This course is designed to help you understand information disorder in the digital age, the application of advanced search techniques while gathering news on social media, contextualising and verifying digital information, and navigating through the challenges and responsibilities in such a digital information ecosystem. The course is divided into six units:
Unit 1 introduces the concepts of information disorder, as well as of misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information
Unit 2 explains the types of misinformation and disinformation, and how these contribute to the information disorder
Unit 3 explores the basics of newsgathering on social media and talks about ethical considerations and responsibilities while reporting on misinformation
Unit 4 demonstrates how to gather news on social media, using Advanced search techniques (Google advanced search). It will also introduce you to the concept of Boolean search operators and how to use them
Unit 5 demonstrates how to gather news on social media, using Advanced search techniques (Google alerts, Facebook graph search, Twitter advanced search, etc.)
Unit 6 demonstrates how to verify and contextualize online information. It will introduce to five pillars of verification and some digital tools and skills required for them
About Instructors
Sadaf Khan:
Sadaf Khan is a development professional with 17 years of experience in journalism and media/internet development. She is the co-founder of Media Matters for Democracy and the Managing Editor of Digital Rights Monitor, Pakistan’s only news website focused on Internet Development and Digital Rights. At MMfD Khan oversees program activities, looking after programmatic efforts in areas of media development, media and information literacy, digital rights and internet governance. She has authored and edited various research publications focused on different aspects of media and internet policy and experience. She holds a graduate degree in Media, Communication and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science, which she attended as a Chevening Scholar.
Momina Mindeel:
Momina Mindeel is a Program Manager at Media Matters for Democracy. She is currently working on understanding and countering information disorder in digital spaces. Mindeel has 5 years of work experience in journalism, media development and digital innovation. She is a Fulbright alumna who recently graduated with a master’s in innovation journalism (Studio 20) from New York University. While in New York, she worked on several audience-centric research projects, where she was also involved in usability testing and audience engagement. Mindeel writes about culture, lifestyle and social issues. She is also interested in personal essay, and covering the food world. She tweets at @mmindeel
Aroosa Shaukat:
Aroosa Shaukat is a journalist with ten years of work experience in local print, digital and, television news media. She has reported on politics, governance, social development, and human rights. During the past decade, she has worked at The Express Tribune, Dunya News, Indus News, and The News on Sunday. She is a Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow.
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Welcome
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Understanding Information Disorder
In this unit we will explore the information disorder and look at why its important to understand the polluting of the information ecosystem. We will also look at misinformation, disinformation and malinformation, and why as journalists its important to understand these concepts.
- The world of information disorder
- What is misinformation, disinformation and malinformation?
- Quiz Question
- Understanding misinformation
- The story of disinformation
- Quiz Question
- Unpacking malinformation
- Difference between mis and disinformation
- Quiz Question
- Are journalists ready for this challenge?
- Reading
- Written Response
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Types of Misinformation and Disinformation
This unit will look at the seven types of misinformation and disinformation. We will look at some examples to understand each type, and also how these contribute to the information disorder.
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Basics of Newsgathering
- Use of social media for journalism
- Written Response
- Online information and journalistic guidelines
- Written Response
- Challenges to journalism in a digital world
- Online Newsgathering
- Crowdsourcing
- Written Response
- Are digital platforms more vulnerable to misinformation?
- Information ecosystem’s challenges
- Written Response
- Social media, information and responsibility
- Social media and trust networks
- Responsible reporting on misinformation
- Tip Sheet
- Amplification of misinformation and disinformation 1
- Amplification of misinformation and disinformation 2
- Tip Sheet
- Deciding the right time to cover
- Setting the narrative
- Tip Sheet
- Readings
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Newsgathering on Social Media
This unit will demonstrate how to gather news on social media, using Advanced search techniques (Google advanced search). It will also introduce you to the concept of Boolean search operators and how to use them.
- Readings
- Tip Sheet – Basics of using social media for newsgathering
- Written Response
- Online newsgathering, keywords and sources (Recap)
- Boolean Search operators
- Boolean Search operators (cont.)
- Quiz Question
- Hashtags
- Using advanced search options on Google
- Quiz Question
- Using the google advanced search form
- Quiz Question
- Tip Sheet – Google Advanced Search
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Advance Search Techniques for Newsgathering
This unit will demonstrate how to gather news on social media, using Advanced search techniques (Google alerts, Facebook graph search, Twitter advanced search, etc.)
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Verifying Online Information
In this unit, we'll learn how to verify and contextualize online information. It will introduce to five pillars of verification and some digital tools and skills required for them.
- Introduction (Pillars of Verification)
- Provenance
- Provenance Demonstration
- Quiz Question
- Source
- Date
- Quiz Question
- Location
- Geolocation Challenge
- Motivation
- Verification Challenge
- Written Response
- Readings
- Tip Sheet – Verification on Social Media
- Tip Sheet (Urdu)
- Tip Sheet – Spot Fake Images
- Additional Resources
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Just the Vax: An Infodemic Management Workshop for Journalists©
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