Hello.

My name's Mr. Ikomi.

I'm a teacher from London and I'm gonna be guiding you through today's lesson.

Let's get started.

Today's lesson is called "Should we Believe Everything We See in the Media?" It is part of the unit, "How Does the Media Affect Us?" By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how to tell if a media source is trustworthy and how to find reliable information.

Some of the key words we're gonna hear today are media.

This refers to forms of communication like radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and the internet.

Anything that reaches or influences people.

Trustworthy, this is something of someone who's able to be relied upon as honest and truthful.

And reliable information, this is knowledge communicated about a particular fact or subject often presented to us in the media that can be trusted, believed, and verified with external sources.

Keep an eye out for these words as we move through today's lesson.

We're going to start by thinking about is the media trustworthy? What does the word trust mean to you? Take a few seconds to think about this.

Trust is believing that someone or something is dependable, honest, or capable.

It means that you feel confident that someone that you trust will do what they say or act in a way that you expect.

It's about feeling safe to rely on someone or something without constantly worrying that they'll let you down, or tell you things that aren't true.

We often think of people that we care about as being trustworthy.

We build that relationship with them so we know we can rely on them.

If you trust someone or a piece of information, we label it as trustworthy.

For example, if you're a trustworthy person, it means that you're someone others can depend on because you are reliable, truthful, and consistent.

It's about proving to others that they can feel confident in you and know that you'll honour your commitments.

It's not something that just happens overnight.

Laura is asking Sophia, "Do you think that you are trustworthy?" Sophia says, "Yes, I'm very trustworthy because my friends and family can depend on me.

When I'm asked to help around the house, I'll do it without arguing.

If I need to be somewhere at a certain time, I'm always punctual.

You can rely on me to be consistent in my attitude and I don't lie.

I'm also honest.

I think that this makes me trustworthy." Let's tackle what we've done so far.

What words would we associate with the term trustworthy? Could it be A, inconsistent, B, honest, C, deceitful, or D, reliable? Choose all of the ones that apply.

Pause your video and do this now.

The correct answers were honest and reliable.

Well done if you got those right.

Trustworthy is something that we can think of as applying to people, but we can also apply it to the media.

Evidence that a media or a type of media might be trustworthy could be that it fact checks.

Lots of media outlets have whole teams that verify the facts that they are thinking about before publishing, making sure that the information we receive is accurate.

Investigative journalism, the media plays a really important role in uncovering stories and holding people in power into account.

They do this by investigating things that are going on.

How they handle mistakes.

Sometimes errors will occur, but a trustworthy media source will issue a correction when they have said something wrong.

Evidence that media might not be trustworthy could be misinformation risks.

There is a pressure to sometimes publish quickly or produce a shocking eye catching or attention grabbing story.

That might lead to spreading false or misleading stories.

If we can recognise that there is bias and agendas, some outs might favour specific political or social viewpoints.

That might lead to one-sided reporting.

Let's check what we've done so far.

True or false? Investigative journalism helps the media hold people in power to account.

Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is true.

Public perception of media trustworthiness can also help us understand how to assess the reliability of different media sources.

When I say public perception I mean what do the general public think about a particular thing.

The Ipsos Global Advisor "Trust in the Media" survey in 2019 showed what source of media people trust the most.

They asked whether they trusted it a great deal.

The results were as follows: new media, which might include things like social media, had a percentage of four; print media was trusted a great deal in 5%; broadcast media had 12%; and known people had 26%.

Those results highlight how people tend to trust personal sources, such as people they know, more than the more traditional media forms. Known people might be individuals within a person's personal network, maybe their family, friends, or colleagues.

These are the people that are familiar and trusted by an individual as opposed to media outlets or public figures.

Let's check what we've done so far.

According to the Ipsos Global Advisor Trust in the Media survey, which media source do people trust the most? Pause your video and choose your answer.

The correct answer was D, known people.

Let's put this into practise.

I'd like you to complete the table to outline two arguments for and against the question, Is the media trustworthy? Have a think about some of the arguments we've made so far.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to complete the table outlining some arguments for and against the statement is the media trustworthy.

Some arguments we could have made for could include fact-checking.

Lots of media outlets have teams to verify their facts before publishing.

They also use investigative journalism.

The media plays a vital role in uncovering stories and hold people in power to account.

On the other side, we might have argued, that there is bias or agenda.

Some sources may favour specific political viewpoints, and that could be one-sided.

We also have misinformation risks.

Sometimes the pressure to publish quickly can result in attention grabbing stories and spreading false or misleading information.

Next, I'd like you to look at the results from the Ipsos Global Advisor "Trust the Media" survey and answer the following questions.

Which source did people trust the most and why is that? What does known people mean in the context of this survey? And lastly, how could this information help you decide which media sources to trust? Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to answer some of the following questions about the Ipsos Global Advisor "Trust the Media" survey.

First, we were thinking about which source do people trust the most and why was that.

You could have said people trusted known people the most, with 26% saying they trusted them a great deal.

