Through the Looking Glass:
USA v. Eastern Europe, a youth media literacy case
It is easy to be silent.
To choose to stay silent.
To become complacent and feel comfortable in the lingering ignorance, with no concept whatsoever of how easy it is to be scammed. Deceived. Played by the media. Used as a pawn.
In the mediatic environment filled with confusion and duplicity, a silent war is fought. All the world’s a playhouse, and with each chess piece moving swiftly on the board, in the mise-en-scène of a power-hungry reality, the man is ready to be the fool. Our generation is at the crossroads of an information revolution. People will always tend to weaponize words, no matter where we come from, be it the United States or Eastern Europe. In the modern world, media literacy is a skill that is valued more and more. It has gotten difficult to tell the difference between reliable information and fake news as social media and digital news sources have become more prevalent. In today's interconnected society, the capacity to comprehend, analyze, and critically assess the constant stream of media content has become crucial. Young people are the group most impacted by today's technology since they spend the majority of their time on social media, where they not only passively consume much of the material but also actively contribute to its creation.
Digital Savvy: The Impact Among Today's College-Aged Students
52% of educators claim that their students possess the lack of the ability to evaluate material available online.
Dr. Kristy Roschke, an experienced educator and researcher who specializes in media literacy, kindly agreed to speak with us in order to discuss these problems. Our discussion centered on the intricacy of these essential abilities and how it affects people in both the US and Eastern Europe.
Dr. Kristy Roschke, an experienced educator and researcher who specializes in media literacy, kindly agreed to speak with us in order to discuss these problems. Our discussion centered on the intricacy of these essential abilities and how it affects people in both the US and Eastern Europe.
Dr. Roschke: "We live in such a media-saturated world, and young people, in particular, are spending so much time with all kinds of media, entertainment, news media, digital and analog media. People need to have those skills to know how media is working and how they're working with it. One of the best ways to teach students media literacy skills is to actually have them working with media. If they're engaging on Instagram or Tiktok, those are all acts of media creation. So students or young people are inherently doing that."
In actuality, whether in a good or bad way, media has an impact on young people all over the world. There are, unfortunately, additional examples of negative consequences. As someone who is working with exchange students through various programs, when it comes to media literacy levels among youth in the USA and Eastern Europe, Dr. Roschke highlights both similarities and differences.
Dr. Roschke: "The conversations I have across the different parts of the globe usually are about the same. They're very critical about the media that they're consuming in a really positive way. There may be differences, like in platforms that are used or the presentation of the way that they're creating content, but I feel like it's really pretty similar no matter where you go."
Knowledge Empowerment: Unraveling Media Literacy with the News Co/Lab
Dr. Roschke: “What is the meaning behind the media they create? What are the ethics behind the way that they're creating media? What are the messages people are trying to sell them, persuade them with those kinds of things?”
Engaging youth requires meeting them where they are and speaking their language. Utilizing social media platforms, interactive technologies, and popular culture references helps create connections and foster curiosity. Incorporating hands-on activities, role-playing exercises, and media creation projects encourage active learning and empower youth to become critical media consumers and creators. The majority of college-aged individuals Dr. Roschke worked with are highly digitally savvy. The term "savvy" holds a distinction from being merely literate, as it implies a deep understanding of technology - maneuvering smartphones, capturing selfies, or creating videos with ease.
As the managing director of the News Co/Lab, she has shared firsthand the intersection of journalism, education, and technology in advancing media literacy.
As the managing director of the News Co/Lab, she has shared firsthand the intersection of journalism, education, and technology in advancing media literacy.
Dr. Roschke: "Journalism, education, and technology are all intermingled all the time. And those three constituent groups are important to the News Co/Lab, obviously, because we're situated in a university. So we are educators by design. And then we are a journalism school, right? So we've chosen these three constituent groups, not because they're the only ones, but because they're the ones we're closest to. And they're also really important in the world of media literacy.“
As we shift our focus toward the global comparative study, with a special insight into the similarities and differences between the American spectrum of the issue and the Eastern European framework, we cannot but address the dynamics we observed, especially from our standpoint as international exchange students.
