Tips and Case Studies for Fulbright Scholars and Educators, delivered at a training session in July 2023.

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Understanding Media Literacy
and Managing Misinformation
Damian Radcliffe
Carolyn S. Chambers Professor of Journalism
University of Oregon
July 2023

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Today’s session
1. Definitions
2. Spotlight on misinformation
3. Tips and Tools
4. Alumni experiences
5. Q&A

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Virtual Introductions Your name
Where you’re
based now
Where you’re
heading to!

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And who are you?

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About Me
• British – in USA since 2015
• Married (Habiba)
• 3 x Children (Nyla, Yara and Rafi)
• 1 cat (Oreo)
• Love(d) to travel (57 countries)
• BA and MA Oxford University

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1995 – 1999: The Local Radio Company
1999 – 2003: BBC
2003 – 2008: CSV Media (NGO)
2008 – 2012: Ofcom (UK Office of Communications)
2012 - 2014: ictQATAR (Ministry of Information and Communication Technology)
2012 + Freelance journalist + trainer
2015+ University of Oregon
Background + timeline
1995 2022

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Many hats
Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism
University of Oregon
Fellow, Tow Center for Digital Journalism
Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
Honorary Research Fellow
Cardiff University, School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies
Fellow
Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)

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Visiting Fellow
Oxford University

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Research
• 14 published reports as sole author
• 17 reports/books as co-author
• 10 book chapters, 4 journal articles, 3 conference papers
• 975+ Google Scholar citations
Public speaking
• 50 presentations given + 15 events / sessions chaired
• 29 guest lectures on campus, 19 public / guest lectures
• 19 industry training programs delivered worldwide
• 50 Events/multi-day campus visits organized
Media work
• 342 popular press articles and 81 podcasts published (54 as host/presenter)
• 659 media mentions/links to work/interviews
Output since moving to the USA (to March 2023)

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Lens for this session…
• Journalist
• Researcher
• Educator and Trainer
Those hats…

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Yes, we’re cousins!

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1. Definitions

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“Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze,
evaluate and create media in a variety of forms.”
1992 Aspen Media Literacy Leadership Institute

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“Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education.
It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate,
create and participate with messages in a variety of forms
— from print to video to the Internet.
Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of
media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and
self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.”
Center for Media Literacy

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Media literacy enables people to have the skills, knowledge and
understanding to make full use of the opportunities presented by both
traditional and new communications services.
Media literacy also helps people to manage content and
communications, and protect themselves and their families from the
potential risks associated with using these services.
Ofcom (UK Comms Regulator)

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Tl;DR > Multiple definitions, but typically include:
- Ability to manage risks and potential harms

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2. Spotlight on misinformation

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Global Issue

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Multiple
topics

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How confident are you?
Post in the chat:
1-3 = Not very confident
4-6 = Somewhat confident
7-9 = Very confident
10 = I should be giving this talk Damian!

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What do we mean by
misinformation?

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How it works

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Motive matters

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5 x Examples

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Footage shown of President
Zelensky “out there fighting for
his country,” was filmed in 2021.
(Screenshot via NewsGuard)
1. False context

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Game footage also used to depict
war in Ukraine… and Syria…

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2. Poor journalism

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Time, Trump + MLK

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3. Fake websites

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4. Conspiracy theories

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Covered by:
- Quartz
- Elite Daily
- Cosmopolitan
- BuzzFeed
- Digg
- MTV
- And more!
5. Humor – Parody - Satire

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Denial covered by Quartz, Washington Post + others.

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What examples have you seen?

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18th Century Europe
• Publishers of fake news fined
and banned in the Netherlands.
• Gerard Lodewijk van der Macht, banned four times by Dutch
authorities. Each time he moved and restarted his press.

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1782: Boston, USA
Benjamin Franklin spread fake news to intensify the
American revolution.

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1917: Yorkshire, UK

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Why now? 9 key factors

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1. Fake news looks a lot like real news

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2. Tech doesn’t discern fact from fiction

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3. Algorithms show us more of what
we like, not what we need to know

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4. Tech has pulled money away
from sources of real reporting

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= Fewer Journalists

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+ Trust in Journalism
has declined globally

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5. Society + media
= more partisan

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6. Harder
than ever to
discern fact
from fiction

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7. Different forms +
different platforms

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Memes

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Generative
AI

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Claims can be more powerful – and memorable
when there’s an image associated with it.

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Fake Review sites / Reviews

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8. Bots + weaponization of the web

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“In place of overt, mass repression, rulers such as
Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Viktor
Orbán control their citizens by distorting
information and simulating democratic
procedures. Like spin doctors in democracies, they
spin the news to engineer support.”
How a new breed of dictators holds power by
manipulating information and faking democracy

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Media Capture
“In many parts of the world, special interests, from oligarchs and other elites to
governments, are influencing and controlling the media for personal gain.
When media is captured in this way, it is no longer independent.
Captured media loses the ability to reflect the broad interests of the
community and to hold power to account – the classic role of the fourth estate.
Most often, media is captured by governments, plutocrats or corporations or,
in many cases, a mixture of all three.”
Internews, 2017

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9. Reduced media freedom

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Q: How does your country rank?
https://rsf.org/en/index

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Q: Who should be
responsible for
addressing this?
How do we fix this?

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3. Tips and Tools
- 10 recommendations

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1.Consume widely…
+ develop a list of trust sources

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2. Understand your source

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3. Double check everything

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4. Be skeptical

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5. Learn how to reverse image search

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6. Slow Down

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Misinformation can have major consequences

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7. Be mindful as stories break

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And where…

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8. Check your emotions

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9. Find the
local
equivalent of
Snopes,
PolitiFact etc.

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Also being
weaponized

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10. Don’t automatically
trust authority figures

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Yes, we’re cousins!

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Yes, we’re cousins!

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“False information spreads just
like accurate information.”
Farida Vis, Sheffield University research fellow
Remember!

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Email: damianr@uoregon.edu
Twitter: @damianradcliffe
Web: www.damianradcliffe.com
Thanks for listening