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01 Background
WHO CREATED IMAGE, VIDEO, CONTENT PIECE, BLOG ARTICLE, REPORT, NEWS ARTICLE?
⦾ Identify who wrote the piece of content.
⦾ Identify the intended audience (this can be: voters for a specific party, Gen-Z, scholars, professionals, the wider public, citizens, international agencies, NGOs, etc.).
⦾ Identify the intention of the source (the intention can be informative, persuasive, deceptive, helpful, or educational?).
⦾ Identify the author's bias and intentions. It can help to ask the following questions: Does the author omit important information? Does the author offer multiple perspectives, such as interviewing individuals from across the political spectrum?
Timing
WHEN THIS PIECE OF CONTENT WAS PUBLISHED?
⦾ When big crises occur, various actors frequently seek to exploit the momentum for their own incentives. This momentum can range from crisis situations to globally mediated events (e.g., natural disaster, big sport events, war events, climate summits (e.g., COP), political meetings such as G7 or BRICS Summit).
⦾ Identify whether there is a correlation between the content created and the globally mediated event. If so, what could be the intention of the content? Was it created to redirect audience attention, to mobilize, recruit, or create division in society?
Funding
WHO FUNDS THE PIECE, ORGANIZATION, NGO?
⦾ Locate the funding sources.
⦾ If the funding sources are difficult to find, why might they be hidden? Connect this to (1) the intentions and (2) the narratives.
⦾ Does the entity funding this organization or author also fund others? What links these organizations? Do they promote similar or identical narratives?
VERIFY
For a Better PLA(NET)
Credibility
WHAT IS THE REPUTATION OF THE AUTHOR, MAGAZINE, ONLINE NEWS OUTLET, JOURNAL, OR PUBLISHER?
⦾ Identify the author's background (both personal and professional). How? Look out for the author's byline, links to social media, or similar. Verify the author's or organization's affiliations, credentials, knowledge, and skills.
⦾ Determine whether their background is credible enough to produce and share information on certain topics. A credible background can stem from the author's professional experience or their sources: an author who has researched climate change and environmental crises, or a journalist who spoke to scientists and researchers are likely to be knowledgeable and trustworthy when sharing information on climate change.
⦾ Assess the organization's reputation (e.g., media bias, credibility of information, etc.).