Source Criticism and Mediated Disinformation

The Source Criticism And Mediated Disinformation (SCAM) project will develop new knowledge and methods suited to detect and counter the diffusion of disinformation in democratic societies. Disinformation, such as fake news, conspiracy theories, propaganda and media manipulation, has surfaced as a key democratic challenge in recent years, owing to diverse sociopolitical, economic and especially technological developments. The SCAM project will identify the main challenges related to the ways in which technology and platforms affect the distribution of disinformation in public spheres and ways to detect and counter it, specifically during periods of elections, like the US preseidential election in 2020 and the Norwegian general election in 2021. The project will develop Digital Source Criticism (DSC) as theoretical concept and practical method to advance 1) journalists? ability to critically scrutinize sources and information in a digital age, 2) journalism educators ability to teach critical scrutiny of sources and information in a digital age; and 3) the skills and knowledge needed to improve media and information literacy in societies at large. Thsee objectives will be met through critical, empirical analysis of the challenges tech and platform companies, fact checking organisations and journalists face when they address the problems of detecting and countering the diffusion of disinformation in public spheres. SCAM is led by researchers affiliated with the Digital Journalism Research Group at Oslo Metropolitan University, in cooperation with leading researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA.

The Source Criticism And Mediated Disinformation (SCAM) project will develop new knowledge and methods suited to detect and counter the diffusion of disinformation in democratic societies. Disinformation, such as fake news, conspiracy theories, propaganda and media manipulation, has surfaced as a key democratic challenge in recent years, owing to diverse sociopolitical, economic and especially technological developments. The SCAM project will identify the main challenges related to the ways in which technology and platforms affect the distribution of disinformation in public spheres and ways to detect and counter it, specifically during periods of elections; and it will provide cutting-edge knowledge and practical methods for Digital Source Criticism (DSC) in journalism in particular and media and information literacy (MIL) in general. The project's outcomes will equip researchers, practitioners, teachers and other user groups with conceptual and practical tools for how DSC and MIL can be understood and performed in an age of digitally distributed disinformation. The objectives will be met through critical, empirical analysis of the challenges tech and platform companies, fact checking organisations and journalists face when they address the problems of detecting and countering the diffusion of disinformation in public spheres. SCAM is led by researchers affiliated with the Digital Journalism Research Group at Oslo Metropolitan University, in cooperation with leading researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA, and the Reuters Institute for the study of Journalism in the UK. The project will deliver several outcomes: 1) New academic and practical knowledge on how to effectively detect and counter the diffusion of disinformation in democratic societies; 2) New pedagogical guides for teaching source criticism to journalism students and media and information literacy in higher education in general.