Don’t Get Played- Get MediaWise

Misinformation floods the internet. Can you separate fact from fiction?

In this must-hear episode, Brittani Kollar, Deputy Director of MediaWise at the Poynter Institute, breaks down the rise of online deception—and how you can fight back.

·      The biggest red flags of online misinformation

·      How AI, deepfakes, and clickbait are changing the game

·      Why speed is overtaking context in today’s news

·      Practical fact-checking strategies anyone can use

·      The real impact of misinformation on public trust, elections, and everyday life

In a world flooded with half-truths and viral lies, we are not powerless. Every fact we check, every rumor we stop, and every truth we stand by matters.   So, are you ready to scroll smarter, question sharper, and stay MediaWise? Tune in now!

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Chapters

• 0:06 Spotting Misinformation in the Digital World
• 7:35 Identifying Misinformation in Online News
• 23:31 Media Literacy in the Digital Age

Transcript

Pat:

Fill To Capacity where heart grit and irreverent humor collide. A podcast for people to stubborn to quit, and too creative not to make a difference.

Pat:

Hi, I'm Pat Benincasa, and welcome to Fill To Capacity, Episode 96. "Don't Get Played. Get MediaWise." Today we're tackling a topic that couldn't be more important, how to spot misinformation in an online world filled with half-truths, deep fakes, and sometimes outright lies. Or as Edward R. Murrow, legendary journalist and broadcaster said in 1964, quote, "The speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue." 

Okay, Murrow saw it coming, and today misinformation can spread in seconds. To help us sort back from fiction, I have the perfect guest. Brittani Kollar is a powerhouse in the world of journalism and media literacy.

Pat:

She is the Deputy Director of MediaWise, the Poynter Institute's groundbreaking initiative that's teaching people of all ages how to separate fact from fiction online, in fact. Okay. Listeners, I took their free online class, How To Spot Misinformation Online.

Pat:

It was so helpful. I immediately emailed the Poynter and the rest is history. I digress. Let's come back. Okay. Before stepping into this critical role, Brittani spent 13 years at CNN, where she worked on the International Affiliate News Desk and later led training programs for journalists around the world. She trained over a thousand journalists on ethics, fact checking and impactful storytelling. 

And okay, just to add a little history to her resume, she even hosted former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalyn Carter at CNN's headquarters.

Pat:

Now, I've gotta tell you folks, we gotta talk about the Poynter Institute because if you care about ethical journalism, back checking and protecting democracy, you need to know this name. Poynter is the gold standard for training journalists and fighting misinformation. They're the home of PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize winning fact checking organization and the International Fact Checking Network, which sets the global standard for truth in reporting.

Pat:

Through MediaWise, they've already reached over 21 million people, helping them become smarter, more discerning consumers of news. And let's be honest, this work has never been more important. We're in a time where this information isn't just annoying, it's dangerous, it influences elections, fuels, public distrust, and even could put lives at risk. That's why today's conversation matters. So let's get into it. How do we fight back against misinformation? How can we protect ourselves and our communities? And how can you become part of the solution? Well, Brittani Kollar is here to break it all down. Welcome, Brittani.

Brittani:

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Pat:

Oh, listen, I have been so looking forward to this conversation, I can't even tell you. Okay. Brittani, you've spent over a decade at CNN Before joining MediaWise, what drew you to the world of media literacy and misinformation detection?

Brittani:

Well, to be honest, my passion from my work at CNN and now with MediaWise has always been to help others and to help others be more empowered, um, to help themselves and to continue helping others as well. So when I was shifting roles, um, and I came to MediaWise, I saw that the, the real impact of empowering individuals at a very granular level, drew me because if we're not working to make this world a better place, then what are we doing? And so that is really what drew me to the world of media literacy. It's complimentary to my background in journalism. And so it really just felt like a perfect path, um, as I continued my journey.

