Who Is Exposed to News? It Depends on How You Measure: Examining Self-Reported Versus Behavioral News Exposure Measures

Despite the importance of news exposure to political outcomes, news consumption is notoriously difficult to measure, and misreporting news exposure is common. In this study, we compare participants' news behaviors measured on a news aggregator website with their self-reported story selection immediately after exposure. We find that both individual and contextual characteristics - especially the presence of political cues in news headlines - influence reporting of news story selection. As a result, the news audience profiles differ using self-reported versus behavioral measures, creating two different pictures of news exposure. More attention is needed to improve news measurement strategies to address misreporting and to improve the accuracy of news audience profiles

Empowering Users to Respond to Misinformation about Covid-19

The World Health Organization has declared that misinformation shared on social media about Covid-19 is an “infodemic” that must be fought alongside the pandemic itself. We reflect on how news literacy and science literacy can provide a foundation to combat misinformation about Covid-19 by giving social media users the tools to identify, consume, and share high-quality information. These skills can be put into practice to combat the infodemic by amplifying quality information and actively correcting misinformation seen on social media. We conclude by considering the extent to which what we know about these literacies and related behaviors can be extended to less-researched areas like the Global South

The COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook. A practical guide for improving vaccine communication and fighting misinformation

This handbook is for journalists, doctors, nurses, policy makers, researchers, teachers, students, parents – in short, it’s for everyone who wants to know more about the COVID-19 vaccines, how to talk to others about them, how to challenge misinformation about the vaccines. This handbook is self-contained but additionally provides access to a “wiki” of more detailed information

A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Measuring News Media Literacy

Measuring news media literacy is important in order for it to thrive in a variety of educational and civic contexts. This research builds on existing measures of news media literacy and two new scales are presented that measure self-perceived media literacy (SPML) and perceptions of the value of media literacy (VML). Research with a larger sample of college undergraduate students and a smaller sample of adults enabled the validation of these measures. Results confirm the value of conceptualizing news media literacy using the theoretical subcomponents of authors & audiences, messages & meaning, and representation & realities. The VML scale, in particular, proved especially consequential in predicting knowledge about and attitudes towards the media

Can News Literacy Help Reduce Belief in COVID Misinformation?

The rapid spread of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased calls for news literacy to help mitigate endorsement of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and other falsehoods. In two cross-sectional online surveys conducted in October 2020 (N = 1,502) and July 2021 (N = 1,330), this study examines relationships between news literacy, COVID-19 misinformation, conspiratorial thinking, and political orientation in the United States. The results show that individuals with higher levels of news literacy were more likely to reject COVID-19 misinformation and conspiratorial thinking, but also that news literacy matters more for individuals with liberal political views than conservative political views and is unevenly distributed across the study population with age, race, political orientation, and news diet as significant predictors of news literacy. Results suggest that improved news literacy could be part of a strategy to equip individuals to reject health misinformation, but varied approaches will be necessary to engage with disparate groups