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Is it real? Or is it fake? Ask an LHS ninth-grader

Subhead
On Second Thought
Lead Summary
By
Lori Sorenson, editor

I was an honored guest for Luverne’s ninth-grade Career Day on Nov. 13 when invited local professionals shared insights into their jobs.
In the days leading up to Career Day, I pondered the message I’d share with these young minds. What could I tell 14-year-olds about what I do that would matter to them?
Their teacher, Jason Berghorst, encouraged me to talk about careers in journalism. I did. And the students had really good questions, like, “What was the most interesting story you’ve ever written?”
There were many, and as I talked, the students’ eyes began to glaze over. It was the final class of the day, and they wouldn’t be tested on the … blah blah blah blah ...
I knew this would happen.
So I turned on the smart screen, which projected a poster-sized image of Mr. Berghorst with a joint photoshopped into the corner of his mouth.
All eyes in the classroom were suddenly riveted to the front of the classroom.
I was glad I had their attention, because there was an important point about news that I wanted them to understand.
Mr. Berghorst’s photo appeared under a flashy “breaking news” image along with a headline, “Ninth-grade teacher caught smoking pot!” An official-sounding story went on to describe the scandal, as told by unnamed school staff repeating allegations from an unnamed student. The “story” speculated that Mr. Berghorst would probably be fired.
I asked the students what they would do if they came across something like this in a social media feed.
Would they believe it? Would they share it? What should be their response?
Initially they laughed, of course. It was a funny illustration, and of course Mr. Berghorst wouldn’t use a controlled substance.
But my point was that “news” online is often created by malevolent individuals whose goal is to disseminate disinformation in order to influence readers toward a particular action.
I showed students how to check the legitimacy of a news outlet and its creator and the creator’s possible motives. In the case of the fake story about Mr. Berghorst, it turns out a disgruntled former student (who had been expelled for smoking pot) was seeking revenge.
And the proper response, then, is to “block” future posts from that source. Don’t comment. Don’t share.
Sigh.
The students were nodding, wide-eyed. But would they remember?
There was no discussion about current political discord, and there was no mention of one political party or another — or that these things most commonly happen for political reasons.
In the short time I had with these impressionable minds, I used the most direct words I could utter to warn them about how to best learn about the world around them.
There are trained journalists who put their names on their stories and use real people as sources, and there are credible news organizations that pay reporters for factual news and fire those who don’t strive for the same credibility.
We can hope our ninth-graders will one day subscribe to the Star Herald and the Washington Post, but at the very least, they’ll hopefully remember Mr. Berghorst’s fake scandal as an example of what not to believe.
(Thank you, Mr. Berghorst, for being a good sport about the illustration.)
 

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