Courtesy of MediaWise on Facebook
By Annalise Anderson
The Poynter Institute has created a new text-message-based voter information course in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election.
The 10-day course is an extension of Poynter’s MediaWise Voter Project and is designed to teach first-time voters how to recognize misinformation on social media.
In 2018, Poynter began MediaWise as a nonpartisan program designed to teach young people how to sort fact from fiction online. The MediaWise Voter Project was launched in January to expand the program’s focus to college students and first-time voters.
According to the website, course participants will “learn how to find reliable and accurate information on social media about the election.”
Each day, participants will receive a text message from MediaWise with five minutes of information aimed to help them feel confident when it comes time to cast their votes.
Those who opt in will also receive fact-checking tips from MediaWise Ambassadors like Washington Post’s Dave Jorgenson, political reporter Jessica Yellin and PBS Newshour anchor and correspondent Hari Sreenivasan.
“At MediaWise, our goal is to ensure all ages have the appropriate tools to find reliable and accurate information online,” MediaWise Multimedia Reporter Heaven Taylor-Wynn said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “This work is so important right now and has such a direct and often immediate real-life impact on people’s health and well-being.
“Through our MediaWise Voter Project, we are proud to offer an array of resources like our MediaWise 10-day “nanolearning” text message and Fact-Checking 101 courses as well as a Fact-Checking Certificate that equip young first-time voters with the skills they need to debunk misinformation and confidently make informed decisions in the 2020 election.”
Lexi Bishop, political science sophomore at USF St. Petersburg, is pleased with the intent of the course but has uncertainties.
“In a time where the country is divided as ever, civil political discussions are as rare as unicorns and misinformation is spread like wildfire. A nonpartisan and easily accessible course for people to use for simply fact checking is what we all need,” Bishop said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “I do have to say that I am slightly concerned about who they have chosen as affiliates to share information from.
“With some of the chosen people having backgrounds in politically charged organizations, such as CNN, I have my skepticism. I am remaining open minded and optimistic though. If this course is truly nonpartisan and solely to educate people to identify facts versus misinformation, I will be very pleased and recommend it to everyone.”
The course is free to the first 100,000 participants with courtesy to Facebook.
Sign up here.
