Media have always shaped the public’s perception of Indigenous people: the wise elder (Little Big Man); the princess (Pocahontas); the loyal sidekick (Tonto)—these images have become engrained in the consciousness of North Americans.
MediaSmarts designed the Motives and Methods research project to better understand how Canadians check and share information online. This study, which included a survey of 5,000 Canadians and interactive focus groups, builds on MediaSmarts' successful Break the Fake (BTF) program. It looks at changes in participants’ fact-checking after watching a BTF video, along with their sharing habits, frequency of fact-checking, and confidence in their skills. Based on our study findings, we provide recommendations for designing effective video interventions that build citizen resilience to misinformation in Canada. This research shows that digital media literacy education works and encourages a wide range of people to check the accuracy of online content, especially before sharing it.
The Internet is revolutionizing how we access and listen to music. The development of MP3s, or digital song files, has made it easy to download virtually any piece of music online.
First of all, you can’t choose to give up privilege – privilege is by definition an unearned advantage and you cannot choose to not have it. Guilt and shame are not, however, productive ways to deal with this.
Our corporate partners help us achieve our vision of empowering people to engage with all forms of media confidently and critically.
MediaSmarts’ experts are available to facilitate virtual and in-person workshops in school and community settings for parents/guardians, educators, youth and the general public. Our workshops cover topics such as online safety, misinformation, digital well-being, managing tech in the home, diversity and representation in media, digital citizenship, critical thinking, online hate and more.
Young Canadians in a Wireless World (YCWW) is Canada’s longest-running and most comprehensive research study on young people’s attitudes, behaviours and opinions regarding the internet, technology and digital media. This report highlights findings related to how often youth come across harmful and discomforting content, including racist and sexist content and pornography, in which online spaces they most often see it, and how they tend to respond to it.
