“Does Media Literacy Help Identification of Fake News?” by Jones-Jang et al.

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Introduction

The rapid advancement of information technology brought many benefits in terms of speed of access to information and the rate of dissemination. Sharing platforms are a vital part of the contemporary democratic society as they allow any individual to share their thoughts and knowledge with the global network of connected people. However, such a wide range of opportunities caused adverse side effects in terms of the quality of distributed news, as they may feature inconsistencies and sometimes even deliberate delusion. On the one side, there is freedom of communication and speech, which is one of the fundamental pillars of modern democracy. On the other hand, however, there is an opportunity to distribute false information, which undermines democracy. Within the context of this dilemma, it seems that every individual bears the responsibility of being capable of identifying misleading knowledge. While some people apply their critical thinking skills ubiquitously, others fail to recognize that not all information should be considered valid and accurate. Jones-Jang, Mortensen, and Liu (2019), using previously accumulated knowledge of the scientific community, conducted research to identify what kind of skill is needed to identify fake news successfully. This reflective paper discusses the critical points of the study and how it fits into a broader context of current media systems. It also provides suggestions on how the findings may be utilized and how they may motivate further research.

Brief Overview of the Study

Main Problem

The researchers recognize that the phenomenon of misleading news has existed for a long time. It predates the age of information technology and has existed since the emergence of information as a concept. Therefore, battling deceptive knowledge and misleading news is a challenging endeavor and should be based on a systematic and thorough approach. To put the central problem that the researchers are studying into a proper context, they suggest that there are three dimensions where fake news should be combatted – the provider of the information, public judgment, and the audience. News providers may use their internal methods, sometimes algorithmic models, to filter the data of poor quality before delivering it to the people. Public judgment may help an individual decide if a piece of information is reliable and accurate through commentaries and evaluations. The researchers concentrate on the case of the audience – the skills and literacy required to distinguish between fake news and credible data.

Arguments

Many previously conducted studies on this topic motivate this research. Particularly, Mele et al. (2017) suggest that the current situation with fake news poses a significant threat to democratic institutions and values because more and more political opinion outlets are being disseminated through online media. The authors call for immediate action and claim that increasing the population’s media literacy is one of the ways of achieving the goals (Mele et al., 2017). Weakened media institutions should be supported by other dimensions of the media system – primarily, the audience (Mele et al., 2017). One of the main reasons why the public accepts fake news is misperceptions, as suggested by Flynn, Nyhan, and Reifler (2017). They are usually rooted in cognitive biases, and individuals with higher levels of knowledge are more likely to be able to resist such flawed argumentation (Flynn et al., 2017). Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that literacy interventions may be an effective way of counteracting fake news.

Key Findings

While supporting the claim that literacy interventions may positively impact the ability to identify fake news, the research results contradict the belief that any literacy type produces benefits. Life experience may also contribute to the identification of misleading news because age was found to be a significant predictor. However, previous experience with fake news is not shown to be correlated with identification capacity. Therefore, further research is required to determine why age is a critical factor. Among the four literacy scales, only information literacy was recognized to be positively correlated to fake news identification. Although claimed by other researchers, media literacy, news literacy, and digital literacy do not make any significant contributions to the false information identification process. This finding sets a new foundation for future scientific investigations because previous studies will have to be revised and reconstructed.

Surrounding Media Systems and Media Markets

Contemporary media systems heavily rely on IT infrastructure and the internet. Distribution of news today happens not only through the print medium but more significantly through websites and other digital sources. Social networks play a vital role in this context because much of the rumor and gossip is spread through such platforms. Such an abundance of possible distribution channels creates a substantial amount of opportunity for the emergence of fake news. The discussed research puts the studied problems within this diversified context and emphasizes, particularly, social media because of its alleged influence on the 2016 Presidential elections. Fake news identification becomes even more critical in the context of social networks because sites like Facebook and Twitter provide the most comfortable way possible to publish any information. There are no guarantees that algorithmic decisions made by these systems are reliable and error-prone.

Media Market

Because the study is motivated by the recent events in the political arena, it can be claimed that it fits into the context of sufficiently developed mass media. However, the reflected media market in the research is broad and generic because it does not account for local, regional, and national ratios. There is also no consideration about linguistic segmentation, gender differences in news reach, and whether there are distinct influences of bordering countries. Also, no information is provided on the circulation rates and reach. However, it can be inferred that the researchers reflected upon mass-media publications and social networks that are targeted at the general public with no specific attributes. Therefore, arguments made by other researchers regarding the fake news prevalence and distribution channels are applicable to this research.

