In the last few years, false or misleading information has become a regular sight on social media. Thousands of Americans have fallen victim to conspiratorial thinking and American reporters are beginning to put a spotlight on the issue. We noticed much of the coverage is about older generations, however. and decided to seek out how misinformation impacts college students.
“This is a really complex and scary issue, but it’s difficult to find stories about how college students are affected by fake news online. We wanted to see what weaknesses are unique to our generation, and talked to a number of experts that dedicate their work to news literacy education,” said reporter Ryan Burr.
We came across a recent study from the Stanford History Education Group, which provided data to show that college students are relatively unequipped to combat misinformation online. The study served as a strong peg for our story, and we went into the interviews with an emphasis on education and potential solutions.
Reporter and misinformation expert Alicia Shephard spoke with us first, and gave insight as to why students may struggle to fact-check their news. Shepard, along with all experts we interviewed, said a general misunderstanding of the journalistic process is partially to blame.
According to Shepard, American public schools do very little to inform students on the inner-workings of news media, which leads to distrust and misguided cynicism.
Additionally, we spoke with Cal Poly communications professor Bethany Conway-Silva on the psychology of misinformation. She discussed the dangers of social media and confirmation bias, and agreed a greater understanding of journalism would be immensely beneficial.
Finally, we were able to interview Peter Adams, Vice President of Education at the News Literacy Project. Adams was our most valuable interview, as his organization is dedicated to educating young people about misinformation online.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that assume “the kids are alright.” They’ve been raised in a digital world, and they’re so adept with technology in a way baby boomers aren’t. What many young people don’t understand, however, is how social media platforms work, how data is collected, and what the differences between these social media platforms are,” Adams said.
The News Literacy Project was the core inspiration for our interactive material. The website has quizzes, slideshows, videos that make users aware of their own biases and weaknesses, a theme we looked to replicate in promotion for the story.
We are going to promote the story through email, and brief social media posts. Additionally, we are going to use Instagram stories to quiz users on online misinformation and the news media.
The video complimentary to the story will include clips from each interview, and provide a consistent, thorough testament to the information gathered throughout our reporting process.