When I was growing up in Chicago, it was easy to know which news sources to trust. Why not read the Chicago Tribune or the Sun-Times? Watch your local news on WGN or tune in to one of our network news channels. Newspapers published their opinions on editorial pages and clearly labeled commentary, striving to get the facts straight.
But now? Consider how we consume news in the digital age. We consume news from fragmented sources across social media, primarily through our personal screens. Think about the young people around you. Where do they get their news? How do you know where to look for reliable information?
We are facing a news literacy crisis. We’re inundated with content, from promoted posts to user-generated videos to punditry intended to persuade rather than inform. Misinformation and disinformation lurk everywhere, aided by bots, trolls, artificial intelligence, and facilitated by foreign agents. And too often such content gets a boost from Americans who should know better.
With this proliferation of questionable content, local newspapers are shutting down at a rate of two or more per week.
In this world of information, it’s so hard to find news you can trust – the vetted facts we all need to make informed decisions about our lives and communities, the bedrock of our democracy. It’s getting difficult. Without the ability to find reliable information and verifiable facts, public trust in our institutions will continue to decline.
But rather than throw up our hands and succumb to cynicism, we can do something to separate fact from fiction.
News literacy means knowing how to think about the news and information we encounter, and knowing what to trust, share, and act on. Get started with three easy steps.
1. Be intentional about the information you consume. This means actively seeking out news sources instead of passively hoping that standards-based news articles will appear in your feed. It also means looking to different sources of information, sources that can challenge our beliefs, rather than falling into echo chambers.
2. Take the time to analyze the information in your feed. By simply pausing and considering whether a claim is true before you click “share” on a post, you can stop misinformation before it spreads. Simply being skeptical of claims that don’t link back to the original source (a common misinformation tactic) can prevent you from falling for misinformation.
3. Act as a trusted intermediary within the network. Sharing information often gives people a sense of belonging and validation of their beliefs. Leverage your personal relationships to spread trustworthy information at a time when trust in traditional news media is declining. This requires using PEP (Patience, Empathy, and Persistence) in conversations with family and friends.
We will never stop providing bad information. There are always new sources to create and disseminate it, and algorithms to facilitate it. Instead, we need to fix the demand side and ensure everyone has the skills they need to distinguish fact from fiction and demand quality news and information.
To give verifiable facts a fighting chance, we all need the knowledge to make informed choices.
David Hiller, former publisher of the Chicago Tribune, is a member of the News Literacy Project’s National Journalism Advisory Board.