Media literacy skills important to counter disinformation, survey says

Nearly three of four Americans (72%) surveyed say skills in media literacy are important in the face of intentionally misleading or inaccurate information in the media, according to the new Media and Technology Survey out today from Boston University’s College of Communication conducted by Ipsos.

The survey also found a significant partisan divide about the importance of media literacy skills, with Democrats (81%) being more likely to agree than Republicans (66%).

While 3 in 5 agree (61%) that this type of training teaches people how to think more critically, not what to think, this belief also differs by party identification, with Democrats (72%) more likely to agree than Independents (60%) or Republicans (49%).

“Americans are facing difficult issues that require informed decisions, including a contentious presidential election, military action in Ukraine and Gaza, and climate change,” says Michelle Amazeen, associate dean for research at Boston University’s College of Communication. “But just when we need trusted information more than ever, our media ecosystem is poised for a tsunami of deliberately false content intended to mislead, supercharged by the use of generative artificial intelligence. Most but not all people, we found, understand they need to have new skills to deal with it.”

Many respondents are uncertain about where they could access this type of training. Only 42% report knowing how to access quality media literacy training online, although this varies by gender, age, and race. Men (49%) are more likely to report knowing how to than women (36%). About half of those under age 55 know how to access this type of training, only 28% of those 55 or older do. About a third of whites (34%) say they know how, compared with Blacks (64%), Hispanics (55%) and Asians (49%).

Half do not know whether their local public library offers this training and 43% were uncertain whether their local public schools provide this type of education. Among households with children, however, 59% reported having media literacy education at their local public schools and 50% at their public library. Blacks were more likely to report that their local public schools (52%) and libraries (47%) offer media literacy education than whites (37% and 33%, respectively).

“This is consistent with recent research,” adds Amazeen, “suggesting that particularly for underrepresented communities who are often targets of disinformation efforts, media literacy education at the local level – at public schools and libraries – holds promise.”

Still, the survey suggests an unmet need for training in media literacy. Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) were interested in learning how to better distinguish between true and false information online, especially when it comes to identifying misinformation generated with artificial intelligence (70%). These interests varied by political orientation with fewer Republicans (62%) than Democrats (73%) or Independents (72%) expressing interest in learning to make true/false distinctions. Even for misinformation generated with AI, Republicans (63%) were still less interested than Democrats (75%) or Independents (76%).

Survey Details:

The January 24, 2024, survey asked respondents to indicate how much they agreed or disagreed with five statements pertaining to media literacy, defined as “the ability to critically analyze stories presented in the media and to determine their accuracy or credibility.”

1. Public schools in my area provide media literacy education to students: 40% strongly, somewhat or slightly agree / 17% strongly, somewhat or slightly disagree / 43% don’t know
2. Public libraries in my area offer media literacy training: 35% / 15% / 50%
3. I know how to access quality media literacy training online: 42% / 33% / 25%
4. Media literacy skills are important in helping people identify misinformation: 72% / 11% / 17%
5. Media literacy education teaches people how to think more critically, not what to think: 61% / 16% / 24%

Respondents were also asked how interested they would be in “participating in online media literacy training…”

1. To learn how to better distinguish between true and false information online? 68% extremely, somewhat or slightly interested / 32% extremely, somewhat or slightly uninterested
2. To learn how to better distinguish between independent versus political agendas? 62% / 38%
3. To learn how to better distinguish between news and opinion? 64% / 36%
4. To learn how to better distinguish between news and advertising content? 60%/ 40%
5. To learn how to better identify misinformation generated with AI? 70% / 30%

About the Media & Technology Survey:

The Media & Technology Survey is an ongoing project of the Communication Research Center (CRC) at Boston University’s College of Communication, in partnership with Ipsos, the market research company. This month’s poll was conducted in English on January 24, 2024, using Ipsos eNation Omnibus, a nationally representative online survey that measures attitudes and opinions of 1,000 adults across the United States. This online survey has a credibility interval (CI) of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The data were weighted to the U.S. population data by region, gender, age and education. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error.