News Media Canada’s SPOT Fake News campaign was launched last year to solve a problem that is rampant in our society today – disinformation and fake news online. This project was targeted towards Canadians of all ages, to normalize critically examining digital media consumed every day to ensure it is trustworthy and accurate.
Post-campaign research confirmed that eight out of ten Canadians that were exposed to the SPOT Fake News campaign felt that they were able to distinguish between credible news and fake news. This is 18% higher than those who were unaware of the campaign. This was accompanied by a significant increase in awareness across all steps in the simple SPOT tool.
S – Is this a credible Source? Those who had been exposed to the ads were 10% more likely to determine if a news report came from a credible source.
P – Is the Perspective biased? Canadians were 43% more likely to ascertain bias with regard to perspective after seeing the campaign.
O – Are Other sources reporting the same story? Those who had seen the campaign material were 3% more likely to check multiple sources to confirm information.
T – Is the story Timely? Campaign viewers were also 41% more likely to check the date on online news stories.
At a time where fake news is widespread and credibility is more important than ever, the SPOT Fake News campaign is there to remind us not to believe everything you read online.
