DISINFORMATION DETOX: Teaching Disinformation from Inside the Information Ecosystem
DATE: Tuesday, January 27, 2026
TIME: 12 - 1 PM EST
LOCATION: Online. Click here to register
Media literacy activities often position students as detached outsiders applying fact-checking skills to help them spot dis- and misinformation from a distance. In a landscape of ubiquitous screens, infinite scroll, algorithmic curation, and generative artificial intelligence, fundamental fact-checking skills do not match with the on-the-ground realities of how people encounter, interpret, and share information.
Learn about a general-education media literacy course at Rutgers University, New Brunswick called Disinformation Detox: Communication, Media and Information Studies: Approaches to Mis- and Disinformation. The course situates learners at the center of the information environment, asking them to engage as participants, co-creators, and potential change agents rather than reactive critics.
Participants will leave with a complete worked example of the assignment, a menu of theoretical lenses (the conceptual backbone of the Disinformation Detox curriculum), and a flexible grading rubric ready for Spring course implementation. This session is designed for media and information literacy educators who want to move beyond fact-checking checklists toward pedagogical practices that mirror the complexity of the information systems our students inhabit.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Gina Marcello, Ph.D. is an Associate Teaching Professor at Rutgers University's School of Communication and Information in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies.