, practitioners and researchers in the fields of school education, media and digital policies. It reviews relevant European and international research to better understand how teaching and learning practices can support students’ media literacy in primary and secondary education. It also aims to understand how media literacy education in schools can help address the challenges related to the spread of disinformation.
ELN -European literacy network, digital literacy team (WG2)
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Bridle, J. (2018). New dark age: Technology and the end of the future. London: Verso. Brites, M. J. (Coord.). (2017). Digital literacy and education (2014-July 2016), national reports (Portugal, UK, Ireland, Spain, Serbia and Italy), ELN -European literacy network, digital literacy team (WG2). Retrieved from https://www.is1401eln.eu/en/ gca/index.php?id=149
A multi-dimensional approach to disinformation: Report of the independent high level group on fake news and online disinformation
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A short guide to the history of 'fake news' and disinformation
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Posetti, J., & Matthews, A. (2018). A short guide to the history of 'fake news' and disinformation. Washington, DC: International centre for Journalists. Retrieved from https://www.icfj.org/sites/default/files/2018-07/A%20Short%20Guide%20to% 20History%20of%20Fake%20News%20and%20Disinformation_ICFJ%20Final.pdf
Who broke the news? The Guardian
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Rusbridger, A. (2018). Who broke the news? The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www. theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/31/alan-rusbridger-who-broke-the-news
Crashed: How a decade of financial crises changed the world
  • A Tooze
Tooze, A. (2018). Crashed: How a decade of financial crises changed the world. London: Random House.