Fact check for school children for what’s fake news and what’s not
A new report, co-written by QUT, shows more than half of Australian school children consuming news on the internet hardly ever or never check if it’s fake.
The outcome of the conference was to come up with recommendations as to how to develop a national media literacy action plan so young people develop media skills.
“It is really important that young people engage thoughtfully with news stories,” A/Prof Dezuanni said.
“The majority of young people value the role of news but also believe that the media does not understand them or accurately represent them.
“News made specifically for young people can address this problem by including young people in discussions about important issues and concerns.”
A/Prof Dezuanni said the survey showed young people were unsure about how to check the accuracy of news stories.
“Only a small number of young people regularly check to see who produced news stories they see on social media,” he said.
His advice to check the believability of news included:-
Identify the source of a news story – if it’s not produced or distributed by a recognised news organisation, it’s right to question its truthfulness
Find references to a story in mainstream media, particularly through a reputable source like the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
Try to see if the story has been reported by several news agencies – if it has not, it is less likely to be true.
The report also found when it came to using social media to get news, the difference between younger children and teens was stark.
For teens, Facebook was by far the most popular social media site for getting news, with over 51 per cent using it for this purpose, which was followed by YouTube on 30 percent and Instagram on 22 per cent and Snapchat on 21 per cent.
The report also found that 81 per cent of young people felt they could talk to their parents about news stories that upset or distressed them.
QUT Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska, a world-leading air quality expert, has been elected as a member of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Public health strategies must begin at pre-conception and early childhood to attain optimum lung function for the world’s Indigenous Peoples who bear a higher burden of chronic respiratory disease, say an international research team in a review published in Lancet Respiratory Medicine.