1. Active Citizens: Being Media Literate

2. Media Literacy If we want to be active citizens we need to know what is happening in the world around us. Where are the best places to get this information?

3. Reliability 1.Where do you get your news information from? TV, radio, newspapers, internet news sites, Facebook, Twitter, blogs 2. Which sources of news are the most reliable?

4. During the campaign for the 2010 general election which political party did the following newspapers support?

5. Case Study 1 UKIP leader Nigel Farage was named “Briton of the Year” by The Times newspaper at the end of 2014. 1.What do you think of this tweet, which was sent out following the news? 2.What does the number of retweets tell us? 3.Do you think this tweet is accurate?

6. Twitter and the “Briton of the Year” The blogger Mark Pack could not find any evidence to support the statement that Oswald Mosely was pronounced “Briton of the Year” in 1934. He asked the person who first made this claim on Twitter if it was accurate. His response…

7. Twitter and “Briton of the Year” 1.What does this tell us about the reliability of Twitter as a source of news? 2.Does a large number of retweets mean a piece of information is correct? 3.How can you investigate to ensure the accuracy of what you read on Twitter (and other social media)?

8. Case Study 2 1.What is your reaction to this newspaper headline? 2.Why have they decided to report this story in this way? 3.The Daily Mail sells approximately 1,700,000 copies each day. Only The Sun sells more copies. Can we trust stories such as this to be accurate?

9. Context The Home Office did publish a report which stated that there were “3,980 foreign nationals in the UK subject to deportation action”. Some of these will have committed murders or rapes but most had committed other crimes. The government said that they were continuing to pursue these criminals “in all these cases”. Removal was often difficult as there was “insufficient evidence of nationality and identity to obtain a travel document, ongoing legal challenges and the situations in countries of return.”

10. Correction When the error was pointed out, The Daily Mail issued the following correction: “The headline of an article on 3 January suggested that there are 4,000 foreign murderers and rapists in the UK who cannot be deported. We are happy to clarify that, as the article stated, the figure in fact refers to 3,980 foreign criminals, including murderers and rapists, who are currently subject to deportation orders.” The apology was printed here, at the bottom of page 4. Do you think that newspapers should be forced to give more prominence to their clarifications or corrections?

11. Case Study 3 Often small errors can have a big impact on the meaning of a story. In 2003 The Guardian had a story in which Sir Jack Hayward, the chairman of Wolverhampton Wanderers was quoted saying, “Our team was the worst in the First Division and I’m sure it’ll be the worst in the Premier League”. He had actually just declined the offer of a hot drink and said: “Our tea was the worst in the First Division and I’m sure it’ll be the worst in the Premier League”.

12. Politicians and the Media Are these examples of political spin? After watching this video, consider:this video 1.What role has the media come to play in politics? 2.Can politicians “use” the media to their advantage?

13. What does this mean for us? 1.Don’t believe everything you read! 2.When reading press articles use a “critical eye”. Has the journalist got an agenda? What is fact and what is their opinion? 3.Don’t take “facts” and figures for granted. Reporters and journalists make mistakes. 4.Question: Who is the author? What/who do you they want you to think the article is about? What/who is it really about?