Political Parallelism

While the discussed social media platforms and news sources are not exclusively politically oriented, the researchers do reflect upon political parallelism. Media content that is used in the study has the maximum extent of political orientation. The study also hints at organizational associations between political groups and the media. This claim can be inferred from the fact that the fake news mentioned in the research usually targets an opponent of some politician. Both internal and external pluralism exists within the discussed media as the publications do not undermine only one particular politician but various individuals. It can be presumed that there is no direct government control over the mass media, and the news providers are generally insulated from external political manipulation. However, these assumptions can be false because the absence of evidence does not mean there is no evidence at all.

Professionalization of Journalism

The presence of fake news says a lot about the professionalization of journalism in this country. The infrastructure required for the autonomous functioning of journalistic activities is well established. However, professional journalism is not only about a degree of autonomy but also about ethical principles and professional norms and rules that guide each specialist. As the primary objective of journalists is delivering an accurate representation of the current state of affairs, providing misleading and deceptive information is not only unethical but also unprofessional. Therefore, the conclusion is that there are some journalists that are not oriented at serving the public but are motivated by personal goals of achieving recognition or wealth. Such individuals undermine democratic principles and pose a severe threat to an informed citizenry and the freedom of choice.

Role of the Government

The research also reflects on the fact that the government has little role in the formation of media content. A high degree of pluralism indicates a low amount of stress on behalf of the political system. As authors of fake publications use any technique they want to undermine their target individual, there is no sign of censorship or other types of oppression. The fact that misleading news is posted in the media also supports this claim. Because the principle of freedom of speech is ubiquitous in the United States, the government is not the primary source of information. Instead, private newspapers and publishers, along with social network companies, serve as the principal information providers. There may be cases when the government provides subsidies to some news agencies, but this support is not enough to substantially influence the industry.

Theories and Models

There are four hypotheses predicted by the researchers and four associated models used to assess them. Each of these models is concerned with measuring one of the literacies that are deemed to influence fake news identification capabilities – media, information, news, and digital. These models are essentially a set of measures used in previous scientific works. In some cases, the researchers reduce the number of items used for measuring literacies to enhance the experience of respondents.

Inan and Temur, and Media Literacy

A comprehensive approach to measuring media literacy was proposed by Inan and Temur (2012). The original set of questions consisted of 65 items, and the primary aim of the study was to examine media literacy among prospective teachers that were studying at Dumlupinar University. Inan and Temur (2012) surveyed the literature on media literacy and composed a list of 65 questions. After reviewing for functionality and efficacy, the collection was divided into four sections that featured 53 items in total. The reliability of this method was estimated using Cronbach’s alpha, and the result was.85, which means the questions have high covariances. Inan and Temur (2012) relied on the conceptual framework for media literacy that was previously proposed by other researchers. For instance, much of the assumptions regarding media literacy are derived from Aufderheide’s definition of media literacy.

Information Literacy Test

The researchers employ Boh Podgornik et al.’s (2016) information literacy test (ILT) to measure the participants’ competency to find, evaluate, and use information. Boh Podgornik et al. (2016) were guided by the information literacy standards for higher education when developing the assessment model. The test consists of 40 multiple-choice questions with one correct and three incorrect answers. The reliability of the method is described by Cronbach’s alpha of 0.74 and Ferguson’s delta 0.97. These numbers show that the ILT is a robust tool for assessing information literacy and is relevant for the research. Because the study uses only five questions from the ILT, it is possible to measure the efficacy of literacy interventions using the rest of the items. For instance, the first ILT shows the initial level of information literacy, while subsequent tests indicate whether there are any improvements after applying particular literacy intervention strategies.

News Literacy Scale

News literacy is generally considered to be the most critical type of knowledge for fake news identification because it directly relates to consuming and understanding the news. Educational programs that facilitate news literacy are being introduced in schools and colleges. Ashley, Maksl, and Craft (2013) developed a scale that allows scholars to measure the level of news literacy. Previous scientific work on this concept is scarce, partly because there was no appropriate tool for assessing news literacy before Ashley et al.’s (2013) framework. From 15 scale items, Jones-Jang et al. (2019) used six that had the highest factor loading according to the framework’s developers. It is critical to note that the study’s results show that news literacy is not a significant contributor to fake news identification. This finding means that previous scientific work which predicted the positive correlation between news literacy and false news identification capabilities is flawed.

Digital Literacy Measure Index

Measuring digital skills is challenging because it is hard to generalize such abilities. However, Hargittai and Hsieh (2011) provide a conceptual framework for defining digital literacy and an index to measure it. This tool is based on the previous work of Hargittai, which viewed digital literacy as the application of web-oriented skills. Hargittai and Hsieh (2011) attempted to shorten the list of measured items to increase the convenience for respondents. Because longer indexes take more time to complete, it is not possible to use such measurement tools ubiquitously as not all people will be interested in completing them. Therefore, Hargittai and Hsieh (2011) analyzed the difference between the efficacies of longer and shorter lists. Jones-Jang et al. (2019) use the shorter version as no significant difference in reliability was found – 10 related internet terms from Hargittai and Hsieh’s index were utilized.

