News Media Canada’s campaign hits the ‘SPOT’

We are happy to report that our new SPOT Fake News campaign is off to an excellent start.

“SPOT Fake News Online,” is a media literacy tool targeted at Canadians of all age groups to help them critically assess news and information in the digital age. The “SPOT” acronym emphasizes:

  • The source, and whether or not it’s credible;
  • The perspective and potential biases, as well as containing multiple viewpoints in an article;
  • Other sources (if no other sources are reporting, this is a red flag); and
  • Timeliness

According to an Ipsos-Reid survey, 63% of Canadians have trouble distinguishing between legitimate news websites and fake news stories.

The SPOT tool will be promoted through print and digital advertisements across News Media Canada’s member papers. The 20-week media plan is part of the organization’s broader mandate to promote news media literacy.

You can read more about it here and here.