The News Literacy Project

The News Literacy Project Kicks Off Fall Forum Speaker Series on September 12, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 2, 2010
Contact: Alan Miller, 301-651-7499
alanmiller@thenewsliteracyproject.org

NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller and Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth will be the featured speakers at the kickoff event for the News Literacy Project’s Fall Forum at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md., at 7:30 pm on Sunday, Sept. 12.

Schiller and Weymouth will discuss “The Future of Journalism in the Digital Age.” Ray Suarez, a senior correspondent for “PBS NewsHour,” will be the moderator.

The event is the first in a series of three that the News Literacy Project is hosting at Walt Whitman, located at 7100 Whittier Boulevard. The Washington Post and BAE Systems are sponsoring the Fall Forum.

Gwen Ifill, moderator of “Washington Week” and a senior correspondent on “PBS NewsHour,” will address “Race and Politics in the Age of Obama” at 7:30 pm on Sunday, Oct. 17. Richard Wolffe, a political analyst with MSNBC, will moderate.

Michael McCurry, press secretary to President Bill Clinton, and Dana Perino, press secretary to President George W. Bush, will focus on “Briefing the Press: Former Democratic and Republican White House Press Secretaries Compare Notes” at 7:30 pm on Thursday, Nov. 4. Candy Crowley of CNN will moderate.

Schiller chairs the News Literacy Project’s board; Ifill is also a board member. The Washington Post, NPR, NBC News and CNN are among 17 news organizations that are participating.

The project is an innovative national educational program that mobilizes seasoned journalists to give students in middle schools and high schools the critical thinking skills to sort fact from fiction in the digital age. It also seeks to give students an appreciation of the value of quality journalism.

Students are learning how to distinguish verified information from unfiltered messages, opinion, advertising and propaganda - whether they are using search engines to find websites with information about specific topics, assessing a viral email, watching television news or reading a newspaper. The project’s goal is to make them better students today and better-informed citizens tomorrow.


The project is embarking on its second full year in the classroom. It will be working with at least 25 English, government, history and humanities teachers to reach more than 1,700 students in at least 10 schools in New York City, Chicago and Bethesda. It is beginning its third year at Walt Whitman High School and is expanding to Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda this year as well.

More than 160 journalists have enrolled as volunteers in NLP’s online directory. They include broadcast correspondents, authors of best-selling books and winners of journalism’s highest honors. Nearly half of them participated in the project’s classroom, extended day and after-school programs in the last school year.

The project has created a new model by forging partnerships among active and retired journalists, the project’s local coordinators and teachers. Journalist fellows and teachers are devising units focusing on the importance of news to young people, the role of the First Amendment and a free media in a democracy, and ways to discern reliable information.

Videos and a broadcast report that capture the project in action and showcase exemplary student work can be found on the project’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/NewsLiteracyProject.

The News Literacy Project is headed by founder Alan C. Miller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times. In addition to Schiller and Ifill, the board includes Alison Bernstein, a former Ford Foundation vice president; Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, and Terry K. Peterson, who was counselor to Education Secretary Richard W. Riley in the Clinton administration.

The Ford, Knight and McCormick Foundations have been the project’s primary funders. The Poynter Center for Media Studies is the project’s partner and fiscal agent.

Schiller is the president and CEO of NPR. She joined NPR in January 2009 from The New York Times Co., where as senior vice president and general manager of nytimes.com she led the daily operations of the largest newspaper website on the Internet. She previously served as senior vice president and general manager for the Discovery Times Channel, a joint venture of The New York Times and Discovery Communications, and senior vice president of CNN Productions, where she headed CNN’s long-form programming.

Weymouth is publisher of The Washington Post and chief executive officers of Washington Post Media. She joined The Washington Post in 1996 as assistant counsel, served as associate counsel for the online publishing subsidiary Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, and returned to the newspaper in 2000. She
was vice president of advertising before being named to her current positions in 2008.

Suarez is a Washington-based senior correspondent for “PBS NewsHour” He came to the network’s nightly news program in October 1999 after six years as host of National Public Radio’s call-in news show “Talk of the Nation.” In addition to his work on “PBS NewsHour,” he hosts the monthly radio program “America Abroad” for Public Radio International and the weekly politics program “Destination Casa Blanca” for the Hispanic Information Telecommunications Network.

Tickets for the Fall Forum events can be purchased at www.thenewsliteracyproject.org or at the box office on the evening of the events. The price is $15 for adults and $10 for students. For further information, call 301-525-7500.

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The News Literacy Project Kicks Off Its Chicago Pilot With An Event Featuring Clarence Page

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2009

Contact: JaneDeRonne, 312-822-0505
jderonne@mkcpr.com
Peter Adams, 773-706-7199
Peteradams@thenewsliteracyproject.org

In a world saturated with media messages, students need to learn to be literate, critical consumers of what they see and hear. In an innovative effort to help them sort fact from fiction in the digital age, the News Literacy Project is teaming with one of LISC/Chicago’s five Elev8 to launch its Chicago pilot project with an event featuring Clarence Page, the Pulitzer-Prize winning Chicago Tribune columnist.

The program brings professional journalists into middle school and high school classrooms, where they give students the tools to appreciate the value of quality news coverage and to encourage them to consume and create credible information across all media.

Students learn how to distinguish verified information from unfiltered messages, opinion, advertising and propaganda — whether they are using search engines to find websites on a particular topic, assessing a viral e-mail, watching television news or reading a newspaper.

“The explosion in the number of information sources makes it harder for people to distinguish among journalists, information spinners and citizen voices,” said David Hiller, President and CEO of the McCormick Foundation, the project’s major funder in Chicago.

“It is important that students learn how to be savvy consumers of news, so they become more informed decision makers and active participants in our democratic society.”

The Chicago Tribune Foundation is also providing financial support.

The News Literacy Project’s pilot is being launched at the Marquette School in Southwest Chicago. Teacher Courtney Rogers is introducing the project’s original curriculum in five sixth grade classes this month. Journalists will make their initial presentations in these classes in late October.

The News Literacy Project (www.thenewsliteracyproject.org) is partnering with the Chicago office of LISC, a national not-for-profit organization that provides capital and other resources to support the comprehensive development of healthy, stable neighborhoods. LISC/Chicago is considered a national model.

Marquette is one of five inner-city middle schools that LISC is engaged with through the Elev8 program, which brings integrated services, including health care and after-school opportunities, to middle-school students.

“The news literacy program must become an essential part of our schools’ curriculum in this age of the knowledge economy,’’ said Andrew J. Mooney, executive director of LISC/Chicago.  “We’re delighted to be able to bring it to the communities LISC supports in Chicago.”

The News Literacy Project completed its initial pilots in middle schools and high schools in New York City and Bethesda, Md., last spring and is working in four schools there this fall.

A dozen major news organizations including The New York Times, NBC News, CNN, NPR, the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune have enlisted as participants. Reporters, editors, producers and correspondents from these organizations are among more than 125 prominent journalists, including winners of print and broadcast journalism’s most prestigious awards, who have volunteered to serve as fellows.

The journalists help give students the tools to appreciate the value of quality news coverage.  Students learn how to distinguish verified information from unfiltered messages, opinion, advertising and propaganda — whether they are using search engines to find websites on a particular topic, assessing a viral e-mail, watching television news or reading a newspaper.

The project is forging partnerships between active and retired journalists and social studies, government and English teachers. It is focusing on the importance of news to young people, the role of the First Amendment and a free media in a democracy and the tools needed to discern reliable information amid the myriad sources available today.

The News Literacy Project is spearheaded by Alan C. Miller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former reporter with the Los Angeles Times. The board is chaired by Vivian Schiller, President and CEO of NPR. Former Los Angeles Times Editor John Carroll is vice chairman. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is the project’s partner and nonprofit fiscal agent. 

