Helping young students cope with the threat of fake news: efficacy of news literacy training for junior-secondary school students in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

As fake news proliferates, the urgency to educate young students in news literacy grows. Research indicates that while young adolescent students recognize the detrimental impact that fake news has on society, they lack the knowledge and motivation to combat it. We conducted news literacy training with 101 Hong Kong students (aged 11 to 14) evaluating their news literacy, susceptibility to fake news, perceived responsibility, as well as motivation to engage in protective behaviours. The training significantly enhanced participants’ news media knowledge, perceived control, and reduced their vulnerability to fake news. Participants became more motivated to report fake news, warn others, suggest alternative sources, and manage preferences to filter our problematic news sources. Participants also demonstrated an improved ability to evaluate the credibility of a real-world news article. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the training for this age group and suggest its potential for implementation in junior secondary-school classrooms.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational intervention
• news literacy
• junior-secondary school
• fake news

Introduction

Teaching students about news literacy has become an urgent task for teachers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, students around the world started relying more and more heavily on the Internet and social media to stay connected during school closures and quarantine measures. When face-to-face classes were suspended, schools resorted to teaching via online platforms such as Zoom as a means to keep students academically engaged amidst the pandemic. As students spent more time online, their chances of encountering fake news stories increased. Even students that do not have direct access to the Internet may be exposed to fake news as it flows from online to offline contexts among people in their physical surroundings (Howard et al. 2021). When it becomes difficult for students to tell what truth or fiction is in their environment, it can cause real harm. It was reported that two out of five students aged 12 to 15 who use social media for news found it difficult to tell whether a piece of news is accurate or not (Ofcom 2021). Only 2% of teenage students in the United Kingdom have been found to have adequate news literacy skills to verify whether a news story was true or not (National Literacy Trust 2018). These findings are alarming as they highlight that young students are not acquiring the news literacy knowledge and skills required to navigate the news media landscape. There is an urgent need to call for an early introduction of news literacy training in schools. News literacy training aims to develop students’ knowledge and critical thinking skills in the domain of news so that they can have a mindset with a healthy scepticism towards news content, reduce the influence of news on their behaviours, and take responsibility for selecting and sharing news. While different countries have implemented varying levels of news literacy training, it is still a relatively novel concept for many teachers and there is a lack of empirically tested methods for teaching younger students.

The main purpose of our study was to empirically test the effectiveness of news literacy training in improving young adolescent students’ fake news perceptions, motivation to take protective actions against fake news, and their news literacy knowledge and skills. We took an interest in students who were transitioning from elementary to junior-secondary school. This age group was selected as scholars generally agreed that news literacy should start early in elementary or junior-secondary school (Ku et al. 2019; Loos, Ivan, and Leu 2018) and because this is a unique developmental period between childhood and pre-adulthood that marks logical thinking, a quest for information, and a curiosity towards social issues due to the expansion of their immediate worlds (Shapiro and Margolin 2014). Our study provides an empirically tested intervention that could serve as a news literacy training reference in terms of structure, sequence, and content for teachers to adapt in their own classrooms.

Fake news and adolescent students

Fake news is globally prevalent across all cultures and ages. It is a catch-all term for inaccurate news information or claims that are not based on facts, contradict the evidence available, are plain false, or put facts in false context (Pennycook and Rand 2021; Tandoc 2019). Consequences to the spread of fake news can be detrimental as false news information limits the dissemination of correct transmission of information from reliable sources, potentially leading to mass misbeliefs. False news stories particularly abound on social media (Vosoughi, Roy, and Aral 2018) and among online communities of young people (Breakstone et al. 2019). Social media filters news based upon algorithms that consider a combination of factors such as recency and popularity of the story, users’ and friends’ previous readings, sharing, and geographical location (Thurman and Schifferes 2012). This operation changes the nature of news story selection from the professional judgement of editors or journalists to the readers’ interests and preferences. Without journalists who are the original gatekeepers of news and information, anyone can publish conspiracy theories or faulty news information while masking them as fact.

