Monthly Media Literacy Tip
As with a virus, faulty information is a threat not just to a single individual, but to many people.
Faulty reasoning can accelerate the spread of faulty information. We are all susceptible to manipulation by faulty reasoning when bad actors take advantage of the brain's limited ability to discern fact from fiction in a fast-moving social media environment.
To resist manipulation by faulty reasoning, it helps to be familiar with common tactics, like scapegoating. That involves blaming huge problems or even smaller ones on a specific group or a specific person when there is no evidence that either the group or person is to blame.
Two examples of scapegoating: Blaming low voter turnout on a single group of people in a population or singling out one junior engineer for a project’s failure when the project is the work of a team.
If there is no evidence to support a claim, you can dismiss the faulty reasoning and thereby stop the spread of faulty information.
Now Available: Media & News Literacy Workshop Recordings
Are you finding it harder to find the truth within the torrent of information that bombards you every day? If so, we have a great resource for you!
The LWVWA offers recordings of four live workshops that teach media and news literacy skills. No registration is required! Just click on each recording that interests you and listen to it when you want and at your own pace.
We recommend you start your learning experience with our eight-minute Intro to Media and News Literacy video, then look for “Workshop Recordings and Presentations" portion on the Local News and Democracy webpage. The subjects covered are:
- The Power of Critical Thinking
- Making Sense of Information
- Techniques Used to Sway Opinion
- Get to Know Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Click on the presentation that accompanies each workshop recording to get a list of resources that will help you become a savvy consumer of information.
Questions? Contact the Media Literacy and News Education Project team at MediaNewsEd@lwvwa.org.
The LWVWA members responsible for the Media Literacy and News Education Project share a media literacy tip for publication in the monthly Project for Civic Health newsletter. The project, established to foster greater civic health and dialogue, is housed in the office of Lt. Gov. Denny Heck and involves the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, the University of Washington Evans School, and The William D. Ruckelshaus Center. The League's most recent tip is above.
