Research Guides: *POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH*: Media literacy

What is media literacy?

Media literacy is the ability to find, analyze, evaluate and act using all forms of communication, as defined by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). It requires critical thinking/analysis, and is an interdisciplinary practice.

Some general considerations when consuming any kind of media:

Who created it? (Author, publisher, content creator, etc.)
Is there financial incentive? (Will consuming this content potentially result in revenue for a person/business? Who paid for the publishing?)
Who is the audience? (Is it targeting a specific group/area?)
What is the purpose? (Is the information meant to convey facts, or illicit an emotional response?)

For more questions to consider, check out this list created by Project Look Sharp - Key Questions for Decoding Media

Media Bias

Due to its nature, there is always bias in media and journalism. Understanding and recognizing those biases can help with analyzing the credibility, authority, and trustworthiness of content and media outlets.

Media bias charts can be useful tools, but critical analysis is still needed.

AllSides Media Bias Chart
The AllSides Media Bias Chart™ helps you to easily identify different perspectives and political leanings in the news so you can get the full picture and think for yourself.
Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart
Ad Fontes ranks media outlets on both reliability and political bias. Rankings moving left to right gauge political bias, and the up/down ranking rates reliability.

Fact Checkers

Online fact checkers can be useful tools when sifting through the vast amount of information that is freely available online. Below are recommended fact checkers to try when double-checking the validity of information.

FactCheck.org
Factcheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases, with the goal of applying the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding. FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
Media Bias/Fact Check
Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC) is an independent website that has promoted awareness of media bias and misinformation by rating the bias, factual accuracy, and credibility of media sources, large and small. Media Bias/Fact Check relies on human evaluators to determine the bias of media sources and the level of overall factual reporting through a combination of objective measures and subjective analysis using our stated methodology.
PolitiFact
PolitiFact is a nonpartisan fact-checking website to sort out the truth in American politics, created by the Tampa Bay Times (Florida), in 2007. It serves as a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter.
Snopes
Since 1994, Snopes is one of the oldest and largest online fact-checking sites. Unlike many of it's counterparts, Snopes does not limit fact-checking to politics, and is also a resource for assessing the validity of urban legends, myths, folklore, rumors, and general misinformation.
OpenSecrets
Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, OpenSecrets is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Our mission is to track the flow of money in American politics and provide the data and analysis to strengthen democracy.

Social media literacy

Social media literacy encompasses digital, information, and news literacy, as well as digital citizenship and wellness. Read more about what falls under the media literacy umbrella here - What's in a Name: Defining Media Literacy

Verifying Social Media
Social media shapes both our online and offline behaviors from how we engage in communities and consume goods and services to influencing our thoughts and opinions. This video talks about how they really function - the good stuff and also the terrible stuff.

Misinformation, disinformation, or fake news?

Misinformation, disinformation, and fake news - what's the difference?

Misinformation is incorrect, inaccurate, or false information, but lacks the intent to deceive.

Disinformation is incorrect, inaccurate, or false information that is deliberately intended to deceive.

While there isn't a generally agreed upon definition of fake news, the term often refers to false, fabricated news stories that have been distributed to appear as legitimate news, but have no verifiable facts, sources, or quotes. It exists under the larger umbrellas of mis- and disinformation.

Check out this UNHC compiled fact sheet to dig deeper into the various types of misinformation and disinformation.

Identifying fake news

Ten Questions for Fake News Detection
Compiled by the News Literacy Project, this list of ten questions to consider when reading news headlines and stories is intended to help the causal consumer improve their media literacy and identify credible and false information.

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