As we mark National News Literacy Week, I’ve been reflecting on Microsoft’s dedication to information and media literacy and the central position it performs in a wholesome info ecosystem. At Microsoft, we firmly consider that these are important life expertise and significant to preserving and strengthening democracy.
How individuals devour information has modified drastically prior to now 20 years, largely as a result of introduction of digital information and media, development of the tech sector and adjustments within the enterprise mannequin for native information. This evolution has introduced with it many benefits – the democratization and diversification of reports sources, quicker entry to breaking information, in addition to connections and insights into communities we’d not in any other case have beforehand been in a position to entry.
This digital evolution additionally brings with it new challenges for media shoppers, as the knowledge surroundings is huge, advanced and infrequently deceptive. When purported native information websites aren’t what they seem, and international propaganda machines are spreading false narratives throughout the globe, it’s straightforward to see why information shoppers have a tough time figuring out sources of knowledge and deciphering whether or not a supply is reliable. This is the context during which falsehoods unfold considerably quicker than fact, and during which belief and confidence within the media proceed to decline.
In a 2021 U.S. examine, the place round 3,500 college students had been offered six info literacy-related duties, the overwhelming majority struggled on all of them. Nearly 96% did not establish an internet site’s connection to a biased occasion and two-thirds had been unable to differentiate information tales from advertisements on a preferred web site’s homepage. These challenges will not be distinctive to younger individuals. In a 2020 international examine performed by Ipsos and The Trust Project, solely half of the 20,000 adults surveyed mentioned they fight to make sure the information they devour comes from reliable sources.
These will not be straightforward issues for society to resolve. Yet we all know that democracies thrive when there’s a vibrant city sq. filled with concepts and debate, significantly when the group is supported by a wholesome provide of journalism and reliable info. Democracies additionally thrive when the persons are knowledgeable, engaged and resilient.
To assist equip individuals to higher perceive and have faith within the info they devour, latest analysis has pointed to using info inoculation strategies that may be scaled and disseminated. Media literacy campaigns will not be designed to inform anybody what to consider or tips on how to suppose; somewhat, they’re about equipping individuals to suppose critically and make knowledgeable selections about what info they devour.
Microsoft’s info literacy efforts
In this difficult info surroundings, Microsoft firmly believes that empowering shoppers with the instruments mandatory to seek out, devour and share authoritative info is important to supporting wholesome info ecosystems and, due to this fact, thriving democracies.
In 2022, Microsoft elevated our funding in our Information Literacy Program, partnering with main information and media literacy non-profits, together with the News Literacy Project (NLP), a collaboration led by The Trust Project on the Trust Indicators and Verified to develop campaigns constructed on business analysis and finest practices. Microsoft supplied funding for the analysis and improvement of the campaigns in addition to menace intelligence insights, technical experience and in-kind advert area on Microsoft platforms to advertise the packages.
Together with these companions, Microsoft ran an info literacy marketing campaign throughout a number of of our platforms. Our post-campaign findings point out:
- Large numbers of shoppers are involved about being misled by inaccurate info or “tricked” into sharing inaccurate content material and really feel they lack wanted instruments.
- People who have interaction with info literacy content material exhibit a rise of their potential to establish false and deceptive info.
- Those who take part in info literacy schooling report being extremely more likely to share their data with their private community.
While every marketing campaign various in its particular objectives and strategies, the important thing outcomes included:
- An improved understanding concerning the explanations info is created: to doc occasions, to tell, to entertain, to impress feelings or one more reason.
- Increased potential to establish crimson flags resembling doable manipulated content material, private assaults or cherry-picked info.
- Further empowerment to behave, whether or not by creating strategies for validating sources or being empowered to establish an emotional response after which selecting to pause and never share.
We leveraged Microsoft’s information service Start and Outlook promoting banners to advertise NLP and Trust Indicators campaigns to a broad viewers of reports shoppers within the United States. Over 100 million shoppers had been reached with the above literacy messages and tens of 1000’s of these selected to additional their studying by clicking by to delve deeper into our associate campaigns.
