New BBC scheme will help students identify fake news

The BBC has announced that it is preparing to launch a new initiative aimed at helping secondary school students across the UK to identify fake news.

Fake news is such a big issue at the moment that it was even named as the Word of the Year for 2017 by Collins Dictionary.

With its prominence in mind, the BBC wants to ensure the younger generation is equipped with the knowledge and skills to spot fake news sources so they do not fall victim to believing lies or fabrications published on the web.

From March 2018, experts will be going into 1,000 schools across Britain to run mentoring sessions in classrooms and online to help young people identify fake news. Journalists attached to the BBC including Huw Edwards, Kamal Ahmed and Tina Daheley will be taking part in these events.

James Harding, director of BBC News, explained: "This is an attempt to go into schools to speak to young people and give them the equipment they need to distinguish between what's true and what's false."