Pat:

Okay. So MediaWise has reached millions of people with its digital literacy programs. What's one aha moment you've witnessed where someone realized just how misinformation works?

Brittani:

Oh, that's a good, that is a very good question. So in our work, we do a lot of workshops. So we're in-person workshops and virtual. We also roll out a lot of other in interventions that perhaps we don't get to see the end user quite so much, but we are able to capture their impact through surveys. And really, it isn't necessarily one moment, but what we've seen is once people realize that they are able to use these skills, these media, media literacy skills to navigate the world, the complex digital ecosystem on their own, they come back and they go, oh, I didn't realize that I could check it. That way I don't have to just take something that was shared to me by a relative or a close friend. I need to check it on my own to make sure that it isn't false information. And, and this isn't to say that friends or family are sharing, intentionally sharing, right? Because misinformation at its core is the unintentional share of false information. When it's intentional, it becomes disinformation. Yeah. But so it's these individuals who realize like, wait a minute, okay, so my family or my friends, my loved ones, you know, misunderstood, but they shared it out of compassion. I can now check this, learn correct and factual information and then help spread that back to those who shared it with me.

Pat:

Yeah. Well, in today's media landscape, misinformation spreads like wildfire just for the reasons you said. Friends and family will say things post them, and other people go, oh my God, this is happening when it might not be true. So what are the biggest red flags people should look for when consuming news online? What should they look for?

Brittani:

So things that really stand out are emotional language. So first and foremost, when you see something that is, it generates this emotion, this raw gut emotion of anger or even laughter, because right, false information can share as, as humor as well, but really anger because that's a trigger point that is a red flag. So if you read something and you immediately get angry, that's where we just say, take a moment, pause, really take a breath, and then dive into it a bit more. Read the information. Don't just go off your gut instinct of then sharing, read past the headline, actually read past the first paragraph, if you come across something, because there are times where maybe the headline is, is written in a way that it is tended to capture you, but then what the story is actually about is something else or a different take. So you wanna make sure that, one, you check your emotions, but two, read past the headline as we like to say, which means just dive into the article. And this can be from any source that you come across. Read the full article before you go to share. Always check that. And it's just a good moment to fully digest all of the information that you're consuming before you share it.

Pat:

You know, a case in point on that recently was last week when people were posting that Coca-Cola called ICE on their own employees. Whoa. Now talk about your case in point, blood pressure going up and reading that and then checking into it. In fact, today, Poynter had a article about that being false with the documentation that that was not true. So I think that illustrates what you're talking about, because that could engender anger right out the gate.

Brittani:

Right. And then it also has, you know, business implications for Coca-Cola because if people read this and believe it and then they stop buying a product. Yes, it is quite a bit where people just need to stop and read through, verify the information through some really helpful, honestly, tactics and, and skills that it isn't just for, you know, professionals to do. These are simple skills that anyone can apply and just think about before sharing an article or a meme that contains false information.

Pat:

Now, this is kind of a tricky question, and taking that class, this was really helpful. We hear terms about misinformation and disinformation. Can you tell us the difference and why it matters?

Brittani:

Yes. So misinformation is information that is shared unintentionally. So these, this really comes from friends, family, loved ones who see something and they genuinely care about those that they're sharing it to. So it could be something on, uh, you know, a lot of misinformation was shared back during COVID because there was this intent of care. They see it, they believe it to be true, and so they wanna make sure they're watching out for their friends and family. And so that's where misinformation comes from. Disinformation is the intentional share of false information. And this is typically done, you know, whether it's to make money, whether it's to fracture communities. So discord, there is an intent behind disinformation, whereas misinformation, there's no irritant. In fact, it's trying to help. And oftentimes online, you know, it's hard to, it's hard to tell what is the intent behind it, which is why often you'll hear misinformation used predominantly because we don't know the, the intent. It can't necessarily be verified back to the original source. So yeah.

