In the age of misinformation and information overload, we need to radically rethink how we teach media literacy. Traditional approaches focus on teaching students how responsible journalism works and how to check facts. This is no longer enough to help students make sense of the flood of information they encounter each day.

IREX’s evidence-based approach to media literacy is Learn to Discern. We originally developed Learn to Discern to help people identify disinformation in Ukraine. We’ve adapted it to address the needs of students and educators in the United States.

Our media literacy training for U.S. teachers addresses the problems that students face today, such as navigating social media newsfeeds, determining which sources are reliable, distinguishing between facts and opinions, and becoming better digital citizens.

But why do students need new approaches like Learn to Discern?

There’s too much information to sift through it all

Every minute of the day, people around the world send about 18 million text messages. They conduct close to 4.5 million Google searches per minute. Every minute, about 600 users publish edits in one of the 304 languages used in Wikipedia, the collaborative free encyclopedia. Facebook’s users—who number over 2 billion—generate over 4 million likes per minute.

We interact with information constantly. According to recent research, adults spend an average of 11 hours per day interacting with media, while teenagers spend at least nine hours per day. In other words, most of us in the U.S. spend the majority of our waking hours staring at screens.

And we are producing information constantly. The total current output of data globally is roughly 2.5 quintillion bytes a day, the equivalent of 250,000 Libraries of Congress. In fact, 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last 2 years.

The amount of information is growing, and the platforms and formats that convey information are constantly changing. The information age requires a new set of skills: critical information engagement skills, the ability to identify misinformation and build emotional resilience to it, and the ability to reflect on one’s own information consumption. This means that media literacy must be a process of continuous learning and evolution.

Everyone with a social media account is now an editor

News sources for most of the 20th century were limited to newspapers, radio, and the three national TV broadcasters. Stories were vetted by professional journalists and editors who upheld widely accepted standards. In the 1960s and 70s, “Uncle Walter” Cronkite, often called “the most trusted man in America,” was a familiar face who delivered the evening television news to Americans across the political spectrum at the same time each evening. The advent of CNN in 1980 brought 24/7 news coverage, which significantly shifted the public’s expectations of when and how they could access news.

Students don’t just need to learn how media is made—they need to understand how to critically analyze and evaluate it, as well as how to regulate their own emotional responses.

Those milestones seem like they occurred in a completely different universe from the digital one we live in now, in which people still get news and information from television and cable, as well as radio, but also from anywhere and at any time—in the palm of their hands from news apps, aggregators, social media, and more. There’s so much content, and so much linking and overlap, that we may not even know where the source of our information comes from.

It’s hard to describe how big this change has been because of how fast it has happened and because it is continually evolving. Most media literacy efforts don’t match the current reality. Students don’t just need to learn how media is made—they need to understand how to critically analyze and evaluate it, as well as how to regulate their own emotional responses to it.

Corporations and their algorithms exert enormous control over what information we see

The richest corporations the world has ever known are now able to send you the most engaging news and information, perfectly curated for your interests, throughout the day. The average young American now picks up their phone more than 150 times per day. Every time you check your devices, you are responding to the thousands of engineers, software designers, and marketers on the other side of that screen who are trying to grab your attention and get you to stay engaged on their digital platform.

Today, the 24/7 news cycle, along with commercial, entertainment, and user-generated content, compete for your attention and your “clicks.” Clicking a link means that the link has not only captured your attention but also potentially generated advertising revenue. This is one of the reasons that even credible sources are now designing headlines to provoke strong emotions.

This is an incredible social experiment happening in real time, which makes it all the more urgent that media literacy educate students about their place within the broader information ecosystem.

“Clickbait”—manipulative headlines that provoke your curiosity to get your clicks—are everywhere. Think for a moment about how much advertising you see on Facebook. Facebook—the company—exists in order to make money, and it makes money when its users see advertising. For this reason, Facebook and other social media platforms tailor their algorithms to keep users engaged, not necessarily to improve anyone’s lives.