I think this is because people tend to trust their friends, family, and people they know personally more than strangers or media outlets.

This is likely because people feel they can rely on them to be honest.

Next, what does known people mean in this context? In the survey, known people refers to anyone you personally know, like family, friends or coworkers, that people you are familiar with and trust more than media sources or famous people that you don't personally know.

Last, how could this information help you decide which media source to trust? This information helps me think about the media sources that I trust.

Since known people are trusted more than things like new media or print media, I might want to check that people I know are saying about something before trusting it from the news.

Additionally, it makes me realise that I should be careful about who I get my information from.

Glad if you included some of that in answer.

Next, we're going to think about if what we consume in the media is accurate.

What we consume in the media is sometimes accurate, but it sometimes depends on the source.

Information that's not true, especially on social media, can spread very quickly around the world.

Therefore, we have to make precautions with what we consume.

With new technologies, everyone having phones, it means that sometimes information can proliferate.

Why can social media be less accurate than print and broadcast media? Some reasons include: in traditional media, content is generally fact-check before being published to ensure that it's accurate.

This might be things like newspapers or radio broadcasts.

However, in social media, information can be shared quickly without being verified.

This means that it might reach a large audience before it's even been checked.

Often it's up to us, the people who are consuming it, to report misinformation or flag content that we think might be harmful, rather than the media company doing the verification upfront.

This can sometimes lead to misleading or unreliable information spreading really quickly.

Once it's out there, it's hard to take back.

Sometimes we hear the term fake news.

We can actually describe this better with some alternative definitions: disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation.

These are all types of information that stop us from accessing accurate and reliable media.

Disinformation is information that's deliberately created to harm a person, group, or organisation.

Misinformation is information that is shared without knowing that it's false.

It's not created to cause harm that can still cause harm.

Malinformation is truthful information that's shared to deliberately harm a person or group.

Let's check these definitions.

Match up the word with the correct definition, pause your video and have a go at this now.

Let's check whether we've matched up our definitions correctly.

Disinformation is information that is deliberately created to harm a person, group, or organisation.

Misinformation is information shared without knowing that it's false, not created to cause harm necessarily.

And malinformation is truthful information that is shared to deliberately harm a personal group.

We're going to look at some real life examples that demonstrate these important terms. In 2014, fake stories claimed that violent clashes in Crimea were staged, aiming to justify the military actions.

This is an example of disinformation, deliberately false information.

In 2022, false claims about Queen Elizabeth II's death spread days before it actually happened.

This is an example of misinformation.

It's false, but spread unintentionally.

In 2017, hacked campaign emails were leaked to embarrass a political candidate.

This is malformation, true but used in a way that is aimed to cause harm.

These examples show the varied ways that media information can be manipulated or misused.

They highlight the importance of us verifying information before we just accept or share it.

The media is a powerful tool for people to spread information, misinformation, disinformation, and malformation unfortunately could be part of that.

You have to think carefully before believing everything you consume in the media.

Let's do another check.

Why is it important to verify information before believing its content or sharing it? Is it A, the media always gives us accurate information; B, misinformation, disinformation, and malformation can spread quickly; or C, social media is always trustworthy.

Pause your video and choose your answer.

The correct answer is B.

Well done if you got that right.

Let's try and match the word with the relevant example.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

Let's check our answers.

Disinformation refers to someone starting a rumour on social media accusing a celebrity of being racist.

Misinformation refers to a celebrity that shared a news article without realising it included offensive comments.

And malformation could look like pages from a celebrity's diary that are published in a newspaper without their permission.

Well done if you got those right.

Let's put this into practise.

I'd like you to explain in one paragraph, if what we consume in the media is always accurate, I'd like you to include some of the key words we've seen already: misinformation, disinformation, and malformation.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to explain in a paragraph if what we consume in the media is always accurate.

You might have included some of the following in your answer.

What we see in the media is not always accurate because there's lots of misinformation, disinformation, and malformation out there.

Disinformation is when people purposefully spread false information to trick others, like fake stories about politicians.

Misinformation is when false information is shared by accident.

People might believe it's true, which can cause mass confusion.

Malformation is when real information is used in a way that harms someone like leaking someone's private emails to damage their reputation.

That's why it's important to always check where the information comes from and be careful about what we believe, as not everything in the media can be considered trustworthy.

Well done if you included some of that in your answer.

Last, we're going to think about how we can get access to reliable information.

It's so important that we learn tools to spot if we're seeing disinformation, misinformation or malformation because some of the harmful outcomes that can happen if we don't.

This skill is called digital literacy, or sometimes media literacy.

It's an important skill within citizenship.

It means that we are able to critically engage with our sources and think about whether they are likely to be true or not.

We shouldn't just believe everything we hear or see right away.

We need to ask questions, check if the information makes sense and look at lots of different sources to validate that information.

By using your critical thinking skills when you consume media, you can make smarter decisions and avoid being tricked.

