#TrustedJournalism Campaign Launched to Help Slow Spread of Disinformation on Social Media Among Older Adults Ahead of US Elections

Group aims to reach vulnerable population targeted for online political deception

#TrustedJournalism Campaign Launched to Help Slow Spread of Disinformation on Social Media Among Older Adults Ahead of US Elections

The Trusted Journalism Partnership, a coalition of nonpartisan academic and media organizations, today launched a public information campaign focusing on people aged 65 and over, encouraging them to take a reflective pause and consider whether a news story is true or not before sharing it on social media.

The campaign is based on research at Princeton and New York universities analyzing people's online behaviors in the final weeks of the 2016 elections:

One quarter of all Americans visited a website masquerading as a legitimate news organization, but was in fact peddling false claims.
The largest source of this internet traffic came from Facebook.
While most people did not share the misleading information, Facebook users 65-and-over posted seven times as many articles from such websites, compared with adults under 29.

#TrustedJournalism Campaign Launched to Help Slow Spread of Disinformation on Social Media Among Older Adults Ahead of US Elections

"We want to help people sort fact from fiction at a time when they are bombarded with disinformation," said Dan Shelley, executive director and COO at the Radio Television Digital News Association, one of the participating organizations. "Our campaign is a critical reminder that fact-based journalism is different from other types of media. Legitimate news organizations hold themselves to high standards of transparency and accuracy. "

The PSA campaign, which provides 15-, 30- and 90-second videos, highlights the Trust Project's 8 Trust Indicators to help people evaluate the source of a news story and determine its validity.

"Our 8 Trust Indicators provide an easy checklist for making decisions about what news comes from reputable news organizations and what might be intentionally misleading or just plain wrong," said Sally Lehrman, Trust Project founder and CEO, and a member of the Trusted Journalism Partnership.

To reach older Americans with its message, the Trusted Journalism Partnership is advertising on Facebook, the most popular social media platform among seniors.

"Technology has dramatically altered the way we consume information. But one thing has not changed: the difference between the truth and a lie," said Akhtar Badshah, distinguished practitioner, University of Washington Evans School and founder of Accelerating Social Transformation. "We are giving people the tools to help them discern the difference."