Archives from November 2008
The New York Times is the News Literacy Project’s first participating news organization. The Times has endorsed the project, posted an internal announcement giving the paper’s journalists the opportunity to volunteer in the classroom, and is helping the project recruit former Times reporters and editors to participate in its after-school program. It has also agreed to provide copies of the paper to participating schools that don’t currently have access to it.
“The New York Times is pleased to participate in the News Literacy Project,” said Janet L. Robinson, president and CEO of the New...
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Howard Gardner, a prominent Harvard educator, and Dave Jones, a former senior editor at the New York Times, have joined the News Literacy Project’s advisory committee.
Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and the author of over 20 books that have been translated into 27 languages. He is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there is a single human intelligence to be assessed by standard psychometric instruments. He has received honorary degrees...
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The News Literacy Project is pleased to announce that Bob Jervis, the former coordinator of social studies for the Anne Arundel County (Md.) Public Schools, will be its curriculum developer. Bob was responsible for developing the county schools’ social studies curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade. After retiring in 2001, he spent five years with the Maryland State Department of Education assisting low-performing schools to improve student achievement.
Bob is currently teaching the social studies methods courses in the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at Goucher College in...
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Alan C. Miller, the News Literacy Project’s founder and executive director, discussed news literacy in the classroom—and the project’s plans to provide it—in remarks to the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. He did so as part of a panel on "Information, Engagement, and Democracy at the Community Level" at the commission’s Nov. 17 meeting, held in the Harold Washington Public Library in Chicago.
The 15-member Knight commission plans to issue its findings in early 2009 and intends to recommend public and private measures to help communities across the...
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Vivian Schiller, who chairs the News Literacy Project board, will become president and CEO of National Public Radio on Jan. 5. She will move over from the New York Times, where she has been senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com. She previously served as senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times Channel and senior vice president of CNN Productions.
"With more than 20 years of experience in the media industry, Vivian is a talented and proven leader with superb skills and roots in the news business," said Howard Stevenson, chairman of NPR’s board of...
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The News Literacy Project is pleased to announce that our second New York City pilot will be with the Facing History School, a small, innovative, non-charter public high school on Manhattan’s West Side. The school, which was founded in 2005 and will graduate its first senior class in 2009, focuses on understanding history through the lives of those who lived it, historical texts and community engagement. Its stated mission "is to graduate lifelong learners with the skills and knowledge for academic and professional success, and to shape responsible, active, thoughtful participants and leaders...
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The News Literacy Project is featured in the November/December edition of The Social Studies Professional, the newsletter of the National Council for the Social Studies. It is distributed to 25,000 teachers and other subscribers.
The News Literacy Project: Coming Soon to the Internet
The News Literacy Project is an innovative national program that intends to mobilize journalists to help middle and high school students sort fact from fiction in the digital age. It is a response to the growing challenge of assuring that America’s young people get the information they need to become...
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The News Literacy Project is delighted to welcome Kate Ferrall, a former teacher and broadcast journalist, as program coordinator. She brings valuable experience, talent and commitment to the mission.
A graduate of Oberlin College and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Kate began her career teaching at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. before moving to “The Kids on the Block,” an international program that uses puppets to educate young people about disabilities and social differences. After earning her master’s degree in journalism, she worked as a...
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