“The New Literacy Project is designed makes sure that the next generation of Americans can discern all the information coming at them, so that they can become knowledgeable and active citizens,” Schiller said. “We’re thrilled to expand our project to the students of Chicago”

Four major national journalism organizations have endorsed the News Literacy Project: the American Society of Newspaper Editors; the National Association of Black Journalists; the Asian American Journalists Association, and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Clarence Page is a syndicated columnist and a member of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board. His column won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1989. During his almost three decades at the Tribune he covered a variety of beats, including police, religion and neighborhood news; was a foreign correspondent; then worked as an assistant city editor and an investigative reporter. His column is syndicated in about 150 papers. He has appeared on “The McLaughlin Group,” “The Chris Matthews Show,” National Public Radio and PBS’ “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”

A multicultural neighborhood school on Chicago’s Southwest side, Marquette is an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme school, providing a rigorous inter-disciplinary approach to learning that encourages critical thinking.  It has joined with the Southwest Organizing Project in one of five school-community partnerships participating in ELEV8, which is funded by Atlantic Philanthropies.

“Our students are excited to be the first participants in Chicago in the New Literacy Project,” Marquette Principal Paul O’Toole said. “They are looking forward to meeting Clarence Page and hearing firsthand from him about his past experience in news media and his advice for the future.”

About the McCormick Foundation
The McCormick Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to strengthening our free, democratic society by investing in children, communities and country. Through its grant-making programs, Cantigny Park and Golf, museums, and civic outreach program the Foundation helps build a more active and engaged citizenry. It was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The McCormick Foundation is one of the nation’s largest charities, with more than $1 billion in assets. For more information, please visit www.McCormickFoundation.org.

The News Literacy Project Kicks Off Today in Bethesda, Md., with Mark Halperin and Pierre Thomas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 26, 2009

Contact: Kate Ferrall, 240-418-1900
kateferrall@thenewsliteracyproject.org

The News Literacy Project, an innovative national program that is bringing journalists into classrooms to help students learn to sort fact from fiction in the digital age, launches its pilot project at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md., today with an event featuring Mark Halperin of Time magazine and Pierre Thomas of ABC News.

The event is at 10 am. Three teachers will introduce the project’s curriculum in 10 Advanced Placement government classes on Feb. 27. Journalists will make their initial presentations in these classes next week.

The New York Times, ABC News, USA Today, CNN and the CBS News program “60 Minutes” have enlisted with the project as participating news organizations. Reporters, editors, producers and correspondents from each organization are among more than 75 prominent journalists, including winners of print and broadcast journalism’s most prestigious awards, who have volunteered to serve as fellows. They are listed in the project’s online directory at www.thenewsliteracyproject.org.

The journalists will help give students the tools to appreciate the value of quality news coverage and to encourage them to consume and create credible information across all media. Students will learn how to distinguish verified information from unfiltered messages, opinion, advertising and propaganda — whether they are using search engines to find websites on a particular topic, assessing a viral e-mail, watching television news or reading a newspaper.

The project is forging partnerships between active and retired journalists and social studies, government and English teachers. It is focusing on the importance of news to young people, the role of the First Amendment and a free media in a democracy and the tools needed to discern reliable information. The project has developed original curriculum materials based on engaging activities and student projects that will build and reflect understanding and critical thinking skills.

The project launched its first pilot program earlier this month at Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School, a middle school in Brooklyn, N.Y. It is also working with the Facing History School in Manhattan.

The News Literacy Project is spearheaded by Alan C. Miller, a former investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times and winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. The board is chaired by Vivian Schiller, president and chief executive of NPR; John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun, is vice chairman. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is the project’s partner and nonprofit fiscal agent. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation are its two major funders.

