Education of Fake News

Keeping with the theme of change, I found a rather interesting article on The Guardian written by Haroon Siddique, in which he reports on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's call for education of children on fake news. Andreas Schleicher, the leader of the organization said that teachers, always meant to guide children, are the right choice to pass along this knowledge on how to spot fake news and tell the difference between it and real news.


I absolutely support this cause. Every single day, on Facebook and Twitter, I see countless articles shared and tweeted, spreading news from non-reputable sources. I've even seen article shared, in all seriousness, from well-known satirical news site The Onion. Because of how easily news is shared on social media sites like Facebook, I think people are becoming more and more ignorant.








Teaching children at a young age the steps to take to verify news sources, and teaching them the difference between real and fake news, could change things on a grand scale. With fake news understood, future adults will vote differently. Presidents and laws will be implemented based on facts, rather than rhetoric.









The basics for spotting fake news.




The article highlights Schleicher saying that it is unlikely that a new curriculum will be created for this type of learning exercise, but rather the building of skills already being developed in the education system.


Can you imagine what our world could be if people were educated when making decisisons that not only affect themselves, but perhaps our entire world?


Children are the future. They should have the knowledge to be.

Youtube TV - A New Media for the New Media Generation??

Every blog post I create is a discussion on a new form of media and how it affects us. This week, I thought I would take on a different story from my usual feel-good genre.  Let's look at something media related, but not necessarily in the Social Media Soldiers category.

According to a Time article by Lisa Eadicicco, YouTube announced their evolution into streaming TV with YouTube TV, a service they plan to provide later this year. For $35 a month, you can watch channels like ACB, CBS and Fox. In addition to this low-cost service, YouTube is offering an unlimited DVR cloud storage and up to six accounts with their own unlimited storage space.

While this article seemed skeptical of the success of this new media project, I think this is HUGE. Yes, the number of channels that will be originally offered might be small, but look at the potential here. Unlimited space to record your favorite shows, and at a fraction of the cost one would pay for cable or satellite TV. Not to mention, there is no contract. You can cancel your membership whenever you'd like with no penalties. YouTube is one of the most visited websites on the internet and now they are giving us what we want, which is the world at our fingertips.

Easicicco goes on further to compare the other competitive programs that are similar to YouTube TV and I would say to a consumer--this is important to research. Never jump into a purchase of any kind without making sure it suits your needs better than all the other choices out there. One beautiful thing about our new media is that your options and choices are vast and it is your duty as a consumer to choose the best one for you.

Kudos to YouTube. Well done.