We can use the REVIEW Model as a process for thinking about all of the information that we are seeing.

This involves looking at the source in a more critical way.

We're going to think about each stage of the REVIEW Model next.

First, let's check what we've done so far.

What is the model called that can be used in citizenship to spot disinformation, misinformation, and malformation? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is C, the REVIEW Model.

Let's look into that a bit deeper.

R stands for reputation.

When we consume media, we should decide how reputable it is.

That means asking yourself whether: you've heard of the source before, have they been reliable before, do they have a good reputation, do other people trust them? A reputable media out outlet checks facts carefully and reports on stories responsibly.

It also admits and corrects mistakes when they happen, showing accountability to its audience.

This proves that they have reliable information.

Next, evidence.

To spot disinformation, misinformation, and malformation is vital to look at the evidence that's being provided.

We might ask ourselves what facts have been cited? Are there any holes or gaps within the information they're providing? How much evidence have they given you that is true? Is it just one source? Look for references, data, or studies that also support the claims. Be cautious of exaggerated claims or things that are trying to make you believe a certain point of view.

Make sure that information is timely shared.

That means that it's recent.

Make sure that it's also relevant.

Investigating the evidence in a piece of media is gonna help you decide whether or not it's true.

Next, we have to verify.

When we verify a source, we check that the information is accurate compared to other sources, so that means we can compare the facts across different reliable sources.

If they're consistent, then we're likely to have more trustworthy information.

For example, we might find a post on social media and not be sure whether it's reliable.

Therefore, we could search the information on official websites to crosscheck it and see if they're reporting the same thing.

You can also use fact checking platforms and refer to primary sources, such as the original research or official reports.

This verifies the information.

Ask yourself, does everything that you are looking at match up? If it does, it's more likely to be true.

Next, we have to think about the intent of the article or source.

Ask yourself, why was the source published? Is it trying to convince you of a certain way of thinking or promote a product? Is it factual, impartial, or does it feel one-sided? Then decide if you think it's a fair representation of the topic.

Whether or not is trying to persuade you of something by misleading you with potentially inaccurate information.

Next, we need to consider emotions.

These can be really important in check on whether information is reliable.

We need to make sure we're not being swayed by our feelings about an issue.

Think about how do we feel about the source.

How does the author want you to feel? Does it use emotive language, the language that makes you appeal to your emotions? Then we can think about whether our emotions have prevented us from realising that this piece doesn't necessarily contain accurate or reliable information.

Lastly, when we've done all of the above, we have to weigh it up.

Consider all of the evidence we've gathered and make our final decision about whether or not this source is reliable.

When this part of the model is complete, we should have a good idea if the media with work consuming is accurate, honest, and trustworthy, and if it contains reliable information.

I'd like you to fill in the missing words in the sentence.

Pause your video and have a go at this.

We'll check the full sentence in a second.

Let's check the answers.

The REVIEW Model helps you to spot disinformation, misinformation, or malinformation.

This can be used for any source in the media and helps us to access reliable information.

Well done if you've got those right, let's put this into practise.

I'd like you to match the part of the REVIEW Model with the question that it would ask.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

Let's check our answers.

I asked you to match up the part of the REVIEW Model with the question that might help us ask.

Reputation, we might ask who is publishing this? Evidence, we might ask, what are the facts? Verify, we might ask, what can I fact check? Intent, why are they publishing this? Emotions, how does this make me feel? And lastly, weigh it up, what do I think overall? Well done if you got those right.

Next, I'd like you to write a paragraph explaining the REVIEW Model and why it's important to use when consuming the media.

Lucas is reminding us what the different letters within the REVIEW Model stand for.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to explain the REVIEW Model and tell me why it's important that we use this when consuming media.

You might have included some of the following in your answer.

The REVIEW Model helps people critically evaluate information in the media to decide if it's reliable.

It stands for reputation, how trustworthy the source is; evidence, what facts or data back it up; verify, check if the information is true; intent, understanding why the message has been shared; emotions, noticing if anything is trying to make you feel a certain way; and weigh it up, thinking about everything before deciding.

This model is important because it helps you to spot disinformation, misinformation, and malformation.

The REVIEW Model ensures that you are informed by consuming accurate, trustworthy, and reliable information.

Well done if you included some of that in your answer.

Today we have been thinking about, should we believe everything we see in the media? We've learned that the media can be considered trustworthy because many outlets have teams dedicated to verifying facts before publishing and engaging in investigative journalism to ensure the information we consume is accurate and reliable.

The information we consume in the media is sometimes accurate, but it depends on the source.

There's lots of disinformation, misinformation, and malformation in the media we must be aware of in order to interpret it correctly and then we can decide whether it's trustworthy.

To spot misinformation, you can use the Association for Citizenship teachings resource called the REVIEW Model.

It stands for reputation, evidence, verify, intent, emotions, and weigh it up.

It teaches us the questions we need to ask when consuming the media.

That's the end of today's lesson.

Thank you for joining me.