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Long before “fake news” dominated the conversation within and about the media, media literacy advocates have championed the need for media literacy education that provides the tools for people to understand, analyze, and evaluate media messages. That the majority of U.S. adults now consume news on social media underscores the

Long before “fake news” dominated the conversation within and about the media, media literacy advocates have championed the need for media literacy education that provides the tools for people to understand, analyze, and evaluate media messages. That the majority of U.S. adults now consume news on social media underscores the importance for students of all ages to be critical users of media. Furthermore, the affordances of social media to like, comment, and share news items within one’s network increases an individual’s responsibility to ascertain the veracity of news before using a social media megaphone to spread false information. Social media’s shareability can dictate how information spreads, increasing news consumers’ role as a gatekeeper of information and making media literacy education more important than ever.

This research examines the media literacy practices that news consumers use to inform their gatekeeping decisions. Using a constant comparative coding method, the author conducted a qualitative analysis of hundreds of discussion board posts from adult participants in a digital media literacy Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to identify major themes and examine growth in participants’ sense of responsibility related to sharing news information, their feeling of empowerment to make informed decisions about the media messages they receive, and how the media literacy tools and techniques garnered from the MOOC have affected their daily media interactions. Findings emphasize the personal and contextual nature of media literacy, and that those factors must be addressed to ensure the success of a media literacy education program.
ContributorsRoschke, Kristy (Author) / Thornton, Leslie-Jean (Thesis advisor) / Chadha, Monica (Committee member) / Halavais, Alexander (Committee member) / Silcock, Bill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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The proliferation of fake news on social media has become a concern for manycountries due to its adverse effects on various areas, such as the economy, politics, health, and society. In light of the growing use of social media in Saudi Arabia, numerous media outlets actively utilize social media platforms to collect

The proliferation of fake news on social media has become a concern for manycountries due to its adverse effects on various areas, such as the economy, politics, health, and society. In light of the growing use of social media in Saudi Arabia, numerous media outlets actively utilize social media platforms to collect and disseminate news and information. As a result, Saudi journalists have faced various challenges, including the spread of fake news. Therefore, this study explores how Saudi journalists define and verify fake news published on social media and the challenges they face. Furthermore, this study explores journalists’ role perceptions in society concerning spreading fake news and how they can promote media literacy to the audience. This study employed in-depth qualitative interviews with 14 journalists from various Saudi printing and online newspapers. The thematic analysis of the interviews showed that Saudi journalists define fake news in several ways, encompassing three essential elements: source, content, and timing. In addition, the study found that journalists primarily use traditional verification practices to verify fake news published on social media, followed by new verification practices. The findings showed that Saudi journalists face challenges at all levels of the hierarchy of influence model. Moreover, the findings identify three different roles journalists perceive in society regarding fake news published on social media: disseminators, populist mobilizers, and interpreters. Lastly, the study found that journalists lack media literacy knowledge but are willing to cooperate with other government institutions to promote and distribute media literacy among the public.
ContributorsBasfar, Majed (Author) / Thornton, Leslie-Jean (Thesis advisor) / Silcock, B. William (Committee member) / Roschke, Kristy (Committee member) / Kim, Jeongeun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023