Studies have highlighted that adolescent users are more susceptible to fake news for habits such as passively consuming news by “accidents” (Fletcher and Nielsen 2018) through selective social media feeds, or when someone in their social network likes or shares an article (Ofcom 2018). Ku et al. (2019) have criticised that social media encouraged news-seeking motives that are mediated by social ties as opposed to accuracy, which in turn encourages heuristic thinking rather than analytical thinking about news content. Relying on social media to access news contributed to adolescent users’ lack of skills and lack of motive to assess the credibility of information (Nygren et al. 2020). The first is that the social media news might be reinterpreted, distorted, or mutated in the complicated chain of its dissemination. The selective exposure to news stories also give rise to fragmented, oversight, and passive understanding of social affairs (Lãzãroiu 2014). Growing up as “digital natives” means adolescent users are not only dependent on the complex online news environments for accessing global issues, but they will inevitably be posed risks that arise from the information turmoil of the digital age. In such environments, they will run into alternative news outlets, bots and algorithms, conspiracy groups and fake news profiteers. The complicated news information context calls for news literacy skills that educators have warned that students are lacking. A study conducted by Vraga et al. (2016) has demonstrated that news consumers who are more news literate and value news literacy are more sceptical of the quality of news information presented on social media. Other studies have found that news consumers who have more knowledge about news media and how news media operates are more able to identify misinformation (Amazeen and Bucy 2019). While countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Germany, and France have adopted top-down regulatory approaches aimed at limiting the spread of fake news, the Digital News Report highlighted that content control and information restriction measures are insufficient and short-term; a sustainable approach should prioritise education that empower young news consumers to become news literate and active participants in the digital information environment.

Conception of news literacy

News literacy is being repeatedly called upon as a possible solution for the spread of fake news and as a means to empower young adolescent students to co-create a trustworthy and positive news environment in a networked and information-saturated society. The primary goal of news literacy education is to help students develop informed and critical understandings of the nature and influence of the news media, and to equip them with the ability to discern credible news from the uncredible ones. There is a need to set aside news literacy education from media literacy or information literacy education because of the unique role and responsibility the news plays in informing self-governing citizens (Fleming 2014). Scholars emphasised 5Cs in conceptualising news literacy which include context, creation, content, circulation, and consumption (Breakstone et al. 2019; Vosoughi, Roy, and Aral 2018). The 5Cs represent a comprehensive set of knowledge and skills that encompass both the content and contexts of news production and consumption. For instance, Vraga et al. (2016) defined news literacy as “knowledge of the personal and social processes by which news is produced, distributed, and consumed, and skills that allow users some control over these processes”. Craft et al. (2016) emphasised that young students need to be taught explicit knowledge about news industries and how news content is created. In addition, researchers (Maksl, Ashley, and Craft 2015) have stressed the importance of an individual’s perceived control over the influence of the media and its impacts as a key component to their capacity to comprehend news. Without this control, an individual’s comprehension of the news material will be dependent on the default setting of news media. The ability to critically assess news credibility and the strength of evidence presented in a news report has also been emphasised (Flanagin, Winter, and Metzger 2020; Ku et al. 2019) to empower students to foster a critical attitude towards the quality of news. Aside generic news media knowledge and skills, Kong et al. (2021) have mentioned that strategies to deal with fake news need to be incorporated into news literacy training to help young students to become less vulnerable to the spread of false information. As such, to protect young students from the threat of fake news, we need to raise their awareness of the prevalence and harms of fake news, and to arm them with news media knowledge, a sense of control over news media influence, and skills to evaluate to what extend a news story is trustworthy.

Early news literacy training and its challenges

Scholars have been advocating early news literacy education. Even though younger adolescent students value news (Robb 2017), their heavy reliance on news that their peers recommend on social media may make them more prone to consuming and disseminating false information. This notion is supported by Ku et al. (2019), who found that among a sample of 1505 Chinese Hong Kong adolescents, younger adolescent students aged 12 to 14 were significantly more likely to seek news for entertainment and social purposes and less likely to track news sources as compared to adolescents aged 15 to 18. The authors suggested that younger adolescents consumed news to maintain and build social connections, and that they were more likely to be influenced by their peers’ opinions and beliefs than to engage in independent thinking. In addition, the study also reported that among the younger adolescent group, 44% indicated that they did not know that social media news platforms may filter and omit news stories for them based on their preferences. Similarly, Tamboer et al. (2020) found that younger adolescent students aged 12 to 16 understood and felt the need to critically assess news; they see themselves as passive news consumers and lack motivation to do so. Specifically, a significant number of their participants deemed doubting and critically evaluating news to be of lesser importance to their age. Likewise, in one study (Loos, Ivan, and Leu 2018), only 7% of Dutch school children aged 11 to 12 successfully recognised a hoax website providing a false new story describing an effort to rescue an animal (i.e. octopus that lives on the tree) that does not exist in reality. In another study (Wineburg and McGrew 2016) that examined whether American middle school students can tell apart online news articles from advertisements, it was found that 80% of the 350 students who participated mistook “sponsored content” (i.e. paid news stories), for real news. Wineburg and McGrew (2016) pointed to the need to explicitly teach news literacy skills as early as elementary school to help students develop discernment when consuming online news. In sum, these studies highlighted that younger adolescents are unaware of how news may be selected and misrepresented on social media, heavily rely on peer recommendation when consuming news, and have limited ability to assess news credibility. This points to the need to develop news literacy training for younger adolescents. Fostering news literacy education from early adolescence can help cultivate a generation of news literate individuals who are better equipped to protect themselves from fake news.