Algorithms don't only curate and narrow the scope of what you see on social media. They do the same for just about everything you do online as you search the web and use apps. What your online searches turn up depends on your past search history, what you have clicked on, and your overall digital habits. Search algorithms take into account all the digital exhaust that your online activities leave behind, and present you with something that they predict you will want to see. The autocomplete suggestions that search engines offer you as you are typing in your searches depend on your search history as well.

In addition, the advertising you see above or below your search results depends on what an algorithm believes you want. Remember that search engines make money through advertising. Marketing is also done in more subtle ways; companies try to “optimize” the various factors that will lead your search to them, such as paying to have certain keyword searches drive results to their site. So in many ways, internet search results are much more directed and controlled than we may realize. And remember, algorithms were created by people, and are thus subject to human errors and biases.

This is an incredible social experiment happening in real time, which makes it all the more urgent that media literacy educate students about their place within the broader information ecosystem.

Young people are struggling to cope with misinformation

We know that young people are often fluent in digital media, but that does not mean that they have the critical skills to analyze and understand it.

Instead of investigating who was behind the site, students focused on superficial markers of credibility, such as the site’s aesthetics, its top-level domain, and how it portrayed itself on its 'About' page.

A 2019 Stanford University study found that youth are often duped by sponsored content and don't always recognize political bias in social messages. Students’ skills in verification were tested and found to be sorely lacking. For example, 96% of students did not consider why ties between a climate change website and the fossil fuel industry might weaken that website’s credibility. Instead of investigating who was behind the site, students focused on superficial markers of credibility, such as the site’s aesthetics, its top-level domain, and how it portrayed itself on its “About” page.

Many people are aware that false and misleading information is all around us, even if they don’t know its source. Fifty percent of Americans surveyed feel that made-up news and information is one of the biggest problems of our time (it was rated as bigger than problems such as climate change and racism), according to a 2019 study by the Pew Research Center. Almost 40% of U.S. adults say they often see made-up news and information, and another 51% say they sometimes do—so almost all Americans are encountering it. Slightly more than half of all U.S. adults say that they've shared a made-up news story, though most didn’t know it at the time.

Media literacy needs to expand its scope to be truly effective

If you and your students are feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone. The complexity of creating and consuming information has radically increased, but most approaches to teaching media literacy have not kept pace with the times.

In the information-flooded world we live in today, media literacy needs to have a different scope to be truly effective. Through practical classroom activities, Learn to Discern emphasizes the following principles:

• Engage your analytical mind and dig in for the long haul. There is no one technological tool that will clean up your algorithm searches or your social media feeds. There is no “simple way to spot fake news.”
• Take personal responsibility. It’s easy to point to others who need this type of education. However, as human beings, we are all susceptible to manipulative information. Media literacy is not just for “them”—it’s for all of us. We all have a role to play.
• Sharpen your critical thinking. Improve your ability to identify markers of misinformation and manipulation. Check multiple sources, engage in practical media analysis, learn and practice visual and textual verification.
• Check your biases. We all have them. What truths might yours blind you to? Do you only seek out information that confirms your beliefs, or are you challenging your own ideas? Are you reacting with outrage, or engaging in dialogue?
• Step back and reflect on your own information habits. What do you consume? How much time do you spend on digital information? How much of what you interact with is something you consciously chose to do? Does your behavior reflect your values?
• Strengthen your emotional resilience by defusing your own responses. When you come across information that provokes a strong reaction in you, pause in the moment. Identify your emotional response. Take back your rational brain before you act on the information.
• Learn and improve. Continually reflect on your media literacy practice. What can be improved? What does the evidence show?
• Share what you learn. Be a media literacy leader by teaching others the skills you learn.

In the next few weeks, we will publish a follow-up post that shares some practical ways of teaching media literacy.

In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about how to use Learn to Discern in U.S. schools, we would love to hear from you. Visit our “Media Literacy Training for Teachers” page to watch webinar recordings, explore training options, or request a free consultation.

Photo by Germanna CC with modifications under CC BY 2.0.