The term fake news is problematic in that it鈥檚 defined differently by different audiences.

Some people use it synonymously with mis- and disinformation and talk especially about the mal-intent and manipulative nature of information. Others use it to refer to information that is contrary to their point of view. When you have a term that can be used in multiple ways like that, it becomes essentially meaningless.   

The distinction between misinformation and disinformation has to do with intent.

If someone鈥檚 misinformed, there isn鈥檛 that intent behind the incorrect information. It鈥檚 almost accidental. Whereas disinformation has the intent  to manipulate or cause harm.  

We live in a world where we鈥檙e incentivized to take shortcuts.

If we had to evaluate every piece of information that came our way, we wouldn鈥檛 be able to function. The problem comes when we overuse those shortcuts.  

We鈥檙e also cognitively biased in the sense that we want information that agrees with our point of view. We pick and choose our sources, and we don鈥檛 necessarily evaluate information that comes from people who are like minded. So we keep having this one-sided diet of information. We spread it to further like-minded people using social media, for example, and that鈥檚 how it catches on.   

As librarians, our bread and butter is teaching students how to evaluate the information they find.

So what do we do about it?   

For the most part, what we鈥檙e seeing are technology and political solutions. It鈥檚 not uncommon to see tech executives brought to testify before Congress. To a very much lesser extent, we鈥檙e seeing educational solutions proposed. That鈥檚 what my research looks at: who are considered experts when it comes to mis- and disinformation in a national newspaper article. I鈥檝e coded who鈥檚 quoted in each news story in a national newspaper about disinformation or fake news since November 2016 all the way through the end of 2022. I looked at their gender and what solutions they propose.  

I found that overwhelmingly they are tech executives, they are politicians and coming in third are professors or academics. And what I found is educators鈥� voices are not represented in the national media. Of about 750 quotes, teachers and librarians represented a little over 1%.  

... what I found is educators鈥� voices are not represented in the national media. Of about 750 quotes, teachers and librarians represented a little over 1%.  

As librarians, our bread and butter is teaching students how to evaluate the information they find and prepare them for this information ecosystem that they鈥檙e in.  

A lot of times students come to Towson University with these assumptions about information, shortcuts they鈥檝e been taught: If it鈥檚 a .com, it鈥檚 bad. If it鈥檚 a .org or a .gov, it鈥檚 good. I try to disrupt that notion. You can鈥檛 judge the quality of information based on its domain. 

I encourage them through an exercise where they look at different search methods to ask why the author created the information. What does the author have to gain if the reader believes what they鈥檙e saying? And I tell journalism students, 鈥淭his is of critical importance to you because you lend your credibility to your sources. If you are citing something that isn鈥檛 credible, you become not credible and that hurts your reputation.鈥� It helps our students identify with the need to really think about the sources they cite because it becomes personal.  

I鈥檓 hopeful that as librarians continue to successfully teach students how to identify credible information, the national conversation will shift to recognize education as an effective solution to our ongoing mis- and disinformation challenges.

I teach a mass communication 101 course about the role of influencers in purchasing decisions. Students can often readily recall when they鈥檝e seen a product in their social media feeds that was less than what an influencer claimed it to be. I then use that conversation to get them thinking about other areas where information credibility may not be all it initially seems, such as politics and health.  

I also encourage them to look at advertisements. A lot of times students assume, 鈥淥h, it has ads, it鈥檚 bad.鈥� And I say, 鈥淲ell, no, you鈥檝e got to look at where the ads go because national brands aren鈥檛 going to risk their reputation on something that鈥檚 not legitimate.鈥�   

You also want to look at where the links go because our brains assume a link goes back to that original source. And the problem is nefarious websites load their stories with links to appear credible, but when you hover over those links, they go to the site鈥檚 store, for example, where they鈥檙e trying to sell you their miracle cure.

I鈥檓 hopeful that as librarians continue to successfully teach students how to identify credible information, the national conversation will shift to recognize education as an effective solution to our ongoing mis- and disinformation challenges.

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of 91影视破解版 Magazine.