Key Learnings and Outcomes

There are three conclusions that we can make after reading the research paper. The first one is the main finding of the study – information literacy is a critical factor in the context of fake news identification. The other three hypotheses were not proved as they made no significant contributions to identification outcomes. The current literature on literacy as the key to battling false news should be revised.

The second conclusion is that we should develop intervention strategies that will increase the information literacy of the population. This increase can be facilitated by integrating the concept of information literacy into education programs. Courses and classes that teach students how to search, consume, and use information properly should be introduced to public education institutions. Maintaining the information literacy of the population is vital in supporting the democratic values of contemporary society.

The last conclusion that can be made from the results of the study is that skills that are generalizable to many areas of human activity are more critical than specialized skills. For instance, news literacy does not contribute to the capacity to identify misleading news, despite being specific to the field. Instead, information literacy that can be used ubiquitously is found to be a significant factor in fake news identification.

Impact of the Research

Jones-Jang et al. (2019) published their paper only several months ago. Therefore, this paper can be considered as a recent study. Because academic works need time to generate any volume of impact, this study has not yet resulted in further research or literature reviews. Currently, the research metrics show that this paper has not been cited in any other academic papers. Both Crossref and Web of Science are showing 0 article citations. However, the paper generated a substantial amount of interest from the scientific community because the number of downloads is relatively high. Within the next few years, it can be expected that related studies that use Jones-Jang et al.’s (2019) work as the foundation will emerge.

Currently, the article has an Altmetric score of 16, which means that the paper is being actively discussed on various social media platforms and being shared within the scientific community. Both scientists and journalists are expressing their interest in the material. This outcome can be determined by the demographic breakdown of users that downloaded the paper. Although the work has not been cited in other academic contributions, the article is mentioned in blog posts and tweets.

Importance of the Study in the Personal Context

As a person who actively supports democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, and informed citizenry, I firmly believe that the involvement of the population in political processes is key to sustaining the democratic principles of this country. The research by Jones-Jang et al. (2019) showed what factors are critical in consuming news and making informed decisions. The study findings provide me with the necessary knowledge for approaching the mass media and absorbing information adequately. Prior to reading the article, I used to believe that media literacy was the most critical tool in battling manipulation and misleading information. However, Jones-Jang et al.’s (2019) interpretation of the study results motivates me to concentrate my efforts on learning the single most crucial skill set instead of disseminating my resources among different literacies. It also provides the foundation and motivation for further research in the field, in which I express my personal interest.

Conclusion

There were many theories and hypotheses related to the phenomenon of fake news. Throughout the many years of scientific research, scholars attempted to determine the correlation between various literacies and the ability to identify false information. This analyzed study rejects the most common assumptions about fake news identification. Primarily, it establishes that no literacy other than information literacy has a significant interrelationship with the capacity of distinguishing misleading news. The study proposes a new prism for viewing the factors associated with adequate assessment of information. This knowledge can be used to conduct further research on the development of intervention strategies in the form of educational programs and courses. This reflective paper viewed Jones-Jang et al.’s (2019) study in the context of surrounding media markets and systems and attempted to describe its potential implications.

References

Ashley, S., Maksl, A., & Craft, S. (2013). Developing a news media literacy scale. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 68(1), 7-21.

Boh Podgornik, B., Dolničar, D., Šorgo, A., & Bartol, T. (2016). Development, testing, and validation of an information literacy test (ILT) for higher education. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 67(10), 2420-2436.

Flynn, D. J., Nyhan, B., & Reifler, J. (2017). The nature and origins of misperceptions: Understanding false and unsupported beliefs about politics. Political Psychology, 38(1), 127-150.

Hargittai, E., & Hsieh, Y. P. (2011). Succinct survey measures of web-use skills. Social Science Computer Review, 30(1), 95-107.

Inan, T., & Temur, T. (2012). Examining media literacy levels of prospective teachers. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 4(2), 269-285.

Jones-Jang, S. M., Mortensen, T., & Liu, J. (2019). Does media literacy help identification of fake news? Information literacy helps, but other literacies don’t.American Behavioral Scientist, 1-18. Web.

Mele, N., Lazer, D., Baum, M., Grinberg, N., Friedland, L., Joseph, K.,… Mattsson, C. (2017). Combating fake news: An agenda for research and action. Web.

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