
In What About Social Media?, host Radzi Chinyanganya looks at what makes a story go viral, and explains how to evaluate whether or not the story is real before sharing it. Stories can be evaluated by asking if they’ve been reported elsewhere, if the organization that published it is reputable, and if the website the story was on is official. Deep fake videos that use AI to alter faces allow people to create realistic digital versions of themselves. The ability to swap faces has creative possibilities, but it can also be used to mislead people, so it’s crucial to look for clues that something might be false. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.

Fact or fake? Introduce your students to the role of social media in spreading accurate news as well as inaccurate news and rumors. In this lesson, they’ll investigate questions they should ask before sharing news on social media and then design a flowchart for evaluating whether a news story is “shareworthy.”

In How Do Journalists Earn Our Trust?, host Radzi Chinyanganya explains how journalists can earn our trust in a world of viral social media and misinformation. He highlights the importance of accuracy in the story of a rescue operation of a little girl named Frida Sofia after a devastating earthquake in September of 2017 in Mexico. International media, including The New York Times and the Associated Press, picked up the story and Frida went viral. In the end, the story wasn’t based on fact, and no one named Frida had ever even attended the school. Being transparent and admitting their mistakes can help journalists earn trust. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.


In What About Social Media?, host Radzi Chinyanganya looks at what makes a story go viral, and explains how to evaluate whether or not the story is real before sharing it. Stories can be evaluated by asking if they’ve been reported elsewhere, if the organization that published it is reputable, and if the website the story was on is official. Deep fake videos that use AI to alter faces allow people to create realistic digital versions of themselves. The ability to swap faces has creative possibilities, but it can also be used to mislead people, so it’s crucial to look for clues that something might be false. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.

Fact or fake? Introduce your students to the role of social media in spreading accurate news as well as inaccurate news and rumors. In this lesson, they’ll investigate questions they should ask before sharing news on social media and then design a flowchart for evaluating whether a news story is “shareworthy.”

In How Do Journalists Earn Our Trust?, host Radzi Chinyanganya explains how journalists can earn our trust in a world of viral social media and misinformation. He highlights the importance of accuracy in the story of a rescue operation of a little girl named Frida Sofia after a devastating earthquake in September of 2017 in Mexico. International media, including The New York Times and the Associated Press, picked up the story and Frida went viral. In the end, the story wasn’t based on fact, and no one named Frida had ever even attended the school. Being transparent and admitting their mistakes can help journalists earn trust. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.
