Seth Ashley, an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Media, presented on Tuesday Sept. 15 an Idaho Humanities Council Connected Conversation titled “Beyond Fake News: News Literacy and the Informed Citizen.” The webinar can be viewed here.
Program Description: In the age of information, why is so hard to be a well-informed citizen? Developing our news literacy can help us navigate the media landscape, and that means more than checking facts and spotting hoaxes. Yes, facts are important, but we also need a broader understanding of how news and information are produced and consumed in the digital age. What’s happening to real news, and how is it constructed? Are you in a filter bubble, and how can you break out? Are you the customer or the product in the attention economy, and how can citizens reclaim their power? Drawing on history, psychology, sociology, and politics, this conversation can help you increase your news literacy and teach others to do the same.