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Information Literacy

Fact Checking, Bias, and Misinformation

It is easy (and sometimes satisfying) to throw around the term “fake news.” But what does it really mean? When people refer to something as fake, what they are likely thinking of is the type of disordered information that Claire Wardle, a professor at Brown University and co-founder of First Draft News, breaks into three categories: 

  • Misinformation: false information that misleads but isn’t intentional  
  • Disinformation: intentionally false information meant to mislead or cause harm 
  • Malinformation: based on fact but taken out of context to manipulate or cause harm. 

Wardle goes on to identify seven types of mis- and disinformation:

  • satire or parody: no intention to cause harm but has potential to fool.
  • false connection: when headlines, visuals, or captions don’t support the content
  • misleading content: misleading use of information to frame an issue or individual
  • false context: when genuine content is shared with false contextual information
  • imposter content: when genuine sources are impersonated
  • manipulated content: when genuine information or imagery is manipulated to deceive
  • fabricated content: new content is 100% false, designed to deceive and do harm

Infographic for the 7 types of mis- and disinformation

The Great courses: Fighting Misinformation Digital Media LiteracyFighting Misinformation: Digital Media Literacy: The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) has teamed up with The Great Courses to lead you step by step through the history, evolution, science, and impact of misinformation, and to arm you with the very skills needed to defuse the threat of misinformation media and become a more savvy media consumer. (8 episodes)

 

 

An image of a stethoscope on a table. Pale blue digital screen images are superimposed on it.Assessing Science and Health News How can we make good decisions about important health and science issues if we cannot trust the news we get about them? Scientific knowledge, by its very nature, is always changing, but using some simple methods described in this episode, you can ascertain the validity of health and science information.