On 13 March, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill which would ban the social-media app TikTok from the country unless it is no longer owned by a Chinese company. The legislation was rushed through in record time, although it is not certain it will be confirmed by the Senate. What risk does Congress … Continue reading “U.S. Congress Tries to Ban TikTok”
The Platinum Jubilee Concert coverage on 4 June opened with a sketch that featured the Queen inviting Paddington Bear to tea. The short video is great. for class use, and would make a good complement to the “deep fake” Queen’s Christmas speech that is featured in Shine Bright 3e Snapfile 11 Twist and Tell. The … Continue reading “Marmalade Sandwich, Your Majesty?”
The Fake News exhibition created by the CLEMI which is running in Paris till February 2022 is now also available as 10 A3-sized posters that you can print up and display in your school. There’s a webinar and teaching pack to help you guide your pupils to get the most out of the experience. The … Continue reading “Fake News Exhibition in Your School!”
Controversial U.S. broadcaster Alex Jones has been found liable in defamation cases brought in Connecticut and Texas by parents of children killed in the 2012 mass school shooting. Jones has spread conspiracy theories for years saying the shooting was a government hoax aiming at promoting gun control. Twenty children and six adults were shot dead … Continue reading “Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Found Liable for Defamation Over Sandy Hook Shooting”
No, it isn’t fake news: Covid permitting, there will be an exhibition on Fake News running from 27 May 2021 to January 2022 at the Fondation EDF in Paris. Designed for school groups as well as the general public, it will be a great opportunity to have your pupils develop their critical-thinking skills. The exhibition … Continue reading “Fake News Exhibition”
Jon Stewart honed the art of satire on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Now he’s left the presenting to Trevor Noah, he has turned his satire on the U.S. political system and its finances in a new film, Irresistible. It stars Steve Carrell as a political strategist for the Democratic Party who persuades an ex-Marine … Continue reading “The “Irresistible” Election Machine”
International Fact-Checking Day is on 2 April – the day after the annual feast of benign fake news stories and hoaxes that is April Fool’s Day. It promotes fact-checking to combat malicious fake news around the world. The day is organised by the International Fact-Checking Network, a team of journalists around the world coordinated by … Continue reading “International Fact-Checking Day”
Traditionally, on April Fools Day, the media in the English-speaking world love to run hoax stories. But in these days of fake news, how easy will it be to tell the April Fools from the usual run of internet rumours on 1 April? Luckily, April Fools Day is followed by International Fact-checking Day. Which of … Continue reading “April Fools”
The Great Hack is a new documentary made for Netflix on the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal over the use of social-media users’ data to potentially manipulate the outcome of elections including the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and the UK Brexit referendum. This B1-level resource based on an interview with the two directors of the documentary is … Continue reading “The Great Hack”
This worksheet is based on an article which can be labelled A2+ as far as understanding is concerned, but the final writing activity should target B1 for a good number of students. Therefore, we suggest starting with easy activities to engage everyone in the class and gradually move on to more demanding work. It is … Continue reading “What’s in the News?”