Well, I must admit a typical day of reading and making sense of news, information and media looks a lot different for me than it used to, now that I am a full-time teacher and mom. And also now that smartphones have come into our lives. I used to be a news junkie (heck, I still am) reading a printed newspaper each morning (yes, I am that old), and even reading obituaries (a bit weird, right?), and perusing through flyers that came with the paper. Today, living in a rural community, we don’t get printed newspapers anymore, so my news comes from the Apple News+ app (from a variety of sources – CBC News, CTV news, Global news, Reuters to name a few).
My Morning Scroll
Typically, in the morning I will check my emails and scroll through the news app to see what is happening in the world. This course and its weekly topics has me thinking more about how I process this information – what viewpoint is the News+ app algorithm presenting me with today? I am starting to piece together a lot of the course material, from thinking about the media bias chart from a few weeks ago, to thinking about how I critically evaluate the content I consume. I have also started to consider the news of the world at large – when I see information on the war on Ukraine, I am certainly checking the sources first as there is undoubtedly much misinformation and disinformation stemming from the events taking place. It’s not like I am sharing this information publicly, but I don’t want to be reading about mistruths only to find out the truth in due time. The news is really coming at us so quickly.
Information Coming from Mariupol
One article that I connected with was this one: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-russia-war-mariupol-first-person-1.6391816
It chronicled the dangerous and daring work of Associated Press journalists in Mariupol, a city in ruins in Ukraine and their escape from Russians who were trying to stop them from photographing, filming and sharing images from the city. The images that they captured recently in the shelled city have been shared around the world. One that caught my attention was that of a pregnant woman being carried out of a maternity hospital on a stretcher. The journalists later learned that she and her baby died. Opposing information sources claimed that she was an actor and that the images were fake. It is concerning to think of the misinformation and disinformation that people are seeing around the world surrounding the war in Ukraine. If these journalists had not been in Mariupol to document the events taking place, the people being hurt, valuable information would not be reaching the world just yet. We would be left to look at the satellite images coming out of that city right now to prove what is happening. It really is a crazy and dark time to be analyzing such news information.
The article recommended by Cymone this week, Defining “Fake News”, highlights the fact that social media platforms as news sources add an element of popularity which can propagate unverified information quickly to the masses. For example, with each like, share, comment, scroll and article read, the apps push that information out to more people. Thus, non-critical viewers and unwary users, including some students, will be susceptible to information that is unverified and potentially harmful. We are all susceptible to this information and as such we must analyze and validate it to the best of our ability. I’m sure at times we all can be easily persuaded to believe something if we aren’t careful. I have noticed the news articles reporting on the war in Ukraine are using statements like “not yet verified” or “could not confirm,” which highlights the nature of how information is being gathered and shared in times like these.
What do you think?
How do you validate information from news sources, especially surrounding tough topics like the war in Ukraine?
I think most of us start our day by scrolling through our phones and reading the news as much as possible. A typical day of my life also starts the same…
Well, in order to validate the information that I read on digital platforms, I prefer to read more and research about the topic/news which I think is misinformation. I try to read for the sources which I believe are genuine…
Thanks Shristy for your reply. I agree, we do our best to read our news from sources that we believe to be genuine and fact based. And your reply has me wondering, do middle years and high school students start their day by scrolling through their phones to read the news of the world? Or is it mostly just to catch up on social content (ie: what their friends and those they follow have posted)? I’m curious to know at what age do we become interested in the news of the world? Thanks for your reply.
I think that I could spend more time being better at focusing some of my time on learning about current events or news that is happening in the world. My mornings are often so crazy, trying to get myself and a toddler ready for the day, off to daycare, and to school in time to supervise all before my day begins. I don’t feel as if I have as much time as I once did to allocate to learning about what is happening in the world. I miss it. I feel like I am missing out on learning too. But I also know that I need to balance my plates or else I won’t do a very good job at anything if I spread myself too thin. This is something that I hope to get better at and spend more time on.