Pat:

So click bait, deep fakes, AI generated content. The technology is evolving so fast. How is media wise adapting its training to keep up with these new challenges? How do you guys stay on top of it?

Brittani:

It is a team effort; I will say that. And we have got some incredibly, incredibly intelligent and tech savvy people on our team that I'm so thankful for. And so we're trying to stay ahead of this, or quite honestly, I mean, look, Deep Fakes, AI, all of that is here. And we are approaching all of this by rolling out AI literacy education. And what we're trying to do is empower audiences to understand what is artificial intelligence? How do you interact with it? What are some safe, ethical ways to work with it, right? Because I mean, it's here, I don't see it going away. I don't think anyone sees it going away, so we shouldn't shy away from it. It's about the ethical embrace of it and how to use it. This could be anything from students using it in a classroom, you know, what are the ethical parameters there versus people who just wanna create it, you know, an image for fun.

Brittani:

Or those who maybe go to preferred large language model, right? Or whether it's Chat GPT, Perplexity or all the different ones that exist, because I don't think I can even name all of them at this point. So it's really about educating much like just general media literacy. It's educating with the knowledge of going in and ethical ways to work with it. Yeah, understanding the downfalls and the hold-backs, but also identifying where it can be useful and learning also how to consume it as well, right? Because things that we consume may in some way be touched with AI. We're also approaching it from the sense too, you know, a lot of organizations may be using AI to analyze data or synthesize data, right? But that doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong or has an ill intent. And so we're also trying to empower people not to necessarily be afraid when they see something that says, this was partially created with AI. Like understanding it's all about contextualization. Yeah. And an understanding of how to interact, how to use it, and then how to safeguard yourself across it. Yeah. We're rolling out workshops. We're working with journalists, influencers, and the general public as well to just educate and empower.

Pat:

Yeah. I, I just wanna digress for a moment. Would you explain or define "clickbait" and define "deepfakes?" People hear those terms all the time.

Brittani:

Yes. Clickbait is where you see typically a headline and it is designed to get you to click it, that it, the article or the content itself underneath it may not necessarily relate to the headline, or it may also not necessarily adequately describe what's in the article. So it is designed to get you to click, which is also why we do teach Click Restraint as an alternative to clickbait.

Pat:

There's such a thing is Click Restraint?

Brittani:

Well, we try and it's hard even for myself, but for Click Restraint, if you're searching something up on the internet right out of natural habit, we tend to just go to the first or second or third result. Click Restraint actually is going down the page, maybe even going, depending on what search engine you use, going to another page or continue to scroll for a while until you really get to see other results that may have credible information. Just because they're lower, it does not necessarily mean that they're less accurate. It just means that their SEO isn't optimized.

Pat:

SEO stands for search engine optimization. SEO is how you get a search engine like Bing, DuckDuckGo or Google to notice you. It's the process of making your website article or content show up higher in search results when people are looking for something online. Okay. Back to Brittani.

Brittani:

To be one of the first three. So we try to teach people Click Restraint. I will say yes, it is difficult to do, especially when we're all in a rush and we just want a result right away. That is clickbait, deepfakes. That's where some sort of editing software is used to edit something people say, to edit their likeness, to edit, uh, a video. So it differs from a Cheap fake, which used to be the biggest concern, and still predominantly is because not everyone is using deepfake technology or editing software, whereas cheap fakes are very simple edits to video, like the slowing of someone's speech to make them sound intoxicated or shortening a video to where you don't get the whole context that it can be now perceived as something else. So those are the difference. I know you didn't ask about cheap fake, but I threw cheap fake. No,

Pat:

That's good. Um,

Brittani:

And so those are the differences between cheap fake and deepfake really is the level of editing that is done between the two.

