Mad About Media Episode 1: Who’s Got Your Attention?

From fake news and algorithms to online gambling, this episode looks at what grabs our attention, shapes our feeds and keeps us scrolling.

Students look at the content we deal with every day: the stories we see online, the news we trust, the apps we use and the feeds that seem to know exactly how to keep us watching.

Guest: Martina Chapman, National Coordinator of Media Literacy Ireland, about fake news, algorithms, data, AI, scams, bias and why not all media is created in the same way.

Guest: Gretta Mohan from the Economic and Social Research Institute, to discuss online gambling, smartphone access, targeted ads, secrecy, shame and the risks facing people in a world where gambling is available 24/7.

Theme: Attention, Algorithms & Everyday Media

Student challenge: The challenge begins. The students introduce the idea of testing their own media habits across the series, including screen time, favourite apps and phone dependence.

Listen if: you’ve ever wondered how your feed knows exactly how to keep you watching.

In Near FM’s Mad About Media, students from FET College Dhúlaigh take on the big questions, interviewing journalists, academics, and experts about the forces shaping the media we consume every day and finding out how to navigate the world in 2026.

This series is co-funded by Ireland’s media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán and supported by your television licence fee.

Music credits: Demented Nightmare by Darren Curtis and Madness of Linda by Rafael Krux