Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps told leaders of community newspapers on July 21 that Americans need to become “a news-literate people” and praised the News Literacy Project for its efforts toward achieving that objective.
“Our goal should be that every American possesses the skills to discern news from infotainment, fact from opinion, and trustworthy information sources from untrustworthy,” Copps told publishers and editors of community publications attending the National Newspaper Association’s annual Government Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C.
The News Literacy Project is partnering with The Washington Post’s Young Journalists Development Program to offer two half-day workshops for high school students at the paper this summer.
The sessions will be held from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm on Saturday, July 16, and Saturday, August 6. Students should register for only one session; each will cover similar ground.
The sessions will combine some of the project’s most successful classroom lessons and presentations from experienced NLP journalist fellows from The Post, the Los Angeles Times and National Journal.
The workshops will focus on...
The News Literacy Project has been selected to be part of a social action campaign associated with the release of “Page One,” a documentary about The New York Times, which opened nationwide July 1.
Work done by students in the project and interviews with students who have completed the project’s unit in New York City, Chicago and Bethesda, Md., will be featured on the film’s social action campaign website.
A video about the News Literacy Project will be included as a DVD extra when the “Page One” DVD is released in the fall. The video, produced by the project, focuses on NLP’s...
The News Literacy Project is cited as stepping into an “educational breach” in a much-anticipated government report released June 9 that focuses on the country’s rapidly evolving media environment.
The Federal Communications Commission report, “The Information Needs of Communities: The changing media landscape in a broadband age,” was the culmination of a project begun in December 2009 to address whether “citizens and communities are getting the reporting they want and need” and “whether public policy is in sync with modern media markets.”
Eight students from the Reavis School who took part in a News Literacy Project after-school program have produced a broadcast report on the impact of video games on youth. The report was their final project for the NLP unit, taught by Reavis faculty member Miles Wieting.
This is the second time an after-school group at Reavis has completed the NLP unit with Wieting, and the second time students there have created an audio report for their final project. Last year, a different group produced a piece that explored peer pressure among early teens.
The News Literacy Project is expanding into Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2011.
The project will work with 8th-grade students at the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, one of the most highly regarded schools in the District of Columbia. Haynes will be the third NLP partner in the region; the first two, both in Bethesda, Md., are Walt Whitman High School and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.
“NLP will provide our students with the critical thinking and analytical skills they need to be successful in college and in life,” said Jennifer C. Niles, E.L. Haynes’ founder and head of school. ...
The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) supervises the High School Journalism Initiative, the largest online host of teen journalism. The site displays students’ reports, photos, podcasts and video journalism and offers training and teaching materials.
Student Reporting Labs connect students with a network of public broadcasting mentors, an innovative journalism curriculum and an online collaborative space to develop digital media, critical thinking and communication skills while producing original news reports for PBS NewsHour Extra.
The Poynter Institute’s News University is an online journalism training program that offers 65 courses as diverse as writing and reporting techniques, multimedia story-telling and ethics. The site also provides access to the Newseum’s “Be a Reporter” and “Be an Editor” games.
The foundation's High School Broadcast Journalism Project helps students become broadcast journalists by offering programs and activities that fund, support and advocate electronic journalism education nationwide.
The network produces a daily 10-minute commercial-free newscast available to teachers and students throughout the school day. It also provides news quizzes, learning activities, fact sheets and commercial-free editions of in-depth reports by CNN’s Special Investigations Unit.
The Newseum, in Washington, D.C., is an interactive museum that combines information about the history of journalism with the latest digital technology and games, allowing visitors to experience what it’s like to be a reporter or make challenging ethical decisions.
Media Literacy Clearinghouse is a website developed by Frank W. Baker, a former broadcast journalist and media literacy instructor. It provides tools and information for educators who want to learn more about media literacy and integrate the topic into the classroom.
Investigative Reporters and Editors, or IRE, was founded more than 30 years ago by a small group of reporters who wanted to share reporting and writing tips. Now based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, it is dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting. It has created a forum in which journalists worldwide share story ideas, newsgathering techniques and sources
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, non-profit organization based in New York City that promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the rights of journalists. Its site includes detailed information and case studies about journalists and media workers who have been abducted, attacked, imprisoned or killed.
The Committee of Concerned Journalists is a consortium of journalists, publishers, newspaper owners and academics. One of its aims is to create a national conversation about the principles that distinguish journalism.
The Columbia Journalism Review’s mission is “to encourage and stimulate excellence in journalism in the service of a free society.” Founded in 1961 under the auspices of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, the magazine examines the news media’s performance. Its website delivers timely criticism and reporting.
FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, monitors the factual accuracy of statements by major U.S. political figures in television ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
The New York Times' Learning Network is a free site for teachers, students and parents and includes content for grades 3-12. Each weekday the Learning Network offers new interactive activities, such as lesson plans, news summaries and quizzes, based on the reports in that week's New York Times.
The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect was written by former journalists Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. It is taught in journalism schools nationwide and has been published in 38 languages.
Newsthinking, by Bob Baker, a writing consultant and former Los Angeles Times reporter and editor, focuses on mental organization for journalists. Baker is also the proprietor of the website Newsthinking.com.
