Journal article
Can News Literacy Help Reduce Belief in COVID Misinformation?
Mass communication & society, Vol.26(4), pp.695-719
07/2023
DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2022.2137040
Abstract
The rapid spread of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased calls for news literacy to help mitigate endorsement of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and other falsehoods. In two cross-sectional online surveys conducted in October 2020 (N = 1,502) and July 2021 (N = 1,330), this study examines relationships between news literacy, COVID-19 misinformation, conspiratorial thinking, and political orientation in the United States. The results show that individuals with higher levels of news literacy were more likely to reject COVID-19 misinformation and conspiratorial thinking, but also that news literacy matters more for individuals with liberal political views than conservative political views and is unevenly distributed across the study population with age, race, political orientation, and news diet as significant predictors of news literacy. Results suggest that improved news literacy could be part of a strategy to equip individuals to reject health misinformation, but varied approaches will be necessary to engage with disparate groups.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Can News Literacy Help Reduce Belief in COVID Misinformation?
- Creators
- Seth Ashley - Boise State UniversityStephanie Craft - University of Illinois SystemAdam Maksl - Indiana University SoutheastMelissa Tully - University of IowaEmily K. Vraga - University of Minnesota System
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Mass communication & society, Vol.26(4), pp.695-719
- DOI
- 10.1080/15205436.2022.2137040
- ISSN
- 1520-5436
- eISSN
- 1532-7825
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Grant note
- name: Mass Communication and Society division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 11/24/2022
- Date published
- 07/2023
- Academic Unit
- Center for Social Science Innovation; Injury Prevention Research Center; Public Policy Center (Archive); School of Journalism and Mass Communication
- Record Identifier
- 9984321947802771
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