Investigating the Role of Media Literacy in the Ability of Public Library Librarians to Detect Fake News

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD. Student, Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract

Purpose: Widespread dissemination of "fake news" that deceives users and diverts society has become one of the major media threats in today's society. The ability to detect fake news is essential for the community, especially librarians as information service providers, to identify and counter fake news. Media literacy is one of the important factors that can play a role in this field; In fact, one of the most important ways to deal with this threat is to equip librarians with media literacy facilities. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of media literacy in the ability to detect fake news by librarians of public libraries in Kermanshah province.
Methodology: The present study is applied and has been done by survey method. The statistical population of this study consists of librarians of public libraries in Kermanshah province (170 people) from which (118 people) were selected through the Morgan formula by simple random sampling. To collect research data, a questionnaire on the ability to detect fake news (Ismaili, Rahimi & Moradi, 2019) and a media literacy questionnaire (Falsafi, 2014) were used.
Findings: Based on data analysis, media literacy with an impact factor of 0.47 on the source review, an impact factor of 0.24 on reading the news text, an impact factor of 0.37 on the author's diagnosis, an impact factor of 0.45 on the review of support sources, with An impact factor of 0.41 on the study of the date and time of news, with an impact factor of 0.30 on the study of humor or seriousness of the news and with an impact factor of 0.35 on the reference to personal beliefs and prejudices. However, it did not play a role in asking questions from experts, and with an impact factor of 0.51, it is effective on the overall scale of the ability to detect fake news.
Conclusion: Given the effectiveness of media literacy in increasing the ability to detect fake news, training, and necessary measures should be taken to improve media literacy to increase librarians' ability to detect fake news. Detecting fake news is a set of skills that librarians actively use to identify fake messages and determine the authenticity of the messages. Librarians who can detect fake news are less vulnerable to fake news. They identify news that is designed and sent to influence them at different levels. The results of this research can be used in the long-term planning of public libraries in the country.

Keywords

References

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Sciences and Techniques of Information Management
Volume 10, Issue 2
November 2024
Pages 61-76

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