In the previous assignment, three potential solutions that can be used to combat the use of social media to disseminate fake news and misinformation were identified. These solutions include investing in technologies that can find fake news and identify it for users through algorithms and crowdsourcing, implementing stronger real-name policies and enforcement against fake accounts, and funding efforts to improve news literacy. These solutions differ in many aspects, such as ease of implementation and the degree of being realistic. Some are more realistic and easy to implement, while others are less realistic and hard to implement.
This paper will focus on one of the potential solutions –funding efforts to improve news literacy. This potential is more realistic or highly likely to succeed. More specifically, the paper will explore this potential solution and discuss how it can be implemented along with the potential challenges and advantages associated with the implementation of this solution. The paper will also discuss who will be impacted once this solution is implemented and the positive change that could result.
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To combat the use of social media to disseminate fake news and misinformation, funding efforts to enhance news literacy should be a high priority for educational institutions, government agencies, corporations and other organizations (West, 2017). Less literate and individuals going online for the first time are highly susceptible to consuming fakes news and disinformation. This is because this kind of individuals cannot distinguish false from real news (Brites & Pinto, 2017). They accept at face value every news information or social media post they see on social networking sites (SNSs) or digital news sites. In this regard, there is a need to educate them on how to evaluate news sources or social media posts. This will help them become better consumers of online information. As such, governments should fund efforts to enhance news literacy.
To implement this solution, governments should provide funds to support partnerships between journalists, corporations, educational institutions and other organizations to encourage news literacy (West, 2017). These organizations should educate their stakeholders and the general public on how to use social media, how to distinguish false from real news, and how to evaluate news sources, among other related issues. Through this, these organizations and educational institutions will help their stakeholders and the public become better consumers of online information. This is very vital considering that the world is moving towards digital immersion.
One of the main challenges associated with the implementation of this proposed solution is getting the funding as well as the attention for more media literacy programs (Buger & Davison, 2018). In addition, a wide range of literature suggests that some media or news literacy efforts have a little-to-no impact on certain materials. These challenges will limit the potential of media literacy initiatives. On the positive side, once this proposed solution is implemented it will result in the following advantages: it will help the public distinguish false from real news, evaluate news sources, and not accept at face value every news information or social media they seen of SNSs or digital news sites (West, 2017). In short, this proposed solution will help netizens become better consumers of online information. The positive social change associated with this proposed solution is that it will change the way people consume online information. People will stop relying on fake social media posts or disinformation as they will be able to differential fake from real news. In this regard, netizens will become better consumers of online information. This is very crucial in the current digital era.
References
Brites, M. J., & Pinto, M. (2017). Is there a role for the news industry in improving news literacy? Media Education Research Journal, 7 (2); 29-47.
Bulger, M., & Davison, P. (2018). The promises, challenges, and futures of media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 10 (1), 1-20.
West, D. M. (2017). How to combat fake news and disinformation. Brookings. [Online]. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-to-combat-fake-news-and-disinformation/
