The following list of terms is partially adapted from Stony Brook University's Digital Resources Center Glossary: The Language of News Literacy
- Accountability Taking direct responsibility, by name, for the truthfulness and the reliability of a report. Examples include bylines in print and digital journalism and signoffs in audio and video reports.
- Bias In favor of (or against) a particular idea, person, or thing, based on one's personal feelings.
- Clickbait A headline designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest.
- Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias refers to processing information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one's existing beliefs.
- Conspiracy Theory An explaination of an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.
- Disinformation False information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.
- Misinformation Information that is inaccurate, but not maliciously so.
- Parody A humorous, satirical, or burlesque imitation, as of a person, situation, or event.
- Propaganda A communicative technique that seeks to manipulate the opinions and attitudes of a targeted audience; intends to change existing belief systems, value structures, and political positions in order to create specific attitudes toward a subject of public discourse in a manner favorable to the propagandist. Typically directed at a large number of people. Uses different media genres, such as speeches, advertisements, editorials, articles, songs, or posters.
- PsyOps A variety of techniques that seek to influence the emotions, attitudes, and behavior of selected audiences in support of political and military objectives. Psychological warfare, also known as psychological operations (PSYOPS), usually connotes nonlethal attempts to gain advantage over the enemy.
- Satire The use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or humor, in the spread of information.
- Signal Boosting Though social media provides the opportunity for the voice of an individual be amplified, in many cases, this voice can still be lost in the noise of the internet. For a post or specific content to gain enough traction to reach a wider audience, a community of social media users must organize and share a single message in a process known as "signal boosting. When done well, signal boosting can cause to go viral; however, it's incredibly easy to use bot accounts and other methods of artificial amplification to spread a misinformed or malicious message, which, in turn, can have disastrous effects on the stability of democratic systems of governments.
- State-Sponsored News Sources in repressive or authoritarian states operating under government sanctions and control that spread disinformation.
