Starting in November, I will be delivering a series of library lessons for years 7-9 on fake news, how to spot a fake news story, how to avoid falling for one and how to understand its impact around the world.
To start, I'm going to give the students a laminated handout, seen below.
Students will be given board markers and asked to circle or underline anything they think is off with this news story. Anything that makes it suspicious.
There are eight main issues with it:
1. The URL is suspicious, it ends in .com.co
2. It uses "Breaking News" as its headline, a red flag often used to gather attention rather than provide a well balanced story.
3. There are three spelling mistakes
4. It uses emotional language "Truly shocking" and several exclamation points are scattered throughout.
5. It discusses a "psychology study" and an "interview with a scientist" but provides no references for these sources.
6. It also quotes a headteacher but does not provide their name or school.
7. It contradicts itself - it says that the PM spoke to Real News reporters and in the next breath it says that the PM revealed this information in front of a "packed Downing Street".
8. The date is wrong
I will see how many the students can spot within five minutes.
We will then have a discussion around web sites like this, covering the language used, the emotions, grammar mistakes, lack of sources and so on.
I will next show them the following image and ask students how it makes them feel.
I am predicting many of the students will explain how it makes them sad and angry about the climate crisis, and it should. However, I will point out that this image has been doctored to make them feel those exact emotions.
The original image is below:
It's true that even the original image is startling and depressing. However, my point is that any image can be altered to make you feel something. That's what fake news is all about in my opinion, creating a knee-jerk reaction in people, making them angry, upset and afraid.
I'm then going to ask the students the following questions:
Why do you think people share fake news?
What do you think the impact of fake news is on society?
I'm looking for answers like "It can harm your health" (anti-mask / anti vaccine)
"It can spread racist ideas"
"It spreads fear"
"It can make you spend your money"
I will then ask them to call back to the first sheet we looked at and see who can remember at least three ways to spot a fake news story.
I will end on this fake news quiz, each question is an actual headline that has, in some cases, been shared millions of times around the world, often by major news outlets and celebrities. The fact that these news headlines exist is not in question, I'm asking the students if they believe the content or not. Some are true, some are not.
I have included an answer key at the bottom of the quiz,
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