While the importance of equipping younger adolescent students with news literacy is acknowledged, the implementation of news literacy training in schools has been shown to be challenging. A common issue that teachers around the world face is a lack of a clear framework on how to incorporate news literacy in their classrooms. Despite media and information literacy having been a core course for senior high school students in the Philippines, teachers there reported being assigned to teach the subject despite not having adequate knowledge about the subject and were not provided with any guidance (Bautista 2021). The author further found that teachers often resort to coming up with their own framework about what needs to be incorporated in news literacy lessons within a short period of time when preparing for lessons. Similarly, in the United States, news literacy lessons were not always implemented systematically. Farmer (2019) found that nine of 41 surveyed school librarians reported that there were no lessons about fake news for K-12 students at their schools in California, and that teachers often prioritise other tasks over offering lessons about news literacy. In Australia, only one in five students received lessons that help them determine whether news stories were true and trustworthy (Notley et al. 2020). In addition, teachers also reported a disconnect between emphasis placed on news literacy lessons and actual support and resources provided (Dezuanni, Notley, and Corser 2020). Interviews with Australian teachers revealed that despite perceiving value in teaching news media literacy to their students, there is a lack of direction and relevant opportunities (Corser, Dezuanni, and Notley 2021). When asked what kind of support teachers would like to receive for teaching news literacy, teachers reported that they would like access to pre-planned lessons and units, age-appropriate and empirically supported material (Dezuanni, Notley, and Corser 2020).

Research gaps of existing news literacy intervention research

There is an existing myriad of training in various formats targeting a variety of audiences and addressing different aspects of news literacy. The Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook (Stony Brook) have made efforts to provide news literacy lessons targeting fake news. Maksl et al. (2017) found that university students who took the news literacy lessons at Stony Brook demonstrated significantly higher news literacy than those who did not. However, a limitation noted by the authors of the study was that the pre- and post-assessment method was not used and therefore students who chose to take this course may have a higher baseline performance than those who did not to begin with. While Stony Brook’s news literacy materials have been adapted by high schools outside of the United States for news literacy training (Hornik and Kajimoto 2014), Kajimoto (2016) remarked that the efficacy of the training have yet to be assessed with evidence-based methods. Murrock et al. (2018) found that adult participants of the “Learn to Discern” trainings had more knowledge of news media and were more likely to check other news sources than the control group who did not receive the training. It was found that participants in the training retained high levels of skills in cross-checking news and distinguishing true from false news after one and half years. A study on the effectiveness of a two-hour intervention for upper secondary school students aged 16 to 18 in France, Romania, Spain and Sweden on using fact-checking tools showed a statistically significant influence on their abilities to determine the credibility of fake news (Nygren et al. 2021). Although these trainings for adults and senior secondary school students reported to be effective, the efficacy of these trainings has yet to be tested for younger adolescent students. Kleemans and Eggink (2016) assessed the impact of media literacy trainings on secondary school students’ news knowledge in the Netherlands and found that students aged 11 to 16 years who received trainings were more news literate than those who did not. However, the study only collected self-reported responses from students who willingly completed the questionnaires with no objective tests conducted to assess their actual news literacy performance. Taken altogether, while there have been many efforts to provide news literacy trainings to older adolescent and university students, it seems that there are limited studies conducted that assess the impact of the training on younger adolescent students. Little is known about the efficacy of news literacy trainings specifically targeted at the age group of young adolescence. Therefore, more studies are needed to explore the outcomes of news literacy trainings for this particular age group.

