Digital Media Literacy and Fake News Susceptibility Among IMT Enugu Mass Communication Students

The rapid proliferation of misinformation across digital platforms has emerged as one of the most pressing challenges facing media consumers globally, with young adults in developing nations identified as particularly vulnerable to fake news exposure. This study examined the relationship between digital media literacy levels and susceptibility to fake news among Mass Communication students of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu. The study was grounded in the Third-Person Effect Theory, which suggests that individuals perceive others as more susceptible to media influence than themselves, potentially lowering their own critical evaluation of media content. A survey research design was employed with a population of 840 registered Mass Communication students, from which a sample of 261 respondents was drawn using the Taro Yamane formula. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that assessed media literacy competencies and ability to identify fabricated news stories. Findings revealed a significant inverse relationship between digital media literacy scores and susceptibility to fake news, indicating that students with higher media literacy skills were better equipped to identify and reject false information. However, even among high-literacy respondents, visually deceptive social media content and emotionally charged misinformation consistently produced higher rates of misidentification. The study concluded that formal media literacy education partially but not fully inoculates students against fake news, particularly in emotionally loaded contexts. It was recommended that IMT Enugu integrate a standalone digital media literacy course into its Mass Communication programme to systematically build fact-checking and source-verification skills.
Keywords: digital media literacy, fake news, misinformation, IMT Enugu, third-person effect