Alex Mahadevan
Director, MediaWise Poynter
Alex Mahadevan is director of MediaWise, Poynter’s digital media literacy project that teaches people of all ages how to spot misinformation online. As director, Alex oversees program and curriculum development, research and editorial content for MediaWise, which has reached more than 80 million people in 12 countries. Alex has taught media literacy to thousands of middle and high schoolers, and has trained hundreds of international journalists in verification and digital investigative tools. He follows and writes about the use of generative AI models in journalism and their potential to spread misinformation, and co-wrote Poynter’s AI ethics guide. Before becoming director at MediaWise, Alex was MediaWise program manager, and oversaw the launch of programs for college students and older adults. Prior to joining the staff at Poynter, Alex worked as a data journalist at the personal finance startup The Penny Hoarder. Alex also served as the news innovation editor at Observer Media Group.
Did the Obama Administration mishandle H1N1?
MediaWise Rating: NEEDS CONTEXT Our social media pages have been inundated with misinformation about COVID-19…
How a blockbuster Washington Post story made ‘social distancing’ easy to understand
Harry Stevens has only been at The Washington Post for six months, but he’s responsible…
Did the creator of Fortnite really buy thousands of acres of forest?
MediaWise Rating: LEGIT You’ve likely heard of the popular video game, Fortnite. But how much…
Did NASA give spiders drugs to see how they would affect web-spinning?
MediaWise Rating: Legit You probably see fact pages every day across your social media feeds,…
Did a teenager go blind from eating Pringles?
Media wise rating: LEGIT “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” “Milk: it does…
Did mushrooms rule the earth before trees?
MediaWise Rating: NEEDS CONTEXT Picture some giant mushroom trees — sounds like something from a…
Holy Moly: Do these Nike shoes really have blessed water in them?
Editor's note: YouTube personality Seth Fowler has removed the video on which this claim is…
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