TAMPA, Fla. — It’s National News Literacy Week, and ABC Action News and its parent company, E.W. Scripps, want to help news consumers stop the flood of misinformation.
In an era of “fake news,” trust in media has bottomed out. Only 39% of adults said they trust the media in 2022. That’s a six percent drop from 2021.
Part of the problem media outlets face is misinformation that has flooded social media in recent years. There are multiple types of misinformation, including false context, fabricated content, stolen satire, imposter content, and manipulated content.
Scripps CEO and President Adam Symson held a panel discussion Monday night about what news organizations can do to help viewers regain trust in their work.
“It starts with the dialogue with our audience,” Symson said. “Our news leadership has literally explained both online and broadcast to the audience why we’ve made a certain decision.”
Symson continued, “I believe that adding that transparency, providing that context, doesn’t dilute the story, but actually provides a greater level of assurance to the audience that we are sharing with you everything we know about the source so you can decide.”
In an effort to fight misinformation, there are some red flags you can watch out for when online or watching a broadcast.
Red Flag Phrases
- “Let that sink in”
- “The media won’t report this”
- “Make this go viral”
- “Do your own research”
- “There are no coincidences”
Red Flag Patterns
- Manipulated text on signs or t-shirts
- Doctored ‘amazing’ nature or space photos
- Photos of protests and crowds
- Screenshots of articles with no links
Here are some defenses for misinformation online and on air.
- Checking out unfamiliar people and sources
- Glancing through social media comments for replies that call a post into question
- A quick internet search using key terms from a questionable post
