Facebook partners with AAP to launch media literacy campaign via Momentum
Facebook Australia has partnered with the Australian Associated Press (AAP) to launch ‘Check the Facts’, a nationwide media literacy campaign in Australia.
The nationwide social media educational campaign launching today and running until 24 November, aims to help inform and empower Australians to understand, identify and prevent the spread of misinformation, as well as how to support those close to them to do the same. The campaign will run on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and online with paid and owned channels.
The ‘Check the Facts’ campaign takes the simple concept of the soccer/football ‘Yellow Card’ rules and will feature three videos of everyday situations: an office kitchen chat; weekend BBQ; and date night at home watching TV, whereby one character mistakenly shares a piece of misinformation based on three myths that have been debunked by AAP FactCheck.
The campaign, launched as part of Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2021, aligns with this year’s theme: ‘Media and Information Literacy for the Public Good’.
The videos highlight the following three key tips on how to spot misinformation, Who made the claim? What’s the evidence? And what do trusted sources say?
In addition to the campaign videos, AAP has developed static images and four resources which will be housed on the AAP FactCheck website factcheck.aap.com.au. These resources will further inform and empower people to proactively identify and avoid misinformation. They cover, defining misinformation and media literacy, explains what misinformation is and its common characteristics, and defines media literacy and why it is important.
‘Check the Facts,’ AAP’s professional fact-checkers, break down how anyone can identify misinformation through three key questions. What is a trusted source? How to identify what sources you can rely on in the information age, and how to spot visual misinformation: A beginner’s guide on how to spot a fake image.
Facebook Australia, head of policy, Josh Machin, said: “We are proud to be partnering with AAP who are one of Facebook’s third party fact-checking partners in Australia. We know that it can be challenging sometimes to identify misinformation on social media, especially when linked to COVID-19, which is why this initiative is so timely. The levity in the campaign is to get people’s attention in a creative way – so that we can work with AAP to do the serious job of raising awareness and improving knowledge on this important topic.
“Connecting people to accurate information is extremely important to Facebook and this campaign aims to provide people with new skills to make informed decisions on what to read, trust and share.”
AAP FactCheck, editor, Peter Bodkin, said: “The growing problem of misinformation is compounded by the fact many Australian adults lack confidence in their ability to identify false or misleading information. There are limited media literacy education resources targeting adults, which led us to partner with Facebook to create this important campaign. In it we share three fundamental questions we use in our fact-checking processes. The very act of pausing and considering those questions can help build the critical thinking skills needed to recognise and avoid misinformation.”
AAP, CEO, Emma Cowdroy, said: “AAP has been committed to fact-based journalism for more than 85 years but our new mission as a not-for-profit newswire drives us to support Australians to build their media literacy skills as we continue to serve them by combating misinformation circulating online and in the community.”
Momentum , executive creative director, Matt Batten, said: “You can’t ask Aussies to become investigative journalists every time they see a post on social media. But you can ask them to call time out and yellow card those things that aren’t fair play. Aussies respond better to the language of sport. This creative device makes the content relatable and stand out on the very platforms where we need the target audience to change their behaviour.”
Credits:
Client: AAP and Facebook
Managing Editor, AAP: Holly Nott
Head of Policy Programs, Facebook: Cheryl Seeto
Strategy and Creative: Momentum Worldwide Australia
Executive Creative Director: Matt Batten
Managing Partner: Imelda Hodson
Senior Account Director: Isabelle Ward
Strategy: Anthony Dever, Kayleigh Franks
Creative: Dave Scott, Matt Batten
Design: Iv Siauwidjaja
Production: Elastic Studios
Producer: Kadi Lokk
Director: Simon Thomas
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topics
AAP
AAP FactCheck
Check the Facts campaign
Emma Cowdroy
Facebook
Josh Machin
Matt Batten
media literacy campaign
Peter Bodkin
