GOOD

Italy Is Teaching Students How To Spot Fake News

“Fake news drips drops of poison into our daily web diet and we end up infected without even realizing it.”

 Britni Danielle
10.19.17

A new Politico poll just confirmed that nearly half of voters surveyed — a whopping 46% — think the media makes up stories about the president, while just 37% believe they do not. Meanwhile, actual fabricated articles and online hoaxes have had a negative impact on how Americans view the media and their public officials. While companies like Facebook have promised to do a better job of filtering out fake news stories from the masses, Italy is taking a more ambitious step.

Starting later this month, the Italian government will be rolling out a program to 8,000 high schools across the country that teaches students how to deal with fake news. In addition to training students how to identify fabricated stories, Italian journalists from national broadcaster RAI will also contribute to lessons on how not to disseminate fake news and conspiracy theories, how to demand evidence from those sharing questionable sources, and to always remember things on the web can be manipulated. Italian officials hope the lesson plans will serve as a defense against fabricated information that can be weaponized to sway elections and undermine democratic norms.

“Fake news drips drops of poison into our daily web diet and we end up infected without even realizing it,” Laura Boldrini, the president of the Italian lower house of Parliament, told The New York Times. “It’s only right to give these kids the possibility to defend themselves from lies.”

Italy isn’t the only one attempting to fight the rise of fake news. Members at the 70th National Newspaper Convention, hosted by the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association, recently adopted a resolution that papers will “contribute to people living safely and with peace of mind, and aim to realise a free and peaceful society, through free speech and a free press.” Children’s book giant Scholastic created a primer on how to spot made-up articles, and even Pope Francis has announced he will take on the topic, giving a speech on “Fake news and journalism for peace” for World Communications Day 2018.

Education

Youth activists gather to fight climate change at UN Summit: 'We need to transform anger into action'

Julian Meehan

Young leaders from around the world are gathering at the United Nations Headquarters in New York Saturday to address arguably the most urgent issue of our time. The Youth Climate Summit comes on the heels of an international strike spearheaded by Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden, who arrived in New York via emissions-free sailboat earlier this month.

Translated from Swedish, "berg" means "mountain," so it may feel fated that a young woman with Viking blood in her veins and summit in her name would be at the helm. But let's go out on a limb and presume Thunberg, in keeping with most activists, would chafe at the notion of pre-ordained "destiny," and rightly so. Destiny is passive — it happens to you. It's also egomaniacal. Change, on the other hand, is active; you have to fight. And it is humble. "We need to get angry and understand what is at stake," Thunberg declared. "And then we need to transform that anger into action."

This new generation of activists' most pernicious enemy is denial. The people in charge — complacent politicians and corporation heads who grossly benefit from maintaining the status quo — are buffered from real-life consequences of climate change. But millions of people don't share that privilege. For them, climate change isn't an abstract concept, but a daily state of emergency, whether it comes in the form of "prolonged drought in sub-Saharan Africa…devastating tropical storms sweeping across Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific…[or] heatwaves and wildfires," as Amnesty International reportsare all too real problems people are facing on a regular basis.

RELATED: Greta Thunberg urges people to turn to nature to combat climate change

Keep Reading Show less
climate crisis un summit activists activism
The Planet

18 of the best signs from New York's Climate Strike march

Millions of people in over 150 countries across the globe marched for lawmakers and corporations to take action to help stop climate change on Friday, September 20.

The Climate Strikes were organized by children around the world as an extension of the of the "Fridays for Future" campaign. Students have been walking out of classrooms on Fridays to speak out about political inaction surrounding the climate crisis.

"We need to act right now to stop burning fossil fuels and ensure a rapid energy revolution with equity, reparations and climate justice at its heart," organizers say.

There's no doubt the visual images from the marches send a powerful message to those on the ground but especially those watching from around the world. GOOD's own Gabriel Reilich was on the scene for the largest of the Climate Strikes. Here are 18 of the best signs from the Climate Strike march in New York City.

Keep Reading Show less
climate strike climate change new york city climate strike signs

How you can get involved in the Global Climate Strike

September 20th marks the beginning of a pivotal push for the future of our planet. The Global Climate Strike will set the stage for the United Nations Climate Action Summit, where more than 60 nations are expected to build upon their commitment to 2015's Paris Agreement for combating climate change.

Millions of people are expected to take part in an estimated 4,000 events across 130 countries.

Keep Reading Show less
global climate strike greta thunberg united nations climate change
The Planet

Why the iPhone 11 is making people with trypophobia experience panic and revulsion

Do you have it?

via Apple

When the iPhone 11 debuted on September 10, it was met with less enthusiasm than the usual iPhone release. A lot of techies are holding off purchasing the latest gadget until Apple releases a phone with 5G technology.

Major US phone carriers have yet to build out the infrastructure necessary to provide a consistent 5G experience, so Apple didn't feel it necessary to integrate the technology into its latest iPhone.

A dramatic new feature on the iPhone 11 Pro is its three camera lenses. The three lenses give users the the original wide, plus ultrawide and telephoto options.

Keep Reading Show less
tryptophobia iPhone Apple iphone 11 tryptophobia
Health

Woman dreams she swallowed her engagement ring and wakes up with it missing

Dreams can have a powerful effect on us.

via I love butter / Flickr

We often dismiss our dreams as nonsensical dispatches from the mind while we're deep asleep. But recent research proves that our dreams can definitely affect our waking lives.

People often dream about their significant others and studies show it actually affects how we behave towads them the next day.

"A lot of people don't pay attention to their dreams and are unaware of the impact they have on their state of mind," said Dylan Selterman, psychology lecturer at the University of Maryland, says according to The Huffington Post. "Now we have evidence that there is this association."

Keep Reading Show less
enagement rings san diego california dreams woman swallows wedding ring CNN MSNBC Fox News woman swallows engagement ring
Health