Pat:

Oh, that was really helpful. Thank you. Now I want to go in a different direction and talk about how news has changed between 1950s and seventies. News was one of the most trusted institutions in America with figures like Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Barbara Walters, John Chancellor, just to name a few. They shaped public understanding of major events. But today, with digital platforms and citizen powered reporting with cell phone cameras at the ready ,and 24/7 news cycle, journalism has shifted dramatically. What do you think has changed the most about how news is reported and consumed, and how has that impacted public trust?

Brittani:

Ooh, okay. Good question. Let's look at the consumption first is that now with devices, everyone has a device in their hand. People are always looking for the next story or quick information. So people are really looking for, to have information all the time. And they're getting it from so many sources now. Yep. And that has really shifted in consumption because now it has shifted your, your traditional journalism and news outlets. 24-hour news came about when Ted Turner launched CNN in 1980. And that really revolutionized the news industry at that time. And it gave viewers a way to get news at any point in time, not just during, you know, those prime-time slots. And then we saw a big push, and several networks came out with the 24-hour news cycle, both domestically in the US but also globally as well. There are 24-hour news channels.

Brittani:

And that was great because it gave people an opportunity to consume news when they were able to, right? Not, not every person works the normal hours where they can consume and watch the news just at those prime time. And so that kind of though, made people realize they could get news anytime they needed and watching it. And then we had the introduction of digital devices, right? We went from the cell phones that were purely text and call to smart phones where we can get content now anywhere. And it's pushing people and, and myself included, right? We're trying to get as much information as possible in a short amount of time as possible. And so that has pushed both how news and media have to think about how they are producing, but also people are just wanting shorter clips. The problem is that in shorter clips, you don't always get the contextualization that you need to understand a new story or get the whole picture. So there's been a shift towards shorter information, bite-sized information coming to you.

Pat:

Yeah. Actually, what you're, you keep highlighting in this conversation is that speed is overtaking context.

Brittani:

It is.

Pat:

And in a nutshell, to have full information in a news story, you need context. Now, I wanna talk about the Fairness Doctrine. That was a United States policy from 1949 to 1987, and it was enforced by the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission that required radio and TV broadcasters to provide balance coverage of controversial issues. Now, since its repeal, we've seen the rise of more partisan media. Do you think the absence of the fairness doctrine directly contributed to today's media polarization? Or would news have evolved in this direction regardless given cable networks and 24 7 news cycles?

Brittani:

Oh, that's a really good question. That honestly, I don't know if I have an answer for hypothetically, honestly, I'm not sure. I don't know, to be honest.

Pat:

Well, in one sense, you could say that the FCC was a watchdog, and it was in the collective consciousness of political people, public people, that if you said something outrageous, there had to be a response to balance it out. So in our collective news consciousness, if you will, that fairness doctrine was kind of there. 

But then the rise of that 24/7 cable news network situation, and really, you know, I think it really got a boost with the OJ Simpson story and all the news media day and night, they were covering that and the white SUV going down the road, how many times did we see that? And people were checking, but it, it created this thing of, you gotta check, you gotta know what's going on. So you could almost say that the rise of those things, it's not an either or. I'm not suggesting that the getting rid of the fairness doctrine, but maybe it was a, an alchemy of that disappearing and the rise of cable news 24 7 had a way of leading towards media polarization. Maybe that's a better way to suggest it.

Brittani:

Maybe I, I just don't, I don't know, to be honest, if, because what year again was OJ? That was in the nineties and in, you know, 24-hour news came about in the eighties. So possibly, I mean, I think the need for this really, yes, I do recall it being the need for like always wanting to know, right.

Pat:

Yeah.

Brittani:

But did that lead to now this sort of polarization? I don't know. I mean, maybe we were heading anyway to it, you know, I honestly, it's something I've never really thought about.

Pat:

Okay. Well then let's leave it to our listeners to kind of think about that for themselves. Now your Find Facts Fast Course teaches quick fact checking skills. Can you share a simple technique anyone can use to verify a piece of information quickly?

