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I highly recommend signing up for the News Literacy Project’s email updates on current news stories, Internet posts, and Social Media trends. Go to the Resources page on this website and click on News Literacy Project or click here. Scroll to the bottom of that page for the email sign up. You will be glad you did.

Be sure to fact check claims about biolabs in Ukraine and other rumors trending on social media. Several reputable fact checking services are linked on the Resources page of this website. Remember to be skeptical until you have done some verification! Also, if you get most of your news and information from social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Whats App, etc.), consider switching to news sources that employ journalistic standards and have a board of editors. If you have a favorite news show that is always one-sided, consider fact checking their claims.

During the Canadian trucker blockade in early 2022, there was a headline that read “Trudeau plays dangerous game demanding U.S. truckers have shots”. An article by public health officials could have had the headline “Trudeau safeguards public health, demands U.S. truckers have shots.” These headlines would be fine in the opinion sections of the newspaper, but not the front page where readers expect neutrality. The front page headline for this article should have been “Trudeau demands U.S. Truckers have shots”.

When the Omicron variant emerged, it was interesting to observe how it was reported across the political spectrum. The conservatives said basically No Big Deal – Don’t Worry About it. The centrists or moderates said basically We Need to Wait and See How This Plays Out. The liberals said basically We Need to be Very Alarmed.