News Clubs!
An antidote to doom-scrolling and confusion!
Distrust of the media is a passive and powerless state of mind, which can increase feelings of isolation.
In that situation, people are more easily confused, susceptible to disinformation, and receptive to fake news – especially when it provokes a strong emotion and creates a sense of shared anger and injustice.
Stoked by social media algorithms, those feelings disconnect people from their real-life communities while drawing them into online comments sections or groups that reward and encourage extremist views.
News Clubs disrupt that process by bringing people together to make media consumption an active, empowered and collective experience in community – with feedback from other human beings who live in the real world.
News Clubs also signpost participants to alternative, less mainstream sources of news such as independent, regulated media – helping people to make an active, informed choice about where they get the information that shapes their opinions and political beliefs.
By improving media literacy, News Clubs make people less susceptible to disinformation and better able to see the bigger picture of how powerful organisations use the media to influence public opinion.
What’s a News Club?
The concept is simple – people get together to look at a few news items that have caught their attention – whether that’s online news articles, videos, social media posts, or newspapers and magazines – and to discuss their reaction to them.
Media Revolution provides guidance and support to set up a news club, and demonstrates how to run one – how to dig down into what it’s really being said, who is really saying it, and why.
We’re building a network of interconnected news clubs who can support each other as they grow, and be supported by Media Revolution when needed.
Increasing your media literacy CAPE-ability!
Media Revolution’s’ new CAPE toolkit – designed with the help of media experts to be simple and accessible – can be used by News Clubs as a simple process for analysing any news article. It focuses on four key areas:
Content, Accuracy, Politics and Emotions
Participants discuss the information and opinions put forward (Content) in the article, and whether the facts and figures quoted are likely to be Accurate (is the source provided, and is it reliable?). Politics refers to the ownership of the publication as well as its stated – or implicit – political agenda. Under Emotions, the group looks at the tone and language that are being used to provoke a feeling or knee-jerk reaction.
This process identifies the techniques being used to make the content relatable and convincing, and invites people to decide for themselves whether or not the article is trustworthy.
Turning apathy into action
Surveys carried out by Media Revolution have found that many people are aware of disinformation in the news media, but don’t feel equipped to recognise or challenge it.
This often results in a widespread distrust of any media that doesn’t echo their own beliefs and opinions – a kind of fallback option.
News Clubs and the CAPE toolkit put the power back into the hands of the news consumer, encouraging participants to discuss their views with a real-life group whose opinions are likely to be more varied, more nuanced and less extreme than the online narratives.
Online or in person?
Whatever works for you and your group!
Media Revolution has organised and run both video call and ‘in-real-life’ News Clubs, and those running them also do a mixture of both.
Online is a good way to introduce the concept and demonstrate a suggested format, but it’s even better to apply that framework in an in-person gathering, perhaps with a group of people who already come together regularly in a particular venue such as at work, in a social setting, at a community cafe, repair cafe or student union.
See ‘Setting up a News Club’ for more ideas and suggestions!
News Clubs also signpost participants to alternative, less mainstream sources of news such as independent, regulated media – helping people to make an active, informed choice about where they get the information that shapes their opinions and political beliefs.
By improving media literacy, News Clubs make people less susceptible to disinformation and better able to see the bigger picture of how powerful organisations use the media to influence public opinion.