Discussion “How To Choose Your News” (IMI-M5-01-EN)

• To dwell on the truthfulness of information sources
• To consider civic responsibility in sharing information
• To stimulate reflection on information disorder
• To stimulate critical thinking

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• Students
• Adolescent youth
• Educators, trainers, councillors, youth workers
• Any citizen

The activity stimulates the participants to consider the process in which they choose news and gather information in general. It can be performed as a group exercise as well as self-reflective individual assignment.

Introduction (10 minutes)

The facilitator opens the activity by showing the TED Talk titled "How to Choose Your News" (https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ted+talks+on+media+ethics&&view=detail&mid=A9B92CFBDAA0C0468698A9B92CFBDAA0C0468698&&FORM=VDRVRV). The talk is a brief and to-the-point presentation about contemporary media, introducing topics such as media manipulation, recognizing biases through timing and language, fact-checking or questioning the truth and depth of stories from various media sources.

Discussion (20 minutes)

The facilitator asks the participants to write down their current sources of news stories, both traditional media or trending social media. The choices are written down on a flipchart or a piece of paper.

Each participant is invited to share her/his selection and reply to the following questions:

• What motivated the selection of that source(s)?
• Why they considered the source trustworthy
• Were they able to identify the story's author
• What additional research did they conduct to confirm the story's accuracy?
• How frequently have they shared, retweeted, or posted a story without verifying its authenticity or reliability?
• Have they ever discovered later on that the story they shared was false? If yes, how did they respond?

Debriefing (5 minutes) 

The facilitator wraps up the discussion by asking the participants to reflect on our ethical and civic responsibility as co-creators and multiplier of information in the on-line environment and on the personal responsibility to safeguard the truth of what we read and report.

• Electronic appliance (s) with Internet access
• Sheets of paper and pens/pencils
• Flipchart

• Guidance
• Active listening
• (Self-)Reflection
• Discussion

• Start the activity with a 5-munute introduction, explaining the mode of conduct within the group – respect, tolerance, listening without interruption
• The subtitles of the video can be auto-translated. Instructions: Go to the Settings, choose Subtitles/CC, enable auto-translate (last option) and choose your language. If auto-translate option does not appear, choose first English (auto-generated) and then auto-translate. 

ODC Module Series on Integrity and Ethics, Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment (2017), Retrieved from https://grace.unodc.org/grace/en/academia/module-series-on-integrity-and-ethics.html

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