Present study

Empirical evidence is much needed to support the literature’s discussion on the importance of news literacy education for younger adolescent students. The preceding section examined research gaps, stressing that there have been few empirical studies that investigated the outcomes of news literacy training on younger adolescents using a pre- and post-assessment approach. In addition to that, we suggest that it is critical for research on news literacy training to examine the relationship between improving students’ news literacy, their capacity to apply it to assess real-world news and their motivation to take protective actions against fake news. A major risk that empirical research must consider is that using self-reported measures to assess the efficacy of news literacy training may result in students reporting a “false feeling of news literacy”. News literacy training may cause more harm than good if it enhances students’ perceptions of news literacy without improving their actual news literacy. This could lead to a situation where students feel confident in their ability to navigate and evaluate news sources, even yet they remain vulnerable to fake news. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate objective measures to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of any news literacy training. Researchers need to ensure that the improvements in students’ perceptions of news literacy align with their actual abilities to evaluate real-world news sources and their willingness to act to ensure the quality of the information they consume and spread. To address these research needs, three research questions were proposed: 1) Can news literacy training improve the news literacy of younger adolescent students? 2) How does news literacy training affect students’ ability to evaluate real news? and 3) Is there a relationship between students’ news literacy, their perceived susceptibility and responsibility for fake news, and their motivation to engage in protective behaviours against fake news?

The current study adopted a quasi-experimental design of pre- and post- assessments. We assessed participants’ news literacy in terms of self-reported knowledge and perceived control over news media influence. To objectively assess participants’ ability to evaluate real news, we devised a task in which participants were asked to evaluate the credibility of evidence and its source of a real-life news article. To understand the real-world impact of training, we asked participants to report how likely they were to fall for fake news, whether they saw themselves as responsible for the fake news, and their willingness to engage in protective behaviours against fake news.

Methodology

Participants and procedures

101 students (all females) of Grade 7, age ranged from 11 to 14 (M = 12.6, SD = .59), from a government aided secondary school in Hong Kong were recruited through convenience sampling. School and parental consents were obtained. All participants took part in an eight-hour training across two half-days in June 2021 in a local secondary school. The original design was to conduct the training across four two-hour sessions over four weeks. However, the school operated sporadically due to COVID-19, we therefore decided to conduct the training in two half-days to better suit the schedule of the school. A pre- and post-intervention design was adopted to assess the effectiveness of the training. All participants completed the pre- and post-assessments immediately before and after the intervention. Ethics approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee at the [author details omitted].

Intervention

Design and content

We implemented a news literacy training of two parts, each of four hours. Each part consisted of two lessons and each lesson was designed to inquire two to three questions that younger adolescents would likely encounter as they interact with news in their daily settings. Breaks were given within and between the lessons. All learning contents were delivered in the form of group activities.

Part A aimed at laying a generic news literacy foundation on understanding news creation, content, and consumption. Part B aimed at learning about fake news circulation and impact, as well as skills in assessing news credibility. See appendix for details of the Content and Learning Outcomes of a Two-Part News Literacy Training.

Overall, we adopted an inquiry-based activity approach with an emphasis on explicit instruction and collaborative learning. All lessons utilised PowerPoint slides, Slido interactive Q&A, videos, animations, games, and discussion activities. A total of 24 real-life news stories were used as learning materials.

Pilot testing

A separate group of 27 students between the ages of 12 and 15 took part in the pilot testing prior to the actual intervention study. To avoid confusion, these students did not take part in the actual intervention. Two in-service secondary school teachers delivered the training. We observed the lessons and obtained feedback from the instructors as well as the students to revise and fine-tune the scope, length, and relevance of the learning materials and measures. The decision to adopt a longer training length compared to previous studies of older students (e.g. two- and four-hour training hours on older adolescents and undergraduates, respectively (Nygren et al. 2021) and was made to ensure that students of a younger age group have sufficient time to absorb, allowing for more opportunities to reinforce learning and engage in hands-on activities.

Measures

Perceived fake news susceptibility

To understand how likely the participants see themselves as being influenced by fake news, they were asked to respond to the question, “how likely do you think you might be deceived by fake news?” on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = very likely; 5 = not at all likely). The item was adapted from Chang (2021), who used a single question, “how susceptible are you to the influence of fake news?” on a 5-point scale to measure perceptions of respondents’ fake news susceptibility. We modified the wordings to make the item easier to comprehend for participants of junior secondary school.

Perceived fake news responsibility

To understand how accountable the participants see themselves are in fighting fake news, they were asked to respond to the item, “I am responsible for combating fake news”, on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). The item was created based on Wasserman and Madrid-Morales (2019) who used a single question, on a 5-point Likert scale, to measure how people attribute the responsibility of fake news, “how much responsibility does each of the following (i.e. the public, the government, social networking sites, and search engines) have in trying to prevent made up stories from gaining attention?” We revised the phrasing of the item to make it simpler and more straightforward for our participants.

