Media Literacy
How news is made, how manipulation works, how algorithms shape what you see, and how to tell the difference between reliable information and manufactured outrage.
How News Works
From event to publication — the editorial chain, the economics of attention, and how to read a news story rather than just its headline.
From Event to Headline — The Chain Everyone Skips
Between something happening in the world and a headline appearing in your feed, there is a long chain of decisions, incentives, and constraints — each of which shapes what you read. This topic traces that chain, from the moment an event occurs to the moment a news item reaches an audience, examining the roles of reporters, editors, wire services, press releases, news values, and the structural pressures of 24-hour news cycles.
Who Profits From Your Click? — Attention Economy and Media Business Models
Different media organisations have fundamentally different incentive structures — and those incentives shape what they publish. Understanding the business model is the first step to understanding editorial decisions.
"A Study Shows..." — How to Decode Research Journalism
Science journalism frequently misrepresents the research it covers — not through malice, but through a chain of simplifications between the original paper and the headline. This topic explains the chain and how to trace it.
Headline vs. Article — Why They Often Disagree
A headline is written to be clicked; an article is written to inform. These goals produce systematic divergences — and readers who only read headlines are routinely misled even by accurate journalism. This topic examines who writes headlines, what incentives shape them, how they diverge from article content, and what research shows about how many people read beyond the headline.
Reading Sources — Press Release, Wire Service, Original Paper
Most news stories do not originate with journalists — they begin with press releases, official statements, or wire agency reports. Tracing a story back to its origin reveals what was added, removed, or changed in translation.
Spotting Manipulation
Image deception, algorithmic amplification, deepfakes, disinformation taxonomy, and how to engage with conspiracy theories without capitulating to them.
Image Manipulation and Context Hijacking
Images can mislead in two distinct ways: manipulation (altering the image itself) and context hijacking (using a real image to illustrate a different event or claim). Both are common; the second is far more prevalent than the first. This topic explains how each works, how open-source verification methods can expose them, and what current AI-detection tools can and cannot tell us.
Social Media Algorithms — What You See and Why
Every social media platform uses algorithms to determine what content reaches which users. Understanding the general mechanics — even without access to proprietary code — allows more informed use of these platforms. This topic explains how recommendation systems work, what engagement signals they prioritise, and what the research actually says about filter bubbles and political content distribution.
Deepfakes and AI-Generated Content — What Detection Actually Tells You in 2026
Deepfake detection tools exist, but their limitations are as important as their capabilities. This topic explains how deepfakes are created, what detection can and cannot establish, and the broader question of how to maintain trust in visual evidence in an era of increasingly capable generative AI — including the 'liar's dividend' risk that deepfakes make it easier to deny real footage.
Disinformation, Misinformation, Malinformation — Useful Distinctions
The three terms describe different things: disinformation is deliberately false, misinformation is false but not intentionally so, and malinformation is true information used to cause harm. The distinctions matter for understanding how different actors shape information environments.
Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously Without Joining In
Conspiracy theories are not always wrong — some conspiracies are real. The challenge is engaging with suspicious narratives critically without dismissing them reflexively or accepting them credulously.