Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Media Literacy
What is Media Literacy?
"Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create and act using all forms of communication.
In its simplest terms, media literacy builds upon traditional literacy and offers new forms of reading and writing. Media literacy empowers people to be critical thinkers and makers, effective communicators and active citizens. " (The National Association of Media Literacy Education).
Being Media Literate
- Being literate in a media age requires critical thinking skills that empower us as we make decisions, whether in the classroom, the living room, the workplace, the boardroom, or the voting booth.
- Media literacy is the ability to encode and decode the symbols transmitted via media and synthesize, analyze and communicate..
Tools, Tips, and Source Evaluation Models
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Lateral Reading (News Literacy Project)"Lateral reading helps you determine an author’s credibility, intent and biases by searching for articles on the same topic by other writers (to see how they are covering it) and for other articles by the author you’re checking on. That’s what professional fact-checkers do."
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How to Spot Fake News (FactCheck.org & IFLA) This link opens in a new windowPDF handout developed by the International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions, referencing FactCheck.org.
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The C.R.A.A.P.O. TestThe CRAAPO Test is a list of questions to help you evaluate the information you find. Different criteria will be more or less important depending on your situation or need. The C.R.A.A.P. Test was created by Sarah Blakeslee at University of California at Chico, Meriam Library.
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Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers This link opens in a new windowThis ebook by Mike Caulfield is freely available online under a CC BY 4.0 license
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How Filter Bubbles Isolate YouIn this video, you’ll learn more about how filter bubbles work to automatically curate content for you when you're online
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Media Bias Chart 5.0 (Ad Fontes) This link opens in a new windowAd Fontes Media is a public benefit corporation based in Colorado, founded in 2018. Its mission is to rate all the news to positively transform society. They generate overall news source scores based on scores of individual articles (in the case of online news sources) or episodes (in the cases of podcasts, radio, TV, and video-based sources).
This chart identifies the political bias of various online & print news outlets. You can also use the search box to find it in the chart or see other media sources not depicted on this chart.
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Allsides Media Bias This link opens in a new windowAllSides empowers you to understand the role media bias plays in the news and information you consume. AllSides makes and mantains a Media Bias Rating and a Media Bias Chart. Allsides is a public benefit corporation serving news consumers and providing patented technologies, tools and services to media companies, nonprofits, schools, businesses and other organizations.
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How to Spot 16 Types of Media Bias This link opens in a new windowTypes of media bias such as spin, slant, and sensationalism can distort our view. See examples of media bias appearing in journalism from Allsides.
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AllSides Media Bias Methodology This link opens in a new windowLearn more about AllSides.com's methodology for rating news sources' biases.
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Media Bias/Fact Check This link opens in a new windowA non-partisan site which provides two scores for over 8000 media sources: a bias rating and a factual reporting rating. Each entry also provides information that explains or contextualizes the rating.
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Ground News This link opens in a new windowGround News is a platform that makes it easy to compare news sources, read between the lines of media bias, and break free from algorithms. Every article has a bias rating, which is determined by using three independent news monitoring organizations: AllSides, Ad Fontes Media, and Media Bias/Fact Check.
Ground News offers its article content for free. However, to access their premium features, you will have to subscribe.
Media Literacy Organizations
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Association for Media LiteracyThe AML is a not-for-profit, charitable association of teachers, librarians, consultants, parents, cultural workers, and media professionals concerned with helping people develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of media, their techniques, and their impact.
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The News Literacy Project This link opens in a new windowThe News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit founded in 2008, is building a national movement to create systemic change in American education to ensure all students are skilled in news literacy before they graduate high school, giving them the knowledge and ability to participate in civic society as well-informed, critical thinkers.