Motivation to engage in protective behaviours against fake news

Participants’ willingness to take actions against fake news was tapped by the following question, “if you encounter a fake news story on social media, how motivated are you to use the following strategies to deal with it?” Five behavioural responses were provided, including (1) “validate the credibility of the sources and evidence presented in the news story”, (2) “report the news story on social media to seek a removal of the fake news story”, (3) “share the news story with others and explicitly warn up front the news story is fake or misleading”, (4) “respond to the fake news story by sharing an alternative source that contradict it”, and (5) “manage the settings of my social media accounts to filter out the source of the fake news”. Participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not at all motivated; 5 = very motivated). These behavioural responses were chosen based on Tandoc’ et al. (2020) study, which investigated social media users’ responses to fake news. They used items including “I report the post so it gets removed”; “I unfollow or block the person who posted the wrong information”; “I post a comment saying it’s wrong”, and “I post a correction on my own social media account”. We rephrased these options to better fit the social media habits of our participants’ age group. Since our intervention taught them how to use simple fact-checking tools, we therefore added an additional option that asked whether they would be motivated to validate how credible a news story is.

News literacy performances and application

News media knowledge

We used the 12-item News Media Literacy Scale (NML; Ashley, Maksl, and Craft 2013) as a measure to capture individuals’ knowledge in three domains: (1) authors and audiences: understanding news involves constructing it for specific audiences; (2) messages and meanings: understanding how news interpretation may be affected by the audience’s value judgements; and (3) representation and reality: recognising incomplete representations due to editorial processes. The scale has been empirically tested to be effective in measuring general knowledge about news media knowledge among adolescents (Ku et al. 2019; Vraga et al. 2016). Sample item includes “News companies choose stories based on what will attract the biggest audience”.

Perceived control over media influences

We used the 6-item Media Locus of Control Scale (MLOC; Maksl et al. 2017) to assess perceived sense of awareness of how one is being influenced by news media. Higher scores indicated a stronger sense of control over the influences of news media, reflecting that the individual’s understanding of news information does not necessarily rely upon the default control of media. MLOC is regarded as, along with news media knowledge, one component of news media literacy (Ashley, Maksl, and Craft 2013). The scale has been empirically validated among adolescents (Craft, Ashley, and Maksl 2017). Sample item includes “If I am misinformed by the news media, it is my own behaviour that determines how soon I will learn credible information”.

Evaluation of real-life news credibility

To assess participants’ ability to apply news literacy to evaluate news credibility, we designed a task and asked them to read a real-life news article (Oriental Daily News, 27 May 2019). The article reported the classification of gaming disorder as announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) with views and arguments supporting and against the announcement. We asked participants how trustworthy the news is in terms of its evidence and in terms of its source of evidence, each on a 5-point Likert scale. To score the task, we compared participants’ ratings to the ratings of an expert group of university teachers in journalism and media studies. The reliability of the responses of experts reached the level of “perfect” (Krippendorff’s alpha = 1.0; Hayes and Krippendorff 2007). We then calculated the differences between participants’ ratings and expert ratings by subtracting the participants’ ratings from the mean expert ratings. Smaller differences indicated better performance.

Results

Reliability

Cronbach’s alphas for the pre- and post- assessment of News Media Literacy Scale were .81 and .90, respectively; those for Media Locus of Control Scale were .64 and .88 respectively.

Pre- and post-assessment comparison

Paired-samples t-tests of pre- and post-assessment ratings of fake news perceptions and actions, as well as news literacy performances were presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Means, standard deviations (SDs), and paired-samples t-tests.

Variables	Pre-assessment		Post-assessment		Paired t-test
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Perceived fake news susceptibility	3.33	0.69	3.54	0.86	−2.40*
Perceived fake news responsibility	3.60	0.75	3.69	0.82	−0.93
Motivation to act against fake news
validate source and evidence	3.41	0.91	3.58	0.78	−1.88
report fake news to social media platforms	3.16	0.96	3.51	0.92	−3.88***
warn others	3.31	0.91	3.60	0.83	−3.24**
shar alternative source	3.04	0.91	3.41	0.94	−3.55**
manage social media to filter out fake news	3.00	0.91	3.50	0.88	−5.10***
News literacy performances and application
news media knowledge	3.78	0.44	3.94	0.52	−3.39**
perceived cognitive control	3.60	0.45	3.84	0.65	−3.64***
evaluation of real-life news credibility	0.74	0.72	0.51	0.72	2.85**

Note. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Perceived fake news susceptibility, responsibility, and motivation to engage in protective behaviors against fake news

There was a significant increase in participants’ perceived fake news susceptibility (M = 3.33, SD = .69 and M = 3.54, SD = .86 for pre- and post-assessment, respectively; t (100) = −2.40; p = .018), reverse-coded. Significant increase in four out of the five behavioural responses against fake news was recorded.

