Media literacy in a changing information landscape

Photo: Courtesy of Lisa Cutter

By Colorado State Representative Lisa Cutter

On December 4, 2016, Edgar M. Welch, a 28-year-old from North Carolina, arrived at the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C. with a military-style rifle and a handgun. He fired the rifle inside the pizzeria, thankfully hurting no one, and eventually surrendered.

Because of a conspiracy theory perpetuated by conservative journalists aligned with alt-right media outlets, Welch believed there was a human trafficking and child sex ring run by high-ranking officials of the Democratic party. The shooting did not put the theory to rest. Purveyors of the theory pointed to the mainstream media as conspirators of a coverup to protect what they said was a crime ring and attempted to link the pizza shop’s branding to satanism.

This is an example of disinformation – the deliberate dissemination and promotion of false information. Over the past several years, disinformation has been particularly harmful in the areas of election security, pushing anti-science agendas broadly, and specifically, pushing anti-vaccination information. For example, Russia has used Twitter trolls to fuel the anti-vaccination debate in the U.S., and China stepped up its own efforts attacking the U.S.-based COVID-19 vaccines.

In addition to the proliferation of misinformation campaigns, political leaders have claimed that there is such thing as fake news in order to diminish trust, and credible media outlets have experienced significant cuts in newsrooms and distribution. To compound this, there is no barrier to entry in online reporting. Anyone can set up a website and write articles, claiming legitimacy.

This has all served to create an environment where disinformation can thrive; preventing us from working together to solve the real problems facing our society. Hence, the need for a population well-versed in media literacy has become increasingly critical. Media literacy works to prevent the spread of misinformation on two different fronts: the sharer and the reader. Individuals sharing information, particularly on social media, have a responsibility. People trust the information they receive from their friends more than from other sources, so individuals can have a huge impact by only sharing information that they are certain is factually accurate.

 But how does someone know they are sharing credible information? Making a practice to only consume media from respected outlets is the first step. There are many ways to evaluate media, including reviewing their editorial and ethics policies (you should be able to locate this information for most major outlets). In addition, there are some excellent tools online that measure both the factual accuracy of most top-tier news outlets and also their left- or right-leaning bias. Ad Fontes Media and AllSides Media publish such tools, and it’s easy to find them in an online search.

 Searching for other stories on a subject can help determine if other, credible news sources are reporting n it the same way. And because we are all predisposed to believe stories or headlines that are in alignment with our own perspective, it can be incredibly valuable to be aware of your personal bias.

The study of media literacy also helps people understand the difference between fact and opinion. In this era of 24/7 cable news, it is sometimes difficult to remember that a panel of pundits discussing a topic for 15 minutes is not news, it is their opinion of the news.

Widespread access to the internet has completely transformed how we as a society communicate, learn, act, and – perhaps most importantly – react to the changing world around us. A few decades ago, there was not such a limitless reservoir of information to draw on. Access to news, and that claiming to be news, is unfettered and unfiltered. But we still have the power to choose both what information we take in, and what we choose to share back out to our family, friends, and colleagues. Media literacy can help inform this power.

Lisa Cutter is a Colorado state representative. She advocates for food access, media literacy, first amendment protections, zero waste, wildfire response, education, and mental healthcare in order to protect our planet, our people, and our democracy.