Navigating Misinformation: Are you ready to spread Bad News?
As we continue to dig into the depths of the issue, we start to untangle the key aspects of our case. In the ever-evolving landscape of the digital age, technology has become an omnipresent force, shaping the way we consume information, interact with one another, and navigate the complexities of the modern world. As the boundaries between truth and fiction blur, the importance of media literacy has never been more pronounced. Only one question arises - how can we empower the youth to transcend their digital savviness and embrace the essence of media literacy?
This is where the getbadnews.com platform comes into play - a groundbreaking journey that would expose young minds to the darker side of media manipulation.
As the digital landscape becomes a battleground for misinformation, getbadnews.com holds the promise of peering into the heart of malevolence. By allowing the participants to be on the other side of the fence, where they have the freedom to abuse power as much as they want, they are faced with a moral dilemma that challenges their understanding of ethics, power, and empathy.
The assignment was pretty simple:
“Fool as many people as you can and get the most followers.”
However, complexity will always thrive in simplicity. From impersonating a celebrity to buying bots and boosting misleading tweets, every choice counted, and each answer completely changed the narrative.
The students found themselves wrestling with their newfound roles, grappling with the knowledge that the lines between the manipulator and the victim were far from clear-cut. It was a confrontation with the multifaceted nature of humanity, a reflection of the shades of gray that pervade our existence.
The students found themselves wrestling with their newfound roles, grappling with the knowledge that the lines between the manipulator and the victim were far from clear-cut. It was a confrontation with the multifaceted nature of humanity, a reflection of the shades of gray that pervade our existence.
What we managed to find out has been the confirmation that we needed: human nature is so much more than right or wrong, good or bad. It is pure complexity on its own, and after conducting the aftermath survey, new findings were about to shed light on the media literacy phenomenon.
USA v. Eastern Europe: The Media Literacy Case.
A wide majority of the players ended up acquiring at least 13,000 online followers, a contrasting value to the 8,3% of those who stayed true to the power of media literacy and justice with 5,000 to 10,000 total followers.
They have enjoyed playing around with conspiracy theories, polarization, trolling, and emotion, but this is not even close to the most shocking outcome of them all.
What we were shocked to find out is that more than half of the participants would repeat the experience of fooling others given the opportunity. To worsen this result, only 16,7% felt guilty when making their choices.
After discussing the social experiment with Michelle Lipkin, executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, her reaction was a tad different than ours.
They have enjoyed playing around with conspiracy theories, polarization, trolling, and emotion, but this is not even close to the most shocking outcome of them all.
What we were shocked to find out is that more than half of the participants would repeat the experience of fooling others given the opportunity. To worsen this result, only 16,7% felt guilty when making their choices.
After discussing the social experiment with Michelle Lipkin, executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, her reaction was a tad different than ours.
Michelle: “I am not even surprised at all, to be honest. (...). It gives them a dopamine rush, they are gonna love it and respond to it. It is in their human nature, after all, to respond to such stimuli and see with what can they get away.”
To Educate or Not To Educate?
Michelle: “Ultimately, what needs to be in place is kind of a top-level commitment to media literacy. So when I say top-level, I say doing well: it means that media literacy is kind of consistently part of their education system, consistently part of the cultural conversation. You need high-level commitment, top-level commitment to media literacy across the board."
Looking at the results through a rather geographical filter, the reactions of Americans and Europeans validated Kristy’s previous words.
No matter where they might find themselves, people often fact-check the news articles or information they come across. However, the results are quite contrasting during the next entries of the survey, especially when questioning the introduction of media literacy in the curriculum.
While a vast majority of Americans considered that this subject should be taught more often in schools, 33,3% of them have never participated in any media literacy workshops or educational programs or are not interested in doing so. On the other side of the globe, more than half of the Europeans wish to have the circumstances of educating themselves, with 75% of them previously participating in programs as such.