Four major national journalism organizations have endorsed the News Literacy Project: the American Society of Newspaper Editors; the National Association of Black Journalists; the Asian American Journalists Association, and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Mark Halperin is the editor-at-large and senior political analyst for Time. He covers politics, elections and debates for the magazine and its website, Time.com. He also created and edits “The Page,” a political news and analysis website, and frequently appears on television as a political analyst. He joined Time in 2007 after nearly 20 years at ABC News, including 10 as political director. He is the author of The Undecided Voter’s Guide to the Next President, published in 2007, and co-author of The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008, published in 2006. He graduated from Walt Whitman in 1983.

Pierre Thomas is the senior Justice Department correspondent at ABC News, covering law enforcement, terrorism and homeland security.  He joined the network in 2000 and reports for “World News with Charles Gibson,” “Good Morning America,” “Nightline” and other programs.  He was a key member of a team of correspondents that won Peabody, Alfred I. duPont Columbia University and Emmy awards for coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.  Before joining ABC, he was a Justice Department correspondent for CNN and a reporter at The Washington Post.

Both Halperin and Thomas are News Literacy Project fellows.

Among the journalists who will make presentations and engage in activities with students in the government classes at Whitman in the next two weeks are Jeanne Cummings of Politico; Eric Schmitt of the New York Times; Amanda Ripley of Time magazine; Henry Schuster of “60 Minutes;” Tyler Marshall, formerly of the Los Angeles Times; Barbara Slavin of The Washington Times; David Aldridge of TNT Sports, and USA Today’s Peter Eisler, Tom Frank, Kathy Kiely and Andrea Stone.

Walt Whitman is one of the top-ranked public high schools in America, with 15% to 20% of its seniors either receiving Letters of Commendation or being named semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholars program. Its nearly 1,900 students come from more than 40 countries.  Principal Alan Goodwin and his staff and students have contributed to the News Literacy Project’s development during the past year.

“In the midst of an ever-changing, electronically driven information culture, the ability to discern fact from fiction — and to determine the reliability of a range of media, from newspapers to websites — is an increasing challenge,” said Goodwin, a member of the project’s advisory committee. “We are excited about the News Literacy Project because we believe it will teach students to analyze information effectively and determine the reliability of various sources, thus helping them to make informed decisions in their personal and professional lives.”

National Conference to Focus on News Literacy

From: 
STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY

Contact:
Dan Klores Communications
Bruce Bobbins / Danielle Kimiatek
212-981-5190 / 212-981-5116

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
______________________________________________________________________________

SCHOLARS AND TOP MEDIA STRATEGISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO EXAMINE AND PROVIDE BLUEPRINT FOR NEWS LITERACY AT STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE MARCH 11-13

Ted Koppel, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Andrew Heyward, Alexandra Wallace and Vivian Schiller Among Presenters

STONY BROOK, NY – A select group of internationally respected journalists and media figures, including Ted Koppel, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Andrew Heyward, Alexandra Wallace, and Vivian Schiller, will join university presidents, journalism school deans, and professors from some three dozen institutions across the country to examine, discuss and provide a strategy on how to teach News Literacy to undergraduate and high school students during the nation’s first-ever conference on the topic at Stony Brook University on Long Island, NY, March 11 to 13.

“This conference comes at a pivotal time when the world of news is changing,” said Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny, president of Stony Brook University, which is home to the nation’s first university-wide News Literacy course and the only university-based Center on News Literacy in the U.S. “Now more than ever, it’s extremely important to educate and give students the necessary tools and critical thinking skills to judge the reliability and credibility of news reports and news sources, from print and broadcast to the Web.”

“News Literacy: Setting a National Agenda” is sponsored by the Ford Foundation, with additional support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and McCormick Foundation.  Howard Schneider, former editor of Newsday who is dean of Stony Brook’s School of Journalism, and Marcy McGinnis, the former senior vice president of news coverage at CBS News who is the journalism school’s associate dean, are chairing the event.  Stony Brook is the only public institution in New York State with an undergraduate school of journalism. 

