BBC to teach pupils how to spot fake news

BBC journalists are to be sent into schools to teach children how to identify fake news.

The initiative has been designed to tackle false information that the corporation says “threatens fact-based public debate and trust in journalism”.

Details of the scheme, which will involve up to 1,000 schools, will be outlined in the BBC’S annual plan on Wednesday.

The initiative comes after communications regulator, Ofcom, warned that children were being increasingly exposed to fake news, with nearly half of 12- to 15-year-olds finding it difficult to tell fact from fiction on social media.

The annual plan, which sets out the BBC’S priorities for the year ahead, will also focus on its role in society and on ways it can be used to unite politically estranged communities.

“When the country is increasingly being portrayed as fragmented and divided, the BBC will maximise opportunities to bring the country together,” it says. “This is important at a time when the UK is seeking to redefine its relationship with the world.”

The plan will outline ways in which the corporation plans to invest in new content, with commissions “that no other broadcaster would make”.

It also intends to improve iplayer, admitting that it needs a more personalised service with more content, reinvented for a new generation.

The BBC says it faces continued financial challenges, highlighting the frozen licence fee and noting that investment in British content across the television industry is falling.