Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ A lens onto fake news

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

While the source of news matters, it is not the only thing that matters, and addressing the problem of fake news by having students investigate sources does not, in my view, substitute for a broader critical analysis of news. The weakness of this article - and so many like it, in my view - is that it focuses on source to the exclusion of pretty much all else. To be sure, this is good advice: " search laterally (about the source itself) rather than vertically (within the source itself)." We need to use freely available resources on critical thinking (not the Handbook of Epistemic Cognition, also referenced in this article, which costs $US 140). Sure, this won't stop the flood of fake news - but it might at least inoculate ourselves against it.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: May 02, 2024 10:23 p.m.

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