Media literacy curriculum fights disinformation in Ohio

By Farah Siddiqi

Disinformation plagues the internet and a nonprofit called the Digital Inquiry Group is helping teachers in Ohio and across the country to improve students’ media literacy.

In an age rife with online misinformation and disinformation, the group offers a free curriculum to help schools equip students with tools to evaluate internet claims. It integrates critical thinking skills into subjects including English, history and civics.

Sam Wineburg, professor of education at Stanford University and the group's cofounder, said their program has been downloaded 16 million times so far.

"The most important thing is to recognize that we can't look at a particular post and assume that we can just look at it and know who's behind it and what their interests are," Wineburg explained. "All information comes from a source, and to evaluate the quality of information, we have to take into account who produced it, and why."

The group teaches a technique called lateral reading, where students leave a site, research what others are saying about it and then make a credibility judgment. Some states mandate media literacy training for high school graduation. Ohio has digital literacy standards, but no stand-alone requirement.

Wineburg pointed out the program’s reach has grown nationwide, with its lessons recommended in 42 states but recent federal budget decisions have taken away significant resources.

"We have funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Google.org. And we were funded up until DOGE and Elon Musk fried the Department of Education," Wineburg outlined. "We had a $2.7 million project to spread this material. But then we had a million dollars of funding cut."

Wineburg warned while false claims spread quickly online, far fewer people are aware when the information is debunked. He and other experts said Ohio students, like their peers nationwide, need strong media literacy skills to navigate today’s digital environment.