Media literacy education in South Africa can help combat fake news – here’s what’s needed
Online platforms are replete with examples of false information – from WhatsApp messages punting some miraculous cure for COVID, to social media posts claiming a politician said something they didn’t. It’s increasingly common in South Africa. More than 75% of South Africans say they regularly come across political news they think...
An Assessment of Media Literacy and Fact-Checking Training Needs in South African Schools and Universities
This new report co-authored by Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales aims to identify knowledge and skills gaps related to teaching about misinformation through a needs assessment of educators in South Africa. The aim is to assist the development of media and information literacy materials that can be used in...
Dani Madrid-Morales presents on Recentering Disinformation Studies at City University of London
On the 5th of April Dani Madrid-Morales presented on Re-centering Disinformation Studies at City University of London. Madrid-Morales presented alongside panelists Dr Lindsey Bluebell, Dr Mel Bunce, Dr Zahera Harb and Dr Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar. In addition to discussing the importance of ‘de-westernising’ disinformation studies, Madrid-Morales introduced his new...
Information disorder: Report harnesses Global South responses
Information disorder threatens media freedom and democracies across the globe. In the Global South, multi-level responses are needed to counter its spread, said Professor Herman Wasserman, the editor of the recently released “Meeting the Challenges of Information Disorder in the Global South” report. He is based in the University...
Disinformation in the Global South: a new book edited by Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales
Disinformation in the Global South was published on April 14. Both print and electronic copies are available. You can use the code ICAW2 until June 30, 2022 to get a 20% discount on your copy. Media and communication scholars Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales to release a new book...
Novel study reveals efforts in the Global South to counter the information disorder
From teams of independent fact-checkers in Latin America, to policy makers in Africa and the Middle East, to media education specialists in Asia, organizations and movements in lower- and middle-income countries are rising to combat the problem of so-called “fake news.” Meeting the Challenges of Information Disorder in the...
Herman Wasserman to Present at Countering Vaccine Hesitancy Conference
Herman Wasserman will give a presentation on how to tackle disinformation around Covid-19 vaccines to an international meeting of Academies of Science. The conference, ‘‘Countering Vaccine Hesitancy’, is hosted by the Interacademy Partnership and will highlight how academies – as trusted and credible voices – can counter vaccine hesitancy,...
Wasserman and Madrid-Morales present research at the Centre for the Study of Contemporary China, University of Pennsylvania
Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales will present their paper “What Motivates the Sharing of Misinformation about China and Covid-19? A Study of Social Media Users in Kenya and South Africa” at the international conference “Narratives of COVID-19 in China and the World: Technology, Society, and Nations” hosted by the...
Researchers at Cardiff University find that people in the UK can spot fake news on COVID-19
Researchers at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture have found that the UK public can spot fake news about COVID-19, but but don’t realise the UK’s death toll is far higher than in many other countries. In a small-scale, exploratory study, Stephen Cushion, Nikki Soo, Maria Kyriakidou...
Working on a New Book on False News in the Global South
The lead researchers of the Misinformation, Disinformation & False News Research Project, Herman Wasserman and Dani Madridd-Morales, are working on an edited volume titled Rumors, false news and disinformation in the Global South. It will be published by Wiley, and it is expected to come out in early 2021....