This is the web version of the December 2024 edition of the Center for an Informed Public‘s News & Insights newsletter that was originally sent out on December 19, 2024.
Fostering a more informed public through media literacy education across Washington and beyond
Through the University of Washington Center for an Informed Public’s ongoing media literacy educational efforts, we’ve developed activities and lessons while collaborating with teachers, librarians and communities to improve ways to teach valuable skills for navigating today’s complex information ecosystems and foster a more informed public. An 8-minute CIP-produced video features highlights from MisinfoDay 2024 at UW Seattle; the development of Loki’s Loop educational games at the CIP and UW Information School; and the value of intergenerational learning opportunities, where students teach the adults in their lives, including their parents and grandparents, important information literacy skills from the classroom.
- Watch the CIP’s 8-minute video: “ Fostering a more informed public through media literacy education”
- Learn more about intergenerational learning: High school students, local seniors in Sedro-Woolley demonstrate the power of intergenerational learning
- Loki’s Loop: Check out our educational gaming activities.
- Inspiring other states: Educators in California and Iowa adapt CIP-developed media literacy lessons and activities.
- Sharing expertise, knowledge and resources: Check out our new Media Mentorship Toolkit.
- MisinfoDay 2025 coming in March: Event and registration information for WA teachers and librarians.
Support the CIP’s work
Make an online donation to support the Center for an Informed Public’s general operations.
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CIP’s Madeline Jalbert continues postdoctoral work through NSF funding
Madeline Jalbert, a social and cognitive psychologist, studies how context and subjective experiences influence memory, judgment, and decision-making.
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Researchers study AI, health misinfo with UW Population Health grant
Through a UW Population Health Initiative pilot grant awarded this fall, researchers at the CIP, including postdoctoral scholar Yiwei Xu, are studying the impacts of AI and health (mis)information.
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Why misinformation is more than just bad facts
How and why people spread rumors is key to understanding how false info travels and takes root, CIP co-founder Kate Starbird and graduate research assistant Stephen Prochaska recently wrote in The Conversation.
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This fall, the CIP’s election rumor research team studied emerging rumors about voting processes in real time
As Science wrote in an October 30 feature on rumor research at the Center for an Informed Public, co-founder Kate Starbird and her CIP colleagues “have spent more than 4 years studying the rumors that swirl around elections. It’s not purely an academic interest: As they amass data, the team writes rapid research blogs explaining to journalists, election officials, and the public what rumors are circulating and where they are coming from — and correcting the record.”
- Read more in Science: “The rumor clinic.”
Our election rumor research team, which includes CIP faculty members, staff, and graduate and undergraduate research assistants, published rapid research analysis blog posts and memos examining emerging rumors related to election administration and voting processes and how they spread on platforms like X, TikTok, Telegram, and Bluesky.
- Read more in The New York Times: “Disinformation watchdogs are under pressure. This group refuses to stop.”
The team, led by research manager Danielle Lee Tomson, shared timely insights and research on emerging election-related rumors, including data visualizations, were featured in dozens of news outlets and publications this fall, including The Washington Post, NBC News, National Public Radio, Oregon Public Broadcasting and PolitiFact.
- In a December 8 podcast interview with Justin Hendrix of Tech Policy Press, Kate Starbird spoke about the CIP’s election rumor research, the differences between the left and right media ecosystems in the U.S., and how she believes the research field is changing.
Infographic above: The cumulative number of tweets related to a rumor surrounding fraudulent voter registration applications in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and adjacent counties, originally published in an October 31 election rumor research memo.
Why right-wing media is like improv
The collaborations are not tightly scripted but improvised, facilitated by the interactivity of digital media, the CIP’s Kate Starbird and Danielle Lee Tomson write in The Conversation.
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On stage at Town Hall Seattle
In September, Center for an Informed Public graduate research assistant Sarah Nguyễn (at right) and co-founders Emma Spiro (at left) and Kate Starbird shared insights from their work and research in event co-organized with KNKX Public Radio and KUOW Public Radio. // READ HIGHLIGHTS
Popularity of UW’s ‘Calling BS’ data reasoning course, developed by CIP’s Bergstrom and West, continues
This fall, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences featured CIP faculty members Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West, pictured above, “Decoding deception: The psychology of combating misinformation,” a film supported by the Pulitzer Center. In the film, Bergstrom, a UW Department of Biology professor, and West, a UW Information School professor, discuss Calling Bullshit, the popular data reasoning course at UW they co-developed in 2017 and continue to co-teach.
- Watch the PNAS film
- Watch a CIP-produced video on the Calling BS course at UW
- Learn more about Calling BS
Sno-Isle Libraries host CIP, Information School researchers for media literacy webinar series
In a series of webinars organized by the Sno-Isle Libraries in Snohomish and Island counties, experts affiliated with the Center for an Informed Public and UW Information School discussed topics like AI and misinformation, how to better discern health information, and how to talk about misinformation in constructive ways.
- “AI and modern misinformation,” featuring Jason Young, a CIP faculty member and director of the Technology & Social Change Group at the Information School.
- “Learn to discern health information,” featuring Liz Crouse, a CIP program manager.
- “Facts, not fighting: How to talk about misinformation,” featuring Stacey Wedlake, research scientist at the Technology & Social Change Group.
Stay informed
For the latest news and research updates, check cip.uw.edu or follow the CIP on social media: Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn and Mastodon.
