OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — “I think now with all the different social media platforms that are out there, I think more misinformation is out there than there ever really was,” said University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) student, Austin Ulmer.
These days, it’s not unusual to see questionable news online.
From articles about politics to climate change to COVID and vaccines, inaccurate information is everywhere.
At local universities, student journalists like Ulmer are learning how to recognize it and prevent it.
“I took a media literacy class that I really enjoyed and that kind of opened up my eyes a lot to all the misinformation that was out there and the websites you want to avoid,” said Ulmer.
Ulmer said a lot of people don’t know how, or simply don’t bother, to dig deeper to find out if something is misleading.
“I start with like, the credibility of the author of the article. I try to do a little bit of research to look at other stuff they’ve written, their background, their experience even talking about what they’re writing about, you know,” said Ulmer.
UNO professor Dr. Jeremy Lipschultz said over a decade ago, the university made it a requirement for journalism students to take an information literacy course.
“That was really our first attempt to make sure all of our graduates knew how to deconstruct media messages; knew how to think about source and message credibility in everything they see and hear,” said Lipschultz.
At Creighton University, Dr. Peggy Rupprecht teaches her students to seek out information in more than one place.
“I try to encourage students to consume a variety of news media sources, to read different newspapers, to watch different TV or online sources,” said Rupprecht.
She also recommends that students keep an eye on the work that local, professional journalists are doing.
“One of the things I encourage my students to do is to pay for a subscription, to watch local news. Because journalism, the free press, is so critical to our democracy,” said Rupprecht.
- Check the source of the social media post: Do you know and trust it as a source of truthful and reliable information?
- Only trust experts. Now is not the time to trust this pundit or that pundit, this media celebrity or that YouTuber. If it’s not coming from the CDC or WHO (or, locally, UNMC), walk away.
- Check the date: Is this a recent story, or from a long time ago?
- Does the message seem credible to you? Is it consistent with other stories? Does it fit with your experiences?
- Who shared the post in your newsfeed? Do you know the person? Have they always shared reliable information?
- If there is a photograph, does it look real, or could it be doctored?
- If there is a video, does it show any possible signs of being edited?
- More broadly, is the language in the post boring/objective or is it exciting/subjective? Often, the way the post is written is meant to get you to click without thinking because it might align with your own beliefs.
- A good test: right-click the link or image to see what the actual URL is. If it does not come from the place that it claims to come from (look for weird letters at the end like .ru, .cn, or others that just seem off), don’t go to it. A URL that ends with .com, .org, .net, or .gov are typically more trustworthy.
- Take this time to slow down and reflect on what you know. There is no need to rush to judgment.
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