Course description

A photograph or recording can feel like direct access to an event. Yet even a genuine file may be old, cropped, miscaptioned, staged, or attached to a claim it cannot support. Checking the surrounding story is often as important as examining the file. This course develops a practical approach to visual and audio evidence. It explains earlier-image searches, editing and sequence, synthetic media, and content provenance. It also explains the limits of these methods: a search result is a clue to investigate, a detector can be wrong, and a documented file history does not settle every claim about the scene.

Topics covered

• A real image can tell the wrong story
• Finding earlier versions and fuller context
• Editing, sequence, and the limits of a recording
• Generated media and content provenance
• media literacy
• Beginner

Prerequisites and next steps

This course belongs to Media Literacy. Start with the first step, then work through each level in order before moving back to the path.