Highlighting the conference will be a News Media Panel focusing on what responsibilities journalists have to educate their own consumers, which will take place on Thursday, March 12, beginning at 1:30 p.m.  Moderated by Mr. Heyward, former president of CBS News, the panel will feature Mr. Koppel, former anchor of ABC News and managing editor of the Discovery Channel, Ms. Wallace, senior vice president of NBC News, Ms. Schiller, president and CEO of NPR, Neil Budde, president and chief product officer of DailyMe.com, and Bill Kovach, founding chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists.

Earlier that day, at 11:30 a.m., Dr. Kenny will moderate a Presidents’ Panel on how universities can incorporate news literacy into a curriculum for the 21st century.  Participants include Nancy Cantor, president of Syracuse University, Brady Deaton, chancellor of the University of Missouri, John Lombardi, president of Louisiana State University, and Sanford J. Ungar, president of Goucher College.

Mr. Sulzberger, chairman and publisher of The New York Times, will deliver the keynote address at 7:45 pm on March 12.

Among the other distinguished individuals who will discuss and present News Literacy initiatives during the conference will be:  Howard Finberg, director of NewsU at The Poynter Institute; Fabrice Florin, executive director and founder of NewsTrust.net; Evelyn Messinger, series producer and project director of LinkTV; Alan Miller, executive director of the News Literacy Project; David Mindich, author of Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don’t Follow the News; Susan Moeller, director of the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda, and Siok Sian Pek-Dorji, executive director of the Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy.

For more information and to make a conference reservation, call 1-800-549-3199.

The News Literacy Project Kicks Off in Maryland on Feb. 26 with Mark Halperin and Pierre Thomas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 16, 2009
Contact: Kate Ferrall, 240-418-1900
kateferrall@thenewsliteracyproject.org

The News Literacy Project, an innovative national program that is bringing journalists into classrooms to help students learn to sort fact from fiction in the digital age, will launch its pilot project at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md., on Feb. 26 with an event featuring Mark Halperin of Time magazine and Pierre Thomas of ABC News.

Walt Whitman High School is located at 7100 Whittier Blvd. in Bethesda. The kickoff event is at 10 a.m. Three teachers will introduce the project’s curriculum in AP government classes on Feb. 27. Journalists will make their initial presentations in these classes the following week.

The New York Times, ABC News, USA Today, CNN and the CBS News program “60 Minutes” are the project’s initial participating news organizations. Reporters, editors, producers and correspondents from each organization are among more than 75 prominent journalists, including winners of print and broadcast journalism’s most prestigious awards, who have volunteered to serve as fellows. They are listed in the project’s online directory at www.thenewsliteracyproject.org.

The journalists will help give students the tools to appreciate the value of quality news coverage and to encourage them to consume and create credible information across all media. Students will learn how to distinguish verified information from unfiltered messages, opinion, advertising and propaganda — whether they are using search engines to find websites on a particular topic, assessing a viral e-mail, watching television news or reading a newspaper.

The project is forging partnerships between active and retired journalists and social studies, government and English teachers. It is focusing on the importance of news to young people, the role of the First Amendment and a free media in a democracy and the tools needed to discern reliable information. The project has developed original curriculum materials based on engaging activities and student projects that will build and reflect understanding and critical thinking skills.

The project launched its first pilot program earlier this month at Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School, a middle school, in Brooklyn, N.Y. It is also working with the Facing History School in Manhattan.

Mark Halperin is the editor-at-large and senior political analyst for Time. He covers politics, elections and debates for the magazine and its website, Time.com. He also created and edits “The Page,” a political news and analysis website, and frequently appears on television as a political analyst. He joined Time in 2007 after nearly 20 years at ABC News, including 10 as political director. He is the author of The Undecided Voter’s Guide to the Next President, published in 2007, and co-author of The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008, published in 2006. He graduated from Walt Whitman in 1983.

