Partner with news outlets to combat fake news

Misinformation is becoming one of the defining challenges of our time. It spreads faster than verified news, polarises societies and undermines trust in democratic institutions. Generative-artificial-intelligence-powered misinformation, such as deepfakes, makes the ability to identify misinformation a critical component of news literacy. From the Covid-19 pandemic to elections across the globe, we have seen how falsehoods, often deliberately crafted to provoke strong emotions, can shape public opinion.

Fact-checking organisations and awareness campaigns have stepped in, but they often reach audiences too late. The reality is that people remain vulnerable to persuasive and emotionally charged misinformation online. To counter this, we need to build a deeper and more sustained form of resilience, one that combines rigorous education with the real-world expertise of journalism.

In research I co-authored with Ambre Gambin from the University of Montpellier, we examined how young adults respond to different types of news literacy training. Our findings were striking. When people are highly emotionally engaged in an issue, they are more likely to believe fake news about it. 

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At the same time, conventional lecture-style interventions do little to inoculate students. In fact, we found that repeated large-scale training sessions can backfire, triggering information overload and leaving participants feeling overwhelmed and more vulnerable.

The lesson is clear: to build lasting resilience against misinformation, we must move away from passive one-off lectures and towards collaborative, applied learning. Our research suggests that interactive, small-group formats, where students actively work with journalists, are far more effective. 

This is why universities and news outlets must build robust partnerships. Each brings complementary strengths: journalists are on the front lines of identifying and debunking falsehoods, while universities hold the pedagogical expertise to nurture critical thinking in future generations. Together, they can design interventions that are practical, engaging and lasting.

Here are five concrete, evidence-based actions universities can take to forge these critical alliances.

1. Launch interactive news literacy labs

Instead of relying solely on faculty, invite working journalists to co-create and co-deliver news literacy labs. These should be small, interactive sessions focused not just on debunking falsehoods, but on “pre-bunking”: teaching students to recognise the underlying manipulative techniques fake news creators use, such as emotional language or making claims without evidence. This approach, modelled on the teaching-hospital concept, gives students hands-on practice in verification and builds foundational skills for critically assessing information.

2. Create community anchor mentorship schemes

Extend partnerships beyond the classroom through mentorships that pair students with local journalists. In these community anchor collaborations, students can gain exposure to professional practices while helping to fill gaps in local news coverage. This is a vital public service, as news deserts are often fertile ground for misinformation, and it can personalise the fight against fake news, showing students that credible journalism is not an abstract ideal but the work of real people committed to truth.

3. Develop co-run verification hubs

Universities and media organisations can co-run digital hubs for fact-checking, modelled on successful university-based initiatives. On these platforms, student cohorts could analyse viral claims circulating on social media, with journalists guiding and verifying their work.

Research shows that crowdsourced fact-checking can be as accurate as professional efforts. A hub like this would allow students to act as credible community endorsers of fact-checks, serving the dual purpose of educating them and providing a valuable public service.

4. Integrate media partnerships into core curricula

To be effective, news literacy cannot be an optional add-on; it must be embedded into core curricula. Research on pre-bunking shows that repeated exposure to the same educational messages creates a familiarity effect that significantly enhances long-term resilience. This means integrating media partnerships across disciplines. 

For example, business schools can partner with financial journalists, while medical faculties can collaborate with health correspondents to train future doctors to combat medical misinformation. This ensures students practise critical news consumption within their fields of study, where their future credibility will be highest.

5. Host public engagement and fake news clinics

As civic anchors in their communities, universities should partner with news outlets to extend their reach beyond the campus. By hosting public debates, open lectures or fake news clinics for local citizens, they can equip entire communities with the tools to identify falsehoods. This positions the university as a trusted hub for civic dialogue and demonstrates a transparent, collaborative process of knowledge creation, presenting a powerful way to rebuild public trust.

The path forward

Forging these partnerships is not without obstacles. Newsrooms face shrinking budgets, while academic and journalistic cultures often operate at different speeds: one valuing peer-reviewed rigour, the other speed and accessibility. Furthermore, research highlights the risk of a backfire effect. This is where a poorly delivered correction can inadvertently reinforce the original misbelief, especially when it challenges a deeply held conviction or comes from a source the recipient doesn’t trust. 

We live in what is often called the post-truth era, where emotions dominate the discourse. In this context, public trust in both universities and news outlets is under pressure. Only 32 per cent of Americans, for example, say they trust the information provided by the media. Universities, meanwhile, face criticism over elitism or irrelevance.

These challenges are significant, but they are surmountable. Funding constraints can spur innovation in low-cost, high-impact formats like online collaborations. If we manage cultural differences well, they become a strength, balancing academic depth with journalistic clarity. The risk of a backfire effect underscores why these partnerships are so crucial: they are needed to build the trust and credibility that make corrections effective.

For universities, the first step is simple: reach out to local or national news organisations and invite them to the table. Start small with a joint workshop or a collaborative student project, and from there, build the lasting structures that weave journalistic expertise into the educational fabric. If we want future generations not only to recognise misinformation but to resist its pull, we must act now. Together, universities and journalists can cultivate the informed, critical and resilient citizens our democracies so urgently need.

Andreas Munzel is associate professor of digital marketing at Vlerick Business School.

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