Misinformation, Disinformation & Fake News

A critical mindset is key to being a confident media consumer

False stories, half-truths, clickbait – it is very difficult to know what information we can trust in the media. Part of the problem is that there is a spectrum of fake news from completely unbelievable stories that are easily identified to subtle misinformation that is more difficult to detect.  

Here are 3 great resources to help you build confidence and navigate the media landscape: 

Six Steps to Spot Fake News 

This guide provides some simple and practical steps for students to evaluate news sources and accurately distinguish the reliable and the fair-minded from the phony and one-sided.   

Question what you read/hear 

Students from Champion Bay Senior High School in Geraldton, Western Australia together with the ABC, created a podcast series to empower young people to better understand the media. In this 10 minute episode, the students talk with Wil Anderson and Jan Fran from the ABC TV comedy series about misinformation, Question Everything, to find out what makes them raise questions when they hear a news story. 

How to spot fake news – an expert’s guide for young people 

This article by The Conversation focuses on news in social media and how young people can develop the tools necessary to identify true information – something that is necessary for them to be part of the big debates about politics, culture and the society in which they live.  

Image attribution: IFLA CC x 4.0