Brittani:

The Find Facts Fast Course, it's kind of leading into that speed concept that we're finding. It's a micro learning course, which means that in five minutes a day, you can learn a media literacy tip. It comes to you through text, and then you answer a question, and then it takes you to a video with one of our MediaWise ambassadors. And so a simple tip that we teach is getting out of your echo chamber. And what that means is, you know, really it's diversifying your news sources, but also the types that you consume, right? So it's not just making sure that you're consuming not just one media outlet. It's making sure that you are consuming, you know, multiple with different viewpoints perhaps. Right? Or different approaches. And that spans from local to national to international broadcasters, but also the type, right? It's not just TV. If you're just watching TV, check out a newspaper, read your local newspaper, go on and listen to the radio. All of these things. 

So checking different modalities and then also the sources that just kind of helps to open up, um, so others get different perspectives on. And because let's face it, not every outlet is able to cover deep dive into every topic. Yeah. So by reading various sources of information, credible information, let's put it that way, credible information, then you're able to get a full picture of a particular topic or incident, what have you.

Pat:

Yeah. Good advice. Now you work with librarians, teens, college students, and older citizens. Are there different types of misinformation that tend to target different groups?

Brittani:

Typically? Yes. So with our librarian work, that really is designed to empower librarians to continue the, the teaching to their, uh, patrons. But what we see is across all different communities that we work with, there are different types of information and that is being shared. So for our teens, it is, uh, geared a lot towards like, the latest trends of, I think one, one of them is called "looksmaxxing", I may not be saying that, right? It's different ways of, okay, well this is how you can, you know, adjust your jawline, or this is what you can do to have like the latest, you know, perfect complexion. So we see a lot in that where it's, it's more on like look and like who they're into, right? The younger pop stars, things like that Taylor Swift, right? Whereas for the older adult community that we reach, it's a lot of vaccine, it's a lot of health misinformation that reaches that community.

Brittani:

But there's also things like scams, financial literacy, that also does play a big part for older adults as well. So it really looks at the trends of kind of where you find for those communities, just like work that we do for Spanish speaking individuals in the us there's also a different set of misinformation that is shared there as well. So our main goal is when we're working across different communities, is making sure that the material that is developed, it resonates and we make sure it resonates by using examples of misinformation that they may have come across. And then kind of, oh, okay, you see this like aha moment. Like, oh, wait a minute, I did see this on my feed. Or, oh, I heard about this from someone else. So that's really where we kind of see this difference. Yeah,

Pat:

We have social media, TikTok, the socials, Insta, Threads, BlueSky, Facebook, and then you have podcasts. And I remember seeing a statistic that people ages 14, I think, to 34 are going towards podcasts to get their news or in-depth information. And you have people going to TikTok or the gospel according to Google to find out their information. I mean, there's so much out there, Brittani. I mean, it's a, it's a whirlwind of things coming at us. How do we sort through that?

Brittani:

And so that's where, with these media literacy skills, we just, it's about taking a moment. So again, looking back at that speed, um, versus context, it's about recognizing that we're in this sort of ecosystem of speed, speed, speed, and consume, consume, consume. But just pausing, identifying context, using some simple media literacy skills, whether it's click restraint or determining the authority of a source. It may take a few extra minutes, but it is worth the time that it takes to just make sure that the information you're reading is credible and accurate and that it is safe to consume.

Pat:

Yeah. I, I wanna throw a sidebar in there. People talk about mental health and doom scrolling. Now I for one, have stopped doing that. I'm very selective about what I absorb when I go across the socials or I read eight to 10 different international papers in the morning. I just scan 'cause I wanna get a sense of what's really going on. But this doom scrolling, it's so addictive. It's just like, it's like watching a train wreck and people are scrolling and scrolling and then they get all upset or they're anxious. How can we balance that? There's so much coming at us in terms of what's going on in the world. Is there a healthier way we can go about looking at everything without doom scrolling?

