Though billed for young adults, this is a book that every adult should read. --The Washington Post

Join former CIA analyst Cindy L. Otis as she unveils the true history of fake news and provides tips on how to avoid falling victim to it in this informative and timely YA nonfiction title.

In our modern information age, it's impossible to escape fake news. Whether it's coming from the mouth of a politician or the suspicious article shared in your family group chat, fake news is everywhere. But the truth is, fake news is not a new phenomenon. From the ancient Egyptians to the French Revolution to Jack the Ripper and the founding fathers, fake news has been around as long as human civilization. But that doesn't mean that we should just give up on the idea of finding the truth.

In True or False, former CIA analyst Cindy Otis will take readers through the history and impact of misinformation over the centuries, sharing stories from the past and insights that readers today can gain from them. Then, she shares lessons learned in over a decade working for the CIA, including actionable tips on how to spot fake news, how to make sense of the information we receive each day, and, perhaps most importantly, how to understand and see past our own information biases, so that we can think critically about important issues and put events happening around us into context.

As new technologies like social media and AI create new avenues for misinformation to spread, it is more important than ever to understand how to critically examine the information we receive. Highly informative and immensely engaging, True or False continues to serve as an essential guide for young readers looking to determine fact from fiction in the news, on the internet, and in the world around them.

This title has common core connections.

What is a fact? What are reliable sources? What is news? What is fake news? How can anyone make sense of it anymore? Well, we have to. As conspiracy theories and online hoaxes increasingly become a part of our national discourse and truth itself is being questioned, it has never been more vital to build the discernment necessary to tell fact from fiction, and media literacy has never been more important.

In this accessible guide, Dr. Seema Yasmin, an award-winning journalist, scientist, medical professional, and professor, traces the spread of misinformation and disinformation through our fast-moving media landscape and teaches young readers the skills that will help them identify and counter poorly-sourced clickbait and misleading headlines.

We live in an era of misinformation, much of it spread by authority figures, including politicians, religious leaders, broadcasters, and, of course, apps and websites.

In this second edition, author John Grant uses ripped-from-the-headlines examples to clearly explain how to identify bad evidence and poor arguments. He also points out the rhetorical tricks people use when attempting to pull the wool over our eyes, and offers advice about how to take these unscrupulous pundits down. Updated to include a chapter on fake news, Debunk It serves as a guide to critical thinking for young readers looking to find some clarity in a confusing world.

What is a fact? What are reliable sources? What is news? What is fake news? How can anyone make sense of it anymore? Well, we have to. As conspiracy theories and online hoaxes increasingly become a part of our national discourse and truth itself is being questioned, it has never been more vital to build the discernment necessary to tell fact from fiction, and media literacy has never been more important.

In this accessible guide, Dr. Seema Yasmin, an award-winning journalist, scientist, medical professional, and professor, traces the spread of misinformation and disinformation through our fast-moving media landscape and teaches young readers the skills that will help them identify and counter poorly-sourced clickbait and misleading headlines.

Though billed for young adults, this is a book that every adult should read. --The Washington Post

Join former CIA analyst Cindy L. Otis as she unveils the true history of fake news and provides tips on how to avoid falling victim to it in this informative and timely YA nonfiction title.

In our modern information age, it's impossible to escape fake news. Whether it's coming from the mouth of a politician or the suspicious article shared in your family group chat, fake news is everywhere. But the truth is, fake news is not a new phenomenon. From the ancient Egyptians to the French Revolution to Jack the Ripper and the founding fathers, fake news has been around as long as human civilization. But that doesn't mean that we should just give up on the idea of finding the truth.

In True or False, former CIA analyst Cindy Otis will take readers through the history and impact of misinformation over the centuries, sharing stories from the past and insights that readers today can gain from them. Then, she shares lessons learned in over a decade working for the CIA, including actionable tips on how to spot fake news, how to make sense of the information we receive each day, and, perhaps most importantly, how to understand and see past our own information biases, so that we can think critically about important issues and put events happening around us into context.

As new technologies like social media and AI create new avenues for misinformation to spread, it is more important than ever to understand how to critically examine the information we receive. Highly informative and immensely engaging, True or False continues to serve as an essential guide for young readers looking to determine fact from fiction in the news, on the internet, and in the world around them.

This title has common core connections.

Fake news, pseudoscience, and quackery have become scourges, spreading through society from social media all the way to Congress.

The line between entertainment and reality, between fact and fiction, has become blurred. Some of the most crucial issues of our time--climate change, vaccines, and genetically modified organisms--have become prime targets for nefarious disinformation campaigns. Far too many people have become distrustful of real science. Even those who still trust science no longer know what to believe or how to identify the truth. Not only does this result in the devaluation and distrust of real science, but it is also dangerous: people acting based on false information can hurt themselves or those around them.

We must equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills to fight back against all this disinformation. InScience and the Skeptic: Discerning Fact from Fiction, you will learn how science is done, from the basic scientific method to the vetting process that scientific papers must go through to become published; how and why some people intentionally or unintentionally spread misinformation; and the dangers in believing and spreading false information. You'll also find twenty easy-to-follow rules for distinguishing fake science from the real deal. Armed with this book, empower yourself with knowledge, learning what information to trust and what to dismiss as deceit.

We're not just fighting an epidemic; we're fighting an infodemic. . . . This is a time for facts, not fear. This is a time for rationality, not rumors. This is a time for solidarity, not stigma.--Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO

Our deepest beliefs should help navigate reality, not determine it.--Michael Gersen, The Washington Post

Journalism is very much about trying to simplify and distribute information about what's new and where advances have been made. That's incompatible with the scientific process, which can take a long time to build a body of evidence.--Kelly McBride, Poynter Institute

The Media and Me is a joint production of The Censored Press and Triangle Square Books for Young Readers.

During the recent presidential election, media literacy became a buzzword that signified the threat media manipulation posed to democratic processes. Meanwhile, statistical research has shown that 8 to 18 year-olds pack more than eleven hours with some form of media into each day by media multitasking. Young people are not only eager and interested to learn about and discuss the realities of media ownership, production, and distribution, they also deserve to understand differential power structures in how media influences our culture.

The Media and Me provides readers with the tools and perspectives to be empowered and autonomous media users. The book explores critical inquiry skills to help young people form a multidimensional comprehension of what they read and watch, opportunities to see others like them making change, and insight into their own identity projects. By covering topics like storytelling, building arguments and recognizing fallacies, surveillance and digital gatekeeping, advertising and consumerism, and global social problems through a critical media literacy lens, this book will help students evolve from passive consumers of media to engaged critics and creators.

The Media and Me is a joint production of The Censored Press and Triangle Square Books for Young Readers.

During the recent presidential election, media literacy became a buzzword that signified the threat media manipulation posed to democratic processes. Meanwhile, statistical research has shown that 8 to 18 year-olds pack more than eleven hours with some form of media into each day by media multitasking. Young people are not only eager and interested to learn about and discuss the realities of media ownership, production, and distribution, they also deserve to understand differential power structures in how media influences our culture.

The Media and Me provides readers with the tools and perspectives to be empowered and autonomous media users. The book explores critical inquiry skills to help young people form a multidimensional comprehension of what they read and watch, opportunities to see others like them making change, and insight into their own identity projects. By covering topics like storytelling, building arguments and recognizing fallacies, surveillance and digital gatekeeping, advertising and consumerism, and global social problems through a critical media literacy lens, this book will help students evolve from passive consumers of media to engaged critics and creators.