If you don’t want to be fooled by false information on the internet, there’s a way to do it through fact-checking.
That’s the advice Sean Marcus from Poynter Institute’s MediaWise program told student journalists last week during a visit to John Hopkins.
MediaWise is an international fact-checking organization for teens to increase their media literacy
Marcus told students that fact-checking is the best way to avoid falling for false information.
Marcus said that there are a few ways to fact-check information. One way is to ask an expert on the topic. Another is to find reliable sources like news websites like CNN or the BBC, he said.
According to Marcus, things that can be fact-checked include true or false statements and reports of an event or a person.
Marcus shared how artificial intelligence can trigger emotions and fool us. An AI video that makes us feel overjoyed, angry, sad or scared can fool us easily, he said.
The best way to not be fooled and get the right information?
“Research, research, research,” Marcus said. “Ask questions in order to look for more questions. Never stop digging, seek the truth, record it.”
In addition to sharing fact-checking tips, Marcus, a former high school journalism teacher, also talked about the importance of media literacy.
“Literacy really means being able to read and understand something,” Marcus said. “We talk about reading words, but also pictures, videos and reading things we see online.”
Marcus said media literacy is important in the digital age. There’s so much false information, and it’s critical to know how to sort through it.
“We really start from the basis of those three questions we talked about: who’s behind the information, what’s the evidence that they’re providing and what are other sources saying,” he said.
JHop sixth grader Alijzah Ortiz said that he learned a lot and that he would like Marcus to return to the class.
Garrett Hine, sixth grade, said he’s better able to spot false information after the presentation
“I think he was right about a lot of stuff,” Hine said. “Now I have a clear thought of what’s AI and what’s not. I can point out the differences.”
