Be MediaWise lesson 11: How to detect ads disguised as 'helpful' news stories

Downloadable Lesson Documents

Key Vocabulary

Lateral Reading – This is one way to evaluate the credibility of a source. First, leave the site you're on, do a keyword search, open up a bunch of tabs, and find out what other sources say about it.

Click Restraint (new) – The act of scanning through search results or headlines and seeing what sources look promising — then make an informed decision about whether to click on it or not.

Before You Watch

How are advertisements different from news?

How are they similar?

While You Watch

Preview the questions. Then watch the MediaWise Teen-Fact Checking Network (TFCN) video. According to the video…

What is the motivation behind the “Mr. Aquaman” TikTok about shower water?

What media literacy strategy did the teen fact-checker use to find the original source of the video that appears in the TikTok? (Circle One)
Lateral Reading — Reading Upstream — Click Restraint — Reverse Image Search

How does the TikToker make his information about shower water seem legitimate?

What media literacy strategy did the teen fact-checker use to find what other sources say about the safety of showering with chlorinated water? (Circle One)
Lateral Reading — Reading Upstream — Click Restraint — Reverse Image Search

How many of the search results did the teen fact-checker have to skip in order to practice “click restraint” when searching for “showering with chlorinated water”? (Circle one)
4 — 6 — 10 — 13 — 17

After You Watch

Why does Mr. Aquaman include an interview from a “news show” in his post?

Based on the video and your experiences, what red flags could help you identify a commercial disguised as a “news” story that should be fact-checked?

The story creates _______________ emotions like fear
The story cites a study by an _______________ organization
The user posting the information is _______________ an expert

Extension Activity

Choose one of the cases in this FTC article, Cease and Desist Demands show the role social media platforms play in the spread of dubious COVID claims, in which the FTC found company promotions to be fraudulent on social media and sent “Cease and Desist” letters to them during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Summarize the case using the questions above and report back to the class.

Background Reading

Federal Trade Commission: Bad ads on social media—FTC asks platforms about their screening policies

About the Next Lesson

Be MediaWise Lesson 12: Detecting deepfakes — No, that’s not really Keanu behind that TikTok account Students will learn about different types of “deepfake” techniques, how to identify fake videos created by artificial intelligence as well as the positive and negative uses of the technology.

Subjects

media literacy, social studies, English, English Language Arts, journalism

Standards

Common Core ELA
CC.8.5.6-8; CC.8.5.9-10.A; CC.8.5.11-12.A - Citing informational text

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3)
D3.1.6-8. Gather relevant information from multiple sources while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

D3.1.6-12. Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

ISTE
6-12.1.4.a Students: know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.

These lessons were developed by PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs in partnership with MediaWise and the Teen Fact-Checking Network , which are part of the Poynter Institute . This partnership has been made possible with support from Google.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sa7SZ6arn1%2Bjsri%2Fx6isq2eToa60v9GopqZnnJrAtLvNZqelmZ6ofHN8kWxmaWxfobK0v86nZKmkkaN6qbvWZquoZZSawaav02aYnatdmba0s9Siqp6cXZbAbrTEpaefrZxiu6bD0maqraeinrK0ec6no6KmlQ%3D%3D