News literacy performances and application

Participants showed higher news media knowledge in the post-assessment (M = 3.94, SD = .52) than in the pre-assessment (M = 3.78, SD = .44); t (100) = −3.39; p = .001, and higher perceived control over media influence in the post-assessment (M = 3.84, SD = .65) than in the pre-assessment (M = 3.60, SD = .45); t (100) = −3.64; p = .001. Results suggested that the participants had lower difference scores for evaluation of news credibility in the post-assessment (M = .51, SD = .72) than in the pre-assessment (M = .74, SD = .72); t (100) = 2.85; p = .005, indicating improved news literacy application in the post-assessment.

Correlations among change in news literacy performances and application, and change in perceived fake news susceptibility, responsibility, and motivation to engage in protective behaviours against fake news

Change scores for news literacy performances and application perceived fake news susceptibility, responsibility, and motivation to engage in protective behaviours against fake news were calculated by deducting each participant’s pre-assessment scores from post-assessment scores. Correlation coefficients calculated by Pearson’s correlation test were presented in Table 2. Evaluation of news credibility scores were reverse coded such that negative change indicated improvement, whereas positive change indicated decrease in perceived fake news susceptibility.

Table 2. Correlations among change in news literacy performances and application, fake news perceptions, and motivation to engage in protective behaviours against fake news.

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Change in fake news perceptions
1. Change_SUS	0.22	0.91	–
2. Change_RES	0.89	0.96	−.06	–
Change in motivation to act against fake news
3. Change_VLD	0.18	0.95	−.02	.53***	–
4. Change_RPT	0.36	0.92	.19	.17	.11	–
5. Change_WARN	0.30	0.92	−.03	−.03	.19	.38***	–
6. Change_ALT	0.37	1.04	.12	.19	.19	.02	.15	–
7. Change_SET	0.50	0.98	−.07	−.03	.13	.05	.22*	.22*	–
Change in news literacy performances
8. Change_NMK	0.16	0.48	−.06	.13	.17	.16	.04	.10	.03	–
9. Change_PCC	0.24	0.66	−.07	.36***	.33**	.24*	−.03	.28**	−.01	.50***	–
10. Change_EVAL	−0.24	0.84	.08	−.14	−.10	−.14	−.13	.01	−.06	−.18	−.05

Note. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001. Change_SUS = Change in perceived fake news susceptibility; Change_RES = Change in perceived fake news responsibility; Change_VLD = Change in motivation to validate news source; Change_RPT = Change in motivation to report fake news; Change_WARN = Change motivation to warn others; Change_ALT = Change in motivation to share alternate source; Change_SET = Change in motivation to manage social media settings; Change_NMK = Change in news media knowledge; Change_PCC = Change in perceived control; Change_EVAL = Change in evaluation of real-life news credibility.

Discussion

Summary of findings

The present study investigated the efficacy of training younger adolescent students at the ages of 11 to 14 in news literacy. In sum, participants showed enhanced news media knowledge, increased perceived control over media influence, and an improved ability to evaluate real news after the training. In addition, participants reported lower perceived susceptibility to fake news following the training, although their perceived responsibility for fake news was unaffected. They also indicated increased motivation to report fake news, warn others, share alternative sources, and manage preferences to filter out problematic news sources after the training. Their motivation to conduct fact checks to validate news source and evidence, however, remained unchanged. Lastly, significant relationships were observed: a) participants’ improved news media knowledge was related to greater perceived control over media influence, b) participants’ greater perceived control was related to greater perceived responsibility for fake news, increased motivation to validate and report fake news, as well as offer alternative news sources.

Training enhanced knowledge, perceived control and actual news literacy ability

Our training was effective in improving younger adolescent’s news literacy in terms of the knowledge needed to engage with news. Specifically, participants gained understanding that the news may be crafted for specific audiences, shaped by the value judgements of audiences, and reflects only partial representations because of editorial processes. Our study provided empirical support to the importance of incorporating these components into news literacy education for younger adolescents, and added to the growing body of research on news literacy in younger adolescents, which had previously focused on older adolescents.

We found that the training increased participants’ perceived control of their news media environment. Individuals with higher MLOC often believe that they are in control of the media information they encounter and consume (Maksl et al. 2017). In addition, we observed a connection between enhanced news media knowledge and greater perceived control over media influence. As our participants gained knowledge about news media, they viewed themselves to be less dominated by news media in consuming credible news. This finding is consistent with previous studies that found students with higher levels of news media knowledge had a greater sense of efficacy over media influences (Kong et al. 2021; Maksl and Young 2019). The interplay highlights the theoretical connection between the two mutually beneficial components of news literacy and suggests that by understanding the fundamental knowledge of news production and dissemination, individuals can nurture a sense of autonomy over their own news consumption.

