Developing and Validating a 15-Item True/False Measure of News Literacy Knowledge

Abstract

Given growing interest in the potential importance of news literacy around the world, a theoretically grounded and empirically validated measure of news literacy is essential. Building on existing theory, we developed and validated a 15-item true/false measure of news literacy knowledge. This measure comprehensively operationalizes the five C’s of news literacy—context, creation, content, circulation, and consumption—in a concise, adaptable, knowledge-based format. Using item response theory and differential item functioning analysis, we followed a three-survey process with representative U.S. samples, developing and assessing 80 true/false items in Study 1 ( N = 1,502) to reduce to 43 items in Study 2 ( N = 1,273). The final reduced set of 15 items was evaluated and validated in Study 3 ( N = 681) along with related measures of civics and current events knowledge, which were positively predicted by the news literacy knowledge measure. While this measure is designed and tested in the U.S. context, our process of operationalizing these complicated concepts and the novel true/false format facilitates its applicability to those interested in studying news literacy around the globe.