Not going to finish this essay before 10, but I do want to note a #MediaLiteracy concept we need to stay sharp around:
Malinformation.
It's not *inaccurate* intel, but it's intel blown out of proportion to dominate a news cycle or divert attention from another story.
When a political group has been found to do a Very Bad Thing, for instance, defenders will go on the offensive by signal-boosting smaller issues, flooding the feed with outrage over them instead.
It's propaganda, and it works.
What makes malinformation so effective is that most people are passive consumers of news media, so they'll pay attention more to the urgency with which news items show up on their feeds. They might not have media practices that allow them to quickly slot this flood of outrage into the bigger picture.
This makes people easy prey for the loudest actors.
A good defence starts with making whatever news you do consume *conscientious*.
Do not confuse vehemence on social media with proper reporting.