We had participants evaluate a real-life news article to assess their actual news literacy ability. After training, participants demonstrated improvement in their ability to assess news story evidence and source credibility, which are argued as two essential skills in news literacy (Klurfeld and Schneider 2014). Unlike previous research that often rely on self-reported measures, we used both self-reported and objective measure of news literacy. Our findings suggest that the training not only improved participants’ perceptions of their control over news media influence but also their actual ability to evaluate the trustworthiness of news. This is important because previous research has shown that news literacy training may instil in students a sense that they are more savvy than others to be “fooled” by false information in the media (Mihailidis 2008). The design of our study helps to address this risk and provides evidence that news literacy training can be effective in improving actual news literacy ability.

Lastly, Breakstone et al. (2019) found that a four-hour training was effective in improving college students’ ability to evaluate source credibility. Our findings extend theirs by demonstrating that an eight-hour training was effective and sufficient for a much younger age group, supporting the early introduction of news literacy training in secondary schools.

Training reduced fake news susceptibility and promoted protective actions

We found that our participants were more motivated to report fake news to authorities, warn others, share alternative news sources, and manage the settings of their social media accounts to filter out problematic sources that produce fake news. When constructing our two-part training program, we considered the role of personal relevance in motivating young students to interact with an issue proactively (Middaugh 2019). By making news literacy relevant to their everyday lives, participants were more likely to see the immediate impact of fake news and understand its consequences as directly relevant to themselves. This approach encouraged participants to take actions to protect themselves and others from the potential threats of fake news.

Participants’ perceived responsibility for fake news remained unchanged after the training. One possible explanation might be that this age group generally felt themselves to be less socially responsible and less bonded in their immediate surroundings (Wray-Lake, Syvertsen, and Flanagan 2016). Concern for the larger good and a sense of communal responsibility often emerge in later adolescence (Wray-Lake, Syvertsen, and Flanagan 2016). In addition, our participants’ motivation to perform fact checks to validate the sources and evidence offered in a news story remained unchanged after the training. Their reluctance, along with the lack of personal accountability towards fake news, might reflect a sense among young students that the quality of news is a concern of authorities and journalists, rather than of news users of their age range. Another possible explanation why participants were not motivated to check facts even after being taught how to use fact-checking tools is that doing so often requires rigorous processes like checking information or images through multiple attempts and cross-referencing, which has been found to be a time-consuming and cognitively exhausting task (Islam et al. 2020) for our participants’ young age.

Fake news responsibility and protective actions increased with greater perceived control

We identified the relationship between participants’ having greater perceived control over the media influence and seeing themselves as more responsible for fake news problem, as well as being more motivated to validate news, report fake news, and provide alternative news sources, after receiving training. The relationship suggests that empowering younger adolescents a sense of control over how the media affects them can make them feel more accountable for the fake news problem. This, in turn, motivates them to take actions that protect themselves and others from potential fake news. Previous studies have often found that people tend to attribute responsibility of fake news to the government or social media platforms such as Facebook (e.g. Wasserman and Madrid-Morales 2019), while the problem of the fake news is a multi-layered one that requires solutions at multiple levels to be implemented simultaneously. Policy or platform efforts require the support of a bottom-up strategy that educates individuals not only as more critical consumers of news, but also as active participants in both the verification and dissemination of news. Our finding on the relationship between increased responsibility and increased intent to take protective actions add to the existing theoretical understanding of how attribution of responsibility and perceived media influence in shaping the behaviour of news users. In a previous study (Huber, Borah, and Gil de Zúñiga 2021) with adult participants, it was found that those who feel more in control of media influence were more likely to engage in proactive measures to combat fake news. The current study found the same link for a much younger group of participants. This underscored the importance of early intervention in developing news literacy to empower young students a sense of efficacy over their ability to consume quality news, which would lead them to grow to become more discerning consumers of news.

Educational implications

A few educational implications deriving from the current study should be noted. First, positive empirical evidence was found to support the efficacy of teaching news literacy to students as young as 11 to 14 years old. Empirical evidence on educational efforts of this age group is considerably limited in the existing literature despite children and teens evolving as the most dedicated digital news consumers. News habits typically develop at a young age and continue to influence a person’s later sociocultural awareness and civic engagement (Fleming 2014), therefore an early introduction of news literacy in school could work as an antidote for the future generation of news users to be discerning.

