#media-literacy

#media-literacy

In that first lesson, I introduced students to the idea of becoming "de-tech-tives," a concept inspired by the late Dr. Jason Ohler's book, Digital Community, Digital Citizen, and shaped by the themes I learned from Dr. Pamela Rutledge, two professors I'd met while studying media psychology. On that first day, the students and I explored how people throughout history have adapted to new tools.

For many parents, that knowledge can spark panic: What if this is the first place my child learns about sex? What if they think that's what real intimacy looks like? Here's the good news: you don't need to panic, but you do need to prepare. The truth is, your child will be exposed to ideas about sex, whether through peers, media or yes, pornography. And it will happen long before you'd ideally want it to.

AI-generated video has gotten way too good. Scary good, actually. Because of that, our feeds are flooded with suspiciously perfect clips - like impossibly cute animals bouncing on trampolines - racking up millions of views across TikTok, Shorts, and Reels. With AI content blending seamlessly into our scroll, it's not always easy to know what's real. So, how can you tell if a viral video is AI-generated?

Presented by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter, GlobalFact is the world's largest and most impactful summit for professional fact-checking. Every year, fact-checkers come together to address industry-wide challenges, exchange best practices and build collaborative solutions to improve our shared information ecosystem. Each day of the summit features keynote presentations, interactive learning sessions and networking events to help fact-checkers build business operations, audiences and impact.

Mark Wahlberg straightens his tie and beams at the audience as he takes his seat on the daytime talk show The View, ahead of his hotly anticipated interview. Immediately, he's unsettled by the host, Joy Behar. Something isn't quite right about her mannerisms. Her eyes seem shifty, suspicious, even predatory. There's a sense, almost, of the uncanny valley—her presence feels oddly inhuman. His instincts are right, of course, and he's soon forced to defend himself against a barrage of cruel insults playing on his deepest vulnerabilities. The audience are stunned—none more so than those watching at home on YouTube, who swiftly thumb in their words of reassurance. It's a scene that has been described as one of the most talked about moments in daytime television history. Except, Mark Wahlberg hasn't been a guest on The View since 2015. The inevitable twist? None of this happened in reality, but rather elapsed over the course of a 25 minute long 'fanfiction' style video, made with the magic of artificial intelligence to potentially fool 460,000 drama-hungry viewers.

Saying "the president admits" would tend to lead people to think the president is involved in the activity; either that he committed the act, or someone connected to him did.

In an interview, Parker mentioned, "I used to say, I can't, because of the government,' and I'd do this, Parker said, pointing up to the sky. It really confused people."

The line between performance and authenticity grows ever more blurred, with democracies resembling pantomimes that camouflage real issues with media spectacles and state-sponsored distractions.

The media often distorts reality, showing only the chaos and unrest at protests, leading to a misperception of the actual peaceful nature of many events.

As our president sets his sights on defunding PBS and NPR, I'm reminded why, for more than 30 years, I've shared thoughtful programming (produced on my own dime) with public television and radio stations.

TOTEM acts not merely as a traditional fact-checker but as a sophisticated barometer that gauges shifts in informational patterns, thus creating a tactile response to media changes.

Bella Ramsey, Walton Goggins, and Lauren James have recently made headlines, featuring in this month’s AI or Real quiz that challenges you to differentiate between real and AI-generated images.

Fact-checkers verify claims by consulting multiple sources, not just by reading a page's content.

The authors argue that politicians often manipulate statistics to serve their purposes, steering public perception and policy outcomes without accountability.