West Virginia University Course To Detect 'Fake News'

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia University is offering a new course to provide student consumers with tools for separating media fact from fiction.

Noting the phrase "fake news" has been widely heard since last year's presidential election and is now used in commentary by both politicians and journalists, the university's Reed College of Media says the honors seminar tackles the phenomenon head on.

It's intended to make students savvier consumers by teaching them to how to access, critically analyze and evaluate news and information across various media platforms.

Assistant Professor Bob Britten developed the course.

He says it's not designed to teach students which outlets are necessarily right or wrong, but the tools to systematically analyze and investigate a report's content to determine if it's accurate and supportable through other sources.