Hurricane Harvey and Misinformation
September, 2017
A Barrage of Misinformation
All major events throw off an astounding amount of misinformation. Hurricane Harvey brought about 50 devastating inches of rain to the Houston area and prompted an equally large barrage of misinformation.
Collections of Falsehoods
USA Today
Hurricane Harvey: That shark photo is fake — and part of a bigger problem
by Alia E. Dastagir
Published August 29, 2017
The Washington Post
No, the shark picture isn’t real: A running list of Harvey’s viral hoaxes
by Abby Ohlheiser
August 29, 2017
BuzzFeed News
Fake News And Scams Are Going Around About The Deadly Storm In Texas
By Michelle Broder Van Dyke, Cora Lewis, and Jane Lvtvyenko
August 27, 2017
Spreading Rumors
Viral Fake Shark Photo
The Guy Who Tweeted The Fake Viral Street Shark Photo Wants You To Know He Regrets Nothing
BuzzFeed
August 28, 2017
Fake News and Scams
Conspiracy Theorists
#HarveyLootCrew
False Claim About BLM
Check it out on Snopes
Tactics
Ideas for Teaching and Learning
Discuss
- Why do so many rumors spread so quickly during natural disasters?
- Why do you think inaccurate rumors almost always travel faster and farther than the truth?
- Are all rumors created out of malice?
- Is it possible to spread misinformation with good intentions? If you accidentally share misinformation, what should you do?
- What can we all learn from Harvey rumors that might help others in similar situations in the future?
Learning
- Challenge your students to collect as many examples of Harvey misinformation as they can, then come up with a way to organize them into useful categories and types. What patterns emerge? What habits of mind do people need to avoid falling for these? Use a mind-mapping tool to create a taxonomy of Harvey misinformation
- Have teams of students collect the best and worst coverage of the storm they can find, then challenge them to figure out what distinguishes quality journalism (the best) from the worst.
Related and Relevant
Sue Heraper
SAGE Library at Newbury Park High School
Newbury Park, CA
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/sagelibrary/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Newbury-Park-High-School-Library-144832815607231/
Twitter: @sueheraper