Yoanna Nencheva, one of the Bulgarian students in the Study of the U.S. Institutes program, a highly selective and intensive short-term program designed by Fulbright, Meridian International Center & the U.S. Department of State for foreign undergraduate students, shared with us a little bit from her experience with the topic.
No matter where they might find themselves, people often fact-check the news articles or information they come across. However, the results are quite contrasting during the next entries of the survey, especially when questioning the introduction of media literacy in the curriculum.
While a vast majority of Americans considered that this subject should be taught more often in schools, 33,3% of them have never participated in any media literacy workshops or educational programs or are not interested in doing so. On the other side of the globe, more than half of the Europeans wish to have the circumstances of educating themselves, with 75% of them previously participating in programs as such.
Yoanna Nencheva, one of the Bulgarian students in the Study of the U.S. Institutes program, a highly selective and intensive short-term program designed by Fulbright, Meridian International Center & the U.S. Department of State for foreign undergraduate students, shared with us a little bit from her experience with the topic.
Yoanna: “So I believe that media literacy should be a part of the educational system, but not directly. I don't think that there should be a subject or class that is dedicated only to that; it should be a part of every class: finding false from true information, critical thinking, how, and why you use information, being able to research authors or topics better. So that should be the work of the school, that should be something that it starts throughout those 12 years that you dedicate of your life, for being able to go through life. I feel like in Eastern Europe, that's missing a lot, at least from where I'm from, we don't ever fact-check anything, the information is just given to us on a plate.”
Co-living with Fake News
There’s no such thing as immunity to fake news. Everyone can easily become a victim in a split second, and the sad, but true, fact is that it is inevitable.
Yoanna: "Right now I'm doing research on Mexicans, and I found a lot of stuff that I did not expect to find. I found that I've been a victim of fake news because in Bulgaria, they're perceived and portrayed in a really different way that is kind of stereotypical and the issue is really, what Begley talked about. So when I came here and started speaking with people I'm starting to do more research, I found out that no one is safe from fake news.”
As we navigate through a chaotic media landscape, we must rise above the waves of deception that try to drown us in falsehoods.
Were we to approach the actual concept of drowning, we would find out it has been scientifically proven that you only have 87 seconds until breakpoint. 87 seconds to survive.
We reached 84th.
85th.
86th.
Were we to approach the actual concept of drowning, we would find out it has been scientifically proven that you only have 87 seconds until breakpoint. 87 seconds to survive.
We reached 84th.
85th.
86th.
Are you ready to finally emerge to the surface?
The looking glass is your haven. Use it. Dissect it all. Question it all.
The choice is yours.
Our deepest gratitude to:
Dr. Kristy Roschke
Dr. Kristy Roschke
- Managing Director - News Co/Lab, Arizona State University, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
- PhD - Journalism and Mass Communication (Dissertation: “Gatekeeping Practices of Participants in a Digital Media Literacy Massive Open Online Course”)
- Key research areas - media literacy, media literacy education, trust in media
- Executive Director - National Association for Media Literacy Education
- “Media Literacy” Adjunct Lecturer - Brooklyn College, New York City
- Recipient - 2020 Global Media and Information Literacy Award, UNESCO
SUSI Class of '23
Written & narrated by Bianca-Stephanie Ion (Romania)
Video editing & photography by Mirza Mujdzic-Jojic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Blog design by Bianca-Stephanie Ion & Mirza Mujdzic-Jojic
Interviews by Bianca-Stephanie Ion & Mirza Mujdzic-Jojic
Written & narrated by Bianca-Stephanie Ion (Romania)
Video editing & photography by Mirza Mujdzic-Jojic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Blog design by Bianca-Stephanie Ion & Mirza Mujdzic-Jojic
Interviews by Bianca-Stephanie Ion & Mirza Mujdzic-Jojic