emdowd's review
4.0
The first half taught me more about propaganda and the long, long history of fake news than the second half taught me, but I also literally have a degree in information science and teach teenagers to (man, I hope) become information literate citizens as my day job. The second half has a lot of useful strategies that I do think most young people (and older people....) would find helpful.
There are bits and pieces in here that would work very well to supplement all kinds of courses - history, research, civil discourse. Definitely written with a YA audience in mind, but that's good!
There are bits and pieces in here that would work very well to supplement all kinds of courses - history, research, civil discourse. Definitely written with a YA audience in mind, but that's good!
wayka's review against another edition
4.0
Skvělá entry-point kniha k tématu fake news. Sice nenabízí hlubší pohled nebo analýzu, ovšem mladému nezkušenému internautovi může dát jednoduchý, přehledný a srozumitelný návod, jak postupovat při odhalování fake news na internetu.
shighley's review
3.0
I'm still not exactly sure who the best audience for this would be. I did learn some things, and I have taught media classes to middle schoolers myself. The book is well-organized and would lend itself to supporting someone teaching about media literacy. I did find the reverse typography a bit off-putting at times, and some of the examples were blurry.
Interestingly enough, I had already experienced fake news simply by searching twitter with "Nashville suspect," as I read this right after the Christmas, 2020 bombing. I was amazed by the number of false tweets that resulted, and many showed the characteristics of bots, trolls, and manufactured tweets that I later read about. I can imagine that the author would have had a field day with incorporating stories from the COVID pandemic; I have also seen so many examples of media bias during the stimulus package debate. Ironically, I feel like she could have also included "errors" of omission in media reporting; I felt there were some things she left out.
I first heard about this book by attending a webinar with the author and Peter Adams of the News Literacy Project.
Interestingly enough, I had already experienced fake news simply by searching twitter with "Nashville suspect," as I read this right after the Christmas, 2020 bombing. I was amazed by the number of false tweets that resulted, and many showed the characteristics of bots, trolls, and manufactured tweets that I later read about. I can imagine that the author would have had a field day with incorporating stories from the COVID pandemic; I have also seen so many examples of media bias during the stimulus package debate. Ironically, I feel like she could have also included "errors" of omission in media reporting; I felt there were some things she left out.
I first heard about this book by attending a webinar with the author and Peter Adams of the News Literacy Project.
prairiemandolyn's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
True or False is an easy read, with valuable information that everyone needs to know. The beginning was depressing for me as it covered how fake news has been thrown around since ancient times. How people in power constantly use it as an advantage, and so can your regular neighbor. By the middle of the book it become hopeful, as Cindy shows how to spot fake news and find sources to rely on instead. The book is incredibly well written and easy to understand. Now having finished the book, I feel confident in my ability to call out false information and actually find the truth I've been searching for. I've been questioning how to distinguish true and false, and now for the first time I have the tools I need. I hope this book reaches more people