Brittani:

There's a good way of, and you know, I understand that people sometimes, right, we get bored. We're just sitting there and, and lo and behold, 20 minutes have gone by of just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and, and it really is about taking care of our mental health. And so really what we recommend is make sure you're following reputable sources, right? For instance, if you're really interested in what is happening globally, then make sure that you're following credible outlets. But also make sure, honestly set a timer. I like to set a timer for myself so that way it holds me accountable to making sure I don't just, you know, spend 30 minutes without having looked up. Not to mention, it's also good to give your eyes a break too, right? It's really about adjusting who you follow or, or what your interests are.

Brittani:

So that way too, it helps make sure kind of to curate what you're getting fed. That way it's something that you are interested in and not maybe things that will lead to that sort of gloomy feeling. Yeah. But also set a timer, like hold yourself accountable, because that will do wonders. It has for myself. Just breaking up the time that you're scrolling, you know, 20 minutes max. I would even say sometimes I try to keep it to 10. Set a timer, that way I know, all right, once I hear that alarm, which no one likes to hear an alarm, I whole thing you know, then, okay, wow, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. That went by really fast. Let me take a moment, step away, get off the screen, shift my focus so that way I'm not locked into this doom scroll for hours.

Pat:

Oh, that's a great idea. So what's next for MediaWise? Any upcoming initiatives or programs that you're really excited about?

Brittani:

So we're incredibly excited about our AI Literacy and we'll be rolling out more things on that coming up in the very near future that will be available on, um, on the Pointer website. But also we'll be amplifying it through our socials, which you can find us on all socials at Media- Wise. So AI Literacy is a really exciting component that we are incredibly looking forward to. Just a few months ago we rolled out a curriculum for educators to teach to students. It is designed for 13- to 17-year-olds. And so we are incredibly excited about this and trying to get the awareness out to educators and to school systems about that. It, it covers all aspects of media literacy and we have short lesson plans, we have longer lesson plans. We have two educators on our team who put this together. So it comes with the standard educational curriculum. And so we are really excited about that to reach 13 to 17 year olds, so that way we establish healthy digital consumption skills now before they become adults. So those are our two big, exciting areas, um, yeah, that we are. Really excited about right now.

Pat:

Yeah. That's, oh, outstanding. And listeners, I will put websites in the show notes for Poynter and MediaWise so that you can track it down yourselves. So Brittani, if listeners take away just one thing from this conversation, what would you want it to be?

Brittani:

That media literacy skills are not just for professionals. They are for everyday people. And that they are easy to learn and that there are organizations out there like media-wise that are here to help you do that. Don't be afraid to ask. And that it's so critical in just taking a moment before you share something that you've come across to just check it. If you have an immediate reaction to it, an emotional reaction, just take a moment. We are all in this together navigating a very rapid and changing digital ecosystem. And what we can do is just empower one another to consume information critically so that way we make sure that we are getting accurate information.

Pat:

Yeah. Well, as we wind down the hour, Brittani Kollar and MediaWise, you aren't just talking about misinformation. You're giving people the tools to fight back. And in a world drowning in half-truths and viral lies, you're showing us how to think sharper, question smarter, and take control the information we consume. And here's the good news. What I love about what you just said, we are not powerless. Every fact we check, every rumor we stop, every truth we stand by- It all matters. So for all of us, we stay sharp, we stay curious, and most of all, we stay MediaWise. Exactly. Brittani Kollar, thank you for stepping away from your busy schedule and coming on Fill To Capacity. This was wonderful and heartening to hear this. Thank you so much.

Brittani:

Thank you so much for having me. I enjoyed our conversation and look forward to talking again.

Pat:

So listeners, I hope this conversation gave you the tools to take control of what you see, what you share, and what you believe. Like an old time prospector, sifting through pebbles and sand to find the gold. Okay. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please tell your friends and hit subscribe. Thank you ! Bye!