Second, younger adolescents can benefit from news literacy training that teaches both general news media knowledge and components that explicitly address the threats of fake news. Based on our findings, we propose that students should be given explicit instruction on how news is produced, its features, and how it can be manipulated to mislead. Simultaneously, students must learn about what constitutes fake news and its consequences, as well as how to spot fake news using simple fact-checking tools and be instilled with a sense of responsibility for disseminating only accurate information to contribute to the fight against fake news. Teaching generic news literacy without addressing fake news is insufficient because young online communities are increasingly turning to conspiracy-driven news sources (Vosoughi, Roy, and Aral 2018).

Third, we postulate that the design of our training, which was inquiry-based and made extensive use of real-world news, contributed to its efficacy. Hobbs (2010) suggested that news literacy educators should begin with current news that is of interest to their students to enhance learners’ engagement and application of news literacy skills. By relating news literacy to students’ own lives and experiences, they are more likely to see the relevance and value of learning about news literacy. This approach can foster a sense of ownership and personal connection to the training.

Limitation and conclusion

Our study did not directly assess how well young students are at spotting fake news. Future studies should examine news literacy training in developing skills in distinguishing between real and fake news. Another limitation is our participants are all females due to convenience sampling, which may impact the generalisability of our findings to a broader population that includes male students. However, it is worth noting that previous research has shown no significant gender differences in similar contexts (e.g. Kleemans and Eggink 2016). Nevertheless, future studies should aim to include participants from diverse demographics spanning across childhood and adolescence. This would allow for a more representative picture and enhance the generalisability of findings to a broader population. Alternative forms of news literacy training can be explored, particularly those that enable self-learning that go beyond the traditional classroom context such as the use of games and apps that expose users to various components of news literacy.

Teachers are often tasked to equip students with knowledge and skills that enable them to participate and thrive as contributing members of society. For education to be meaningful, what we teach and how we teach it must be relevant to the evolving environment that young students are learning and growing in. We urge schools and teachers to invest time and resources teaching about news literacy and integrating it into their curriculum. This will, in the long run, help to contribute to the creation of a more informed society, one in which young students are able to form well-informed opinions about what is going on in the world based on trustworthy news information. As we work towards a critical and positive information environment, education efforts, short and long term, are at the centre of empowering young students to make informed choices that affect their own lives, those in their immediate surroundings, and ultimately society at large.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by [author details omitted]

Notes on contributors

Kelly Y. L. Ku

Kelly Ku is an Associate Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research focuses on how digital information environments shape the way individuals approach information critically. Her work explored educational strategies for empowering individuals to prioritize critical thinking.

Tammy M. Y. Fung

Tammy Fung was a Senior Research Assistant at Hong Kong Baptist University. She has a background in psychology and has a keen interest in research related to children.

Apple C. Y. Au

Apple Au was a Research Officer at Hong Kong Baptist University. She has extensive experience designing and delivering educational programs for students, teachers, and parents.

Ann Y. O. Choy

Ann Choy is an educator and worked as a researcher at Hong Kong Baptist University and Hong Kong University. She has a background in journalism and news literacy focusing on misinformation.

Masato Kajimoto

Masato Kajimoto is a Professor of Practice at University of Hong Kong specializes in news literacy education, fact-checking, and misinformation ecosystem research in Asia.

Yunya Song

Yunya Song is a Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her research cuts across global communication, digital media, computer-mediated networks, social media analytics, cyber-psychology and behaviour.

Appendix

Content and Learning Outcomes of a Two-Part News Literacy Training

Table

Part	Lesson	Questions to inquire		Learning outcomes
A	One	Who and why made the news? What are the different values of news? Who are the gatekeepers of news in the digital age?		distinguish between news, promotions, entertainment, and raw information. understand different types of news values. learn that journalists and other stakeholders have their share of responsibility towards news trustworthiness.
	Two	Is all news created equal? How do we tell credible news stories from non-credible ones?		learn that headlines and images are only parts of the full story. practice assessing news credibility by checking its verifiability, independence, accountability, and balance of evidence.
B	Three	What is fake news? Who are the creators, and who are the victims? How does fake news spread?	become aware of how fake news is made and reasons of why they exist. understand who profits off of fake news and how fake news can affect their victims. reflect on how news users contribute to the spread of fake news.
	Four	How can we spot fake news? What can we do if we bump into one? How can we protect ourselves against fake news?	practice using fact checking tools. learn how to report and warn others about fake news found on social media. learn to filter non-credible news sources via managing social media settings.