Not Just Fake News
“The News Literacy Project cautions against the use of the term “fake news.” The term “once referred to misinformation designed to look like legitimate news, but the term has been rendered meaningless and counterproductive through overuse and political weaponization.” [1]
In a paper published by First Draft News, Claire Wardle identifies three types of information, falling under the umbrella of “Information Disorder.” Misinformation is false information, malinformation is factual information that is spread with the intent to cause harm, and disinformation is false information that is spread with malicious intent. There are seven types of Mis- and Dis- information, listed here from from lowest to highest potential for harm.
- Satire or parody.
- False connection – such as clickbait.
- Misleading content – using information to intentionally frame something in a biased manner.
- False context – for example, a photo being miscaptioned as being at a different time or location.
- Imposter content – created to look like it came from someone else, often a well-known person or news organization.
- Manipulated content – such as photoshopped images or doctored videos.
- Fabricated content – completely false information is shared with the intent to deceive and cause harm. [2]
It is important that students differentiate between these types of mis- and dis-information. Avoiding the term “fake news” can also help to evade some of the emotionally charged reactions that can result from the idea.”
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.