Importance of media literacy during midterm elections

How do you know if what you’re reading or seeing or hearing about an elected official or a political candidate is true? 

It can be difficult to tell, and if you don’t trust the media, it can be frustrating. 

While trust must be earned, there are far too many voters who only trust media they agree with, which is a dangerous precedent. 

According to Mary Miller, the education services director for the New York Newspaper Foundation’s New Media Literacy program, we all need to be critical consumers of news media.

“Don’t just react. Don’t just question. Dig deeper,” she told Capital Tonight. 

Her advice to those of us who consume news on social media is to follow professional journalists. 

“A professional journalist is someone who is paid by a news organization, someone who generates their income by being a professional journalist, someone who can get a press pass,” she explained. “Professional journalists who use social media are going to share authentic sources.”

While consuming news from newspapers is the best way to become knowledgeable about policy and politics (and other issues), over half of U.S. adults say they at least sometimes get news from social media, according to the Pew Research Center. 

For those consumers, Miller has a warning about algorithms.

“It’s called a filter bubble. Algorithms feed you what you like. It will give you ice cream all the time,” she said.

Instead, she recommends searching for news and information using “DuckDuckGo,” a search engine that doesn’t use traditional algorithms the way Google or Bing does. 

“They are not driving their revenue by sending you what you want and trying to keep you engaged for a longer period of time,” she explained. “All algorithms are trying to monetize the site.”

If you’re interested in learning more about media literacy, this Wednesday, July 29, the Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls will be hosting Miller who will deliver a lecture titled, “Fact-Checking for All.”

The lecture starts at 6 p.m. and will be moderated by former Glens Falls Post Star journalists Ken Tingley and Will Doolittle. For more information, visit https://crandall.librarycalendar.com/

Miller had another tip for news consumers: If you can’t tell if an ad or a statement is true or false, check it by visiting fact-finding websites like “Politifact” or “Snopes.”

Here are a few more:  https://library.csi.cuny.edu/misinformation/fact-checking-websites

She also urges news consumers to be continually vigilant and curious. 

“Stay engaged. More and more people are disengaging from media saying it’s all fake,” she said.  “And we’re going to be way worse off for it.”