In 2016, Stanford conducted a now oft cited study which found that a dismaying 80-90% of middle and high school students had a profoundly difficult time determining whether the information they were accessing online was real or fake (McEvers, 2016). In a time when more and more of the information we consume is from articles and news sources shared online and in social media, it is more important than ever that students practice excellent skills to critically examine sources for their credibility and merit before sharing and accepting them without questioning their validity and digging more deeply.
Students began with the questions what makes a news story? What makes a good news story? We then were able to build on that background to critically begin to analyze what makes a news story true and credible?
Lower school students at St Mary’s Academy have been studying news and media literacy over the past few weeks. First and second graders have been exploring what journalists do and how they look at all the sides of a story to ensure that news is balanced and tells all perspectives. They examine how news stories can be about our own communities, about people who are famous or well known, or about things that are interesting or unusual. Students explored stories and decided if they were newsworthy or not, and discussed and analyzed with a partner what makes stories matter to people.
Third through Fifth grade students took this learning a step deeper to begin to look at what makes news stories credible. Students learn how to take what they consume into a fact checking acronym CARRP, to evaluate an articles Currency  (When was it written and can you find other current articles or information to back it up), Accuracy (is the information factually correct, and how can you find out), Authority (who wrote the article and what are their credentials? What gives them authority to write about the topic?), Reliability (where is the article found and is the publication reliable?), and Purpose (Why was the article written? For a profit? To enlighten? To entertain?)
With these skills, students then analyzed four stories, two of which were true and two of which were false or satire, and determined which were which. Students also learned how to use fact checking websites, search deeper for more information, challenge existing confirmation biases, and use reverse image search to challenge the media they consume. These skills can be transferred not only to media literacy but also to deeper level research skills as students use credible evidence to make arguments and engage positively in our dynamic democracy.
McEvers, K. (Host). (2016, November 22). Stanford Study Finds Most Students Vulnerable To Fake News [Radio broadcast episode]. https://www.npr.org/2016/11/22/503052574/stanford-study-finds-most-students-vulnerable-to-fake-news