News Literacy Project (NLP): Quiz -Do you will have an eye fixed for credibility? — News Literacy Project
Studies present that energetic participation can enhance a reader’s potential to identify deception. To activate customers, the NLP marketing campaign inspired grownup shoppers to undertake a brief quiz that checks an individual’s potential to establish why the knowledge they’re seeing is perhaps recognized as inaccurate. The quiz helps individuals higher establish present tendencies in on-line deception and demonstrates the complexity of the issue. For instance, just lately, individuals have been enhancing on-line footage of celebrities and altering the messages printed on their T-shirts or clothes. Typically, the editor does this to capitalize on the celeb’s recognition to garner assist for a selected motion or just to get free promoting for a product. The NLP quiz tackles this pattern.
The Trust Project: Quiz – The Trust Project
The Trust Indicators marketing campaign, a collaboration between The Trust Project, the Radio Television Digital News Association and the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public and Accelerating Social Transformation program, produced a quiz asking contributors to establish what traits would cause them to consider the information they’re studying is reliable. The questions and solutions within the quiz goal to tell individuals concerning the Trust Project’s 8 Trust Indicators, that are the eight core options of journalism that may assist readers assess the integrity of a information website.
Verified: Information Literacy Course
The challenges posed by propaganda campaigns and deceptive content material are international, and due to this fact the necessity for info literacy packages is common. As we work to develop our assist for info literacy packages, we first centered on Spanish-speaking populations outdoors of the U.S., because it was just lately revealed that these populations have been extremely focused by Russian media and propaganda. Microsoft’s 2022 Digital Defense Report just lately uncovered the scope and scale of the problem, highlighting that consumption of Russian propaganda information websites in Spanish is nearly double that of English language information.
To deal with this problem, we collaborated with Verified, a partnership between the United Nations and Purpose, to establish Spanish-speaking populations with heightened vulnerability. Working with distinguished organizations in Latin America, Verified recognized that younger individuals within the 16-25 age vary had been one of many teams significantly in danger. People on this age group are nonetheless forming their civic habits, so common publicity to false and deceptive info has the potential to disrupt their long-term civic engagement. Younger individuals had been seen to have a extra incidental, somewhat than directed, consumption of reports, leaping from one display screen to a different, “snacking” on bits of knowledge, which embrace footage of mates, posts by members of the family and information, leading to them spending much less time analyzing the content material.
The Microsoft-supported Verified marketing campaign invited college students aged 18-25 in city areas in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru to take part in an information literacy course, created in collaboration with wikiHow and Chequeado. The course aimed to empower people to acknowledge and counter propaganda in their very own networks, whereas elevating consciousness of the techniques and instruments utilized by unhealthy actors on-line.
Continued funding in info literacy and newsrooms
The want for information and data literacy schooling is extra necessary than ever as we proceed to see time spent on-line enhance, a development within the variety of those who primarily get their information through social media and a rise within the scale and class of international info affect campaigns.
Over the previous six months, Microsoft has dedicated monetary assets, menace intelligence insights, in-kind promoting area and technical experience as a part of our info literacy program and, in partnership with main literacy schooling suppliers, has produced cutting-edge analysis and finest practices on tips on how to create impactful media literacy campaigns. Going ahead, we plan to proceed to put money into info literacy packages, agency in our perception that media literacy is a vital life ability and significant to efficient civic participation within the digital age.
We will proceed to interact with our international companions to share findings, and we are going to construct on the learnings gleaned from those that lead on this area, such because the governments of Finland and Sweden, who’ve spent many years constructing whole-of-society info literacy packages.
And we are going to proceed our efforts to equip our customers with the instruments mandatory to seek out, devour and share info. For college students and academics, Microsoft has some thrilling bulletins coming throughout our Reimagine Education occasion on February 9.
While the proliferation of rumors and half-truths and the deliberate unfold of propaganda in our info surroundings can at instances really feel overwhelming, we’re heartened by the confirmed constructive influence information and media literacy schooling has had in response to those challenges. This National News Literacy Week, I encourage you to replicate on the important position information and data literacy performs in a democracy and invite you to take a look at a few of our associate assets resembling NLP’s eye for credibility quiz, which is a difficult, enjoyable and academic expertise!
For extra info on Microsoft’s Democracy Forward efforts, go to Democracy Forward – Protecting Democracy | Microsoft CSR