Media Literacy and Anti-Misinformation Resources for Older Populations

In line with the U.K. Government’s Online Media Literacy Strategy, and thanks to support from the DCMS Media Literacy Programme Fund, NewsGuard is offering access to its browser extension at no cost to civil society organizations, grassroots nonprofits, aging-focused charities, community support groups, and other partners serving the elderly. It will also help deliver media literacy training for staff members, carers, and the old age community.

NewsGuard’s News Literacy Programs are made possible thanks to generous support from Microsoft.

Press Release

NewsGuard received a grant from the UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) Media Literacy Programme Fund, which supports the rollout of NewsGuard’s UK-wide program designed to bolster media literacy in elderly populations, build resilience to online misinformation, and increase support for vulnerable internet users.

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“The internet offers countless benefits for older people, but with the rise of dangerous disinformation online, it is important that they have the knowledge and skills required to avoid being deceived. We’re proud to support NewsGuard’s excellent scheme which will provide vital training on how to spot this content and build resilience and awareness of online threats among elderly communities.”

Paul Scully

Minister for Tech and Digital Economy at DCMS

“The growing amount of misinformation online has been a huge concern to the older adults that attend our programming. It is something that they mention time and time again as a reason for staying off of certain social platforms or avoiding engaging with online news. The presentation and access to the NewsGuard extension is something they were really excited about and I have received a lot of feedback since about how much they appreciated it. Tools like NewsGuard give newer internet users, like many of our Cyber-Seniors participants, the confidence to navigate online news independently.”

Macaulee Cassaday

Cyber-Seniors

“Through their work with Age UK, NewsGuard have provided useful, relevant and practical advice and guidance around misinformation for older people and those supporting them. Their delivery style is clear, professional and succinct, making for very engaging resources and presentations. The free NewsGuard web browser tool offer has been greatly received by the Age UK network.”

Kathleen O’Donnell

Age UK

“NewsGuard expertly hosted a Good to Know telephone group for our service users. We discussed the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation and how NewsGuard proves to be a practical tool to enable everyone to learn and read about the news confidently online. The content was shared clearly and professionally, and important follow-up information was provided so that both service users and staff at Independent Age can utilise their free browser extension.”

Louise Rumble

Digital and Telephone Groups Coordinator at Independent Age

“NewsGuard provided two excellent presentations for members of the Good Things Foundation National Digital Inclusion Network. Personally, I was really impressed with the presentation delivery and knowledge of the presenters, and the content really crystallised my thinking about the growing importance of media literacy. Attendees from our digital inclusion hubs found the sessions really useful, with one saying, "Marvellous, very relevant presentation." The presentations also sparked some great discussions about misinformation at our Digital Inclusion for Older People Meet-up.”

Louise Branch

Community Engagement Manager at Good Things Foundation

Click the links below to download NewsGuard’s free resources for older populations, volunteers supporting the elderly, and aging-focused charities hoping to use NewsGuard for digital inclusion and media literacy support.

Partners

REPORT

Read NewsGuard’s report on the state of misinformation resources and support for the elderly in the U.K.

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REPORT

NewsGuard’s global team of misinformation experts and analysts identified ten prominent false narratives that appear to target older people in the U.K.

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Resources

At Cwmpas, we are responsible for delivering the Welsh Government’s Digital Inclusion Programme, Digital Communities Wales: Digital Confidence health and wellbeing. Online safety is such a cornerstone of enabling people to engage well online, and a huge part of that is the area of misnformation and disinformation. We have worked with NewsGuard to provide learning and support opportunities to communities across Wales, including with older peoples' support groups and library services. Providing communities and hubs with access to the NewsGuard extension and improving their knowledge on misinformation helps us to work towards a digitally included and skilled nation. We’ve also supported NewsGuard to understand how misinformation affects Wales' older populations for their UK-wide report launched in August 2023." - Laura Phillips, Cwmpas

Interested in bringing NewsGuard to your elderly-focused organization at no cost? Reach out today at [email protected].

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