Media Literacy in a World of Misinformation
CW/ TW: Mentions of death and cruel treatment.
Politics is my one true love - long conversations about current affairs are the way to my heart. To the extent that I often take for granted my own media literacy and the knowledge I possess.
Therefore, I am going to dispatch some of my tricks to you, readers.
How I choose to remain informed, and ultimately how, as a community, we can cultivate media literacy, which is more vital than ever in these trying times.
To be frank, the BBC's coverage of the genocide in Gaza has been appalling, and understandably, most people have a lot of faith in the BBC. After all, they claim to be a ‘down-the-middle, impartial’ news source.
Yet, the BBC is failing to do its job right now.
This quote by Jonathan Foster regarding journalistic integrity comes to mind: “If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. It’s your job to look out the fucking window and find out which is true.”
At this point, the BBC is more of a spokesperson for different groups, not telling their audience the facts but instead giving credibility to completely outrageous, counterfactual statements, primarily from the so-called Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Take this, for example: first-hand footage was uncovered from eyewitness’ phones when the IDF shot and killed 15 Palestinian emergency workers. Equipped with all the facts of this horrific event and mobile phone footage from it, which clearly shows the Israeli forces gunning down medical and emergency workers, what did the BBC do?
They still published the IDF’s lies about this as if they were factual, when the literal evidence disproves their claims.
Here is a shocking bit of reporting on this incident from the BBC: “The soldiers buried the bodies of the 15 dead workers in sand to protect them from wild animals, the official said, claiming the vehicles were moved and buried the following day to clear the road.”
This is clearly a lie, the IDF does not care about protecting the martyred bodies of emergency workers that they shot to death from wild animals. It was ridiculous of the BBC to even include this line of argument, thus lending it credence and further legitimising a state army which is committing genocide.
Another atrocious headline from the BBC read: “The lonely death of Gaza man with Down’s syndrome,” written by Fergal Keane.
From this headline, you could assume the man died from a heart attack, or stroke, or some natural disaster on his own.
Nope.
Towards the bottom of this article, it's stated that Muhammed Bhar (24 years old) was mauled by a dog set upon him by the IDF. Bhar was then taken to a different room, and his family were told to evacuate the building with the promise that he would receive medical care. When they returned, Bhar had tragically died due to the attack.
The cruelty is beyond imagination, yet this is the way the BBC decided to report it?
After complaints from readers, the BBC changed the headline to reflect a more accurate depiction of what happened, but how can we trust this broadcaster to accurately deliver news from Gaza if this is the type of reporting that gets approved?
Outlets like the BBC are a part of the problem, one of the reasons that Israel can continue its absolute massacre, starvation, and genocide of the people of Gaza.
So that’s why I find it hard to trust mainstream news outlets, particularly the BBC - their brand of impartiality leans heavily towards being pro-Israeli.
The same can be said for ITV News, Sky News, the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail…
But the crucial question is, how do I know these outlets’ reporting is inaccurate?
Oftentimes, the first step to cultivating media literacy is actually to look away from the media.
If there is a topic you want to know more about, begin by researching who the main scholars and academics are in that field.
Read as broadly as you can and learn the history, and from there, you can begin to form a belief system about a certain topic.
Check all the sources for the information you receive and whether they can be trusted.
Our often-subconscious belief systems are what make us who we are and are often formed long before we have much understanding of the world... Yet they guide and steer every decision we make.
For me, the core of everything I believe in could be boiled down to this: I am opposed to human suffering in any context, wherever it exists, and I believe in the power of collective justice to fix our world. I believe in the dignity of human life and want to envisage a world where everyone can live in peace, safety, and community.
That’s it.
My feminism, socialism, anti-racism, and belief in the power of justice are all guided by this core belief. So, consider what is of most importance in life for you, and from this point you can then explore the nuances of different socio-political circumstances, and allow your core belief system to guide your decision making when making a judgement about current affairs.
It's a tough time to live in the world.
Things feel darker than they ever have been, and with so much misinformation on sites such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook, the increased proliferation of fake AI content, and biased mainstream media reporting, it is often hard to begin the process of political education. But to conclude, I want to leave you with a list of the best sources and scholars I have used as I attempted to educate myself more on the history of Palestine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Norman Finkelstein – American political scientist and activist.
Ilan Pappe – Israeli historian and political scientist.
Gideon Levy – Israeli journalist and author.
Owen Jones – columnist for the Guardian: https://www.youtube.com/@OwenJonesTalks
Novara Media: https://novaramedia.com/
Mehdi Hasan- British-American broadcaster and writer.
