By Sarah Matusek Staff writer, Christian Science Monitor
About two-thirds of U.S. adults got their news from social media in 2018. Americans are more likely to share misinformation (inaccurate content shared unknowingly), rather than disinformation (inaccurate content shared to deceive), experts say. Both can deepen divisions in an already polarized society, and – at worst – inspire violence.
PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for writers and human rights, is among a growing group of organizations offering media literacy training. Its tip sheet on how to talk to acquaintances constructively about misinformation came in response to participants’ demand, says Nora Benavidez, director of PEN America’s U.S. Free Expression Programs.
Fact check first. Beware of partisan websites posing as unbiased news sources, as well as misleading headlines. Beyond sleuthing out the source, see if reputable fact-check websites have already verified the claim, like the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact, The Washington Post Fact Checker, Snopes, or FactCheck.org. A simple reverse image search on Google may help verify images by determining their online origins.
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