Pierre Thomas is the senior Justice Department correspondent at ABC News, covering law enforcement, terrorism and homeland security.  He joined the network in 2000 and reports for “World News with Charles Gibson,” “Good Morning America,” “Nightline” and other programs.  He was a key member of a team of correspondents that won Peabody, Alfred I. duPont Columbia University and Emmy awards for coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.  Before joining ABC, he was a Justice Department correspondent for CNN and a reporter at The Washington Post.

Both Halperin and Thomas are News Literacy Project fellows.

Walt Whitman is one of the top-ranked public high schools in America, with 15% to 20% of its seniors either receiving Letters of Commendation or being named semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholars program. Its nearly 1,900 students come from more than 40 countries.  Principal Alan Goodwin and his staff and students have contributed to the News Literacy Project’s development during the past year.

“In the midst of an ever-changing, electronically driven information culture, the ability to discern fact from fiction — and to determine the reliability of a range of media, from newspapers to websites — is an increasing challenge,” said Goodwin, a member of the project’s advisory committee. “We are excited about the News Literacy Project because we believe it will teach students to analyze information effectively and determine the reliability of various sources, thus helping them to make informed decisions in their personal and professional lives.”

The News Literacy Project is spearheaded by Alan C. Miller, a former investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times and winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. The board is chaired by Vivian Schiller, president and chief executive of NPR; John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times and the Baltimore Sun, is vice chairman. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is the project’s partner and nonprofit fiscal agent. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation are its two major funders.

Four major national journalism organizations have endorsed the News Literacy Project: the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

“This program will systematically address a significant gap in the educational community and is being conceived in a way that is both smart and strategic,” said Diana Mitsu Klos, senior project director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors. “Many baby boomers are in career transition. The news industry is in turmoil. This work has the strong potential to strengthen the ranks of the next generation of Americans who can recognize and demand quality journalism.”

The News Literacy Project Kicks Off in NYC Today with an Event Featuring CNN’s Soledad O’Brien

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 2, 2009

Contact: Alan C. Miller, 301-651-7499

alanmiller@thenewsliteracyproject.org

Melissa Nicolardi, 646-269-6603

The News Literacy Project, an innovative national program that is bringing journalists into middle schools and high schools to help students learn to sort fact from fiction in the digital age, kicked off today with an event featuring CNN’s Soledad O’Brien at the Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The project will launch additional pilot programs later in February at the Facing History School on Manhattan’s West Side and Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md.

The New York Times, ABC News, USA Today and the CBS News program “60 Minutes” have enlisted with the project as participating news organizations. Reporters, editors, producers and correspondents from each organization are among more than 75 prominent journalists, including winners of print and broadcast journalism’s most prestigious awards, who have volunteered to serve as fellows. They are listed in the project’s online directory at www.thenewsliteracyproject.org.

The journalists will help give students the tools to appreciate the value of quality news coverage and to encourage them to consume and create credible information across all media. Students will learn how to distinguish verified information from unfiltered messages, opinion, advertising and propaganda — whether they are using search engines to find websites on a particular topic, assessing a viral e-mail, watching television news or reading a newspaper.

The project is forging partnerships between active and retired journalists and social studies, history and English teachers. It will focus on the importance of news to young people, the role of the First Amendment and a free media in a democracy and the tools needed to discern reliable information. The project has developed original curriculum materials based on engaging activities and student projects that will build and reflect understanding and critical thinking skills.

Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School is located at 157 Wilson Street (between Bedford and Lee) in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. One of the middle school’s teachers will begin teaching the project’s curriculum this afternoon. Journalists will make their initial presentations in classes next week.

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning CNN anchor and special correspondent for the network’s Special Investigations Unit, where her in-depth reports have included the 2008 project “CNN Presents: Black in America.” She is also a member of the News Literacy Project’s board.

“Part of the job is to be a truthful witness to the things you see around you,” O’Brien told the students.  She said she seeks “to tell the stories to the best of my ability as fairly as possible.”

Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School enrolls about 250 students who are accepted by lottery and drawn from throughout New York City. All of the students are from minority groups; more than 80% qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. The city Education Department ranked WCCS as one of its two top-performing charter schools in 2007. In addition to providing its curriculum, the News Literacy Project has arranged to have copies of The New York Times delivered to the school and will enlist journalists to help WCCS establish a student newspaper.

“We are so excited about the opportunity to partner our students with journalists,” said WCCS Principal Julie Kennedy, adding that the program will provide students with “important skills to become active and productive members of our intellectual community.”

The project is spearheaded by Alan C. Miller, a former investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times and winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. The board is chaired by Vivian Schiller, president and chief executive of NPR; John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times and the Baltimore Sun, is vice chairman. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is the project’s partner and nonprofit fiscal agent. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation are its two major funders.

Four major national journalism organizations have endorsed the News Literacy Project: the American Society of Newspaper Editors; the National Association of Black Journalists; the Asian American Journalists Association, and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

“This program will systematically address a significant gap in the educational community and is being conceived in a way that is both smart and strategic,’’ said Diana Mitsu Klos, senior project director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors. “Many baby boomers are in career transition. The news industry is in turmoil. This work has the strong potential to strengthen the ranks of the next generation of Americans who can recognize and demand quality journalism.”

The News Literacy Project Kicks Off in NYC on Feb. 2 with an Event Featuring CNN’s Soledad O’Brien

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2009

Contact: Alan C. Miller, 301-651-7499
alanmiller@thenewsliteracyproject.org
Melissa Nicolardi, 646-269-6603

The News Literacy Project, an innovative national program that is bringing journalists into middle schools and high schools to help students learn to sort fact from fiction in the digital age, will kick off Feb. 2 with an event featuring CNN’s Soledad O’Brien at the Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The project will launch additional pilot programs later in February at the Facing History School on Manhattan’s West Side and Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md.

The New York Times, ABC News, USA Today and the CBS News program “60 Minutes” have enlisted with the project as participating news organizations. Reporters, editors, producers and correspondents from each organization are among more than 75 prominent journalists, including winners of print and broadcast journalism’s most prestigious awards, who have volunteered to serve as fellows. They are listed in the project’s online directory at www.thenewsliteracyproject.org.

The journalists will help give students the tools to appreciate the value of quality news coverage and to encourage them to consume and create credible information across all media. Students will learn how to distinguish verified information from unfiltered messages, opinion, advertising and propaganda — whether they are using search engines to find websites on a particular topic, assessing a viral e-mail, watching television news or reading a newspaper.

The project is forging partnerships between active and retired journalists and social studies, history and English teachers. It will focus on the importance of news to young people, the role of the First Amendment and a free media in a democracy and the tools needed to discern reliable information. The project has developed original curriculum materials based on engaging activities and student projects that will build and reflect understanding and critical thinking skills.

Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School is located at 157 Wilson Street (between Bedford and Lee) in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The kickoff program is at 10 am.  The middle school’s teachers will begin teaching the project’s curriculum that afternoon.

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning CNN anchor and special correspondent for the network’s Special Investigations Unit, where her in-depth reports have included the 2008 project “CNN Presents: Black in America.” She is also a member of the News Literacy Project’s board.

Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School enrolls about 250 students who are accepted by lottery and drawn from throughout New York City. All of the students are from minority groups; more than 80% qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. The city Education Department ranked WCCS as one of its two top-performing charter schools in 2007. In addition to providing its curriculum, the News Literacy Project has arranged to have copies of The New York Times delivered to the school and will enlist journalists to help WCCS establish a student newspaper.

“We are so excited about the opportunity to partner our students with journalists,” said WCCS Principal Julie Kennedy, adding that the program will provide students with “important skills to become active and productive members of our intellectual community.”

The News Literacy Project is spearheaded by Alan C. Miller, a former investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times and winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. The board is chaired by Vivian Schiller, president and chief executive of NPR; John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times and the Baltimore Sun, is vice chairman. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is the project’s partner and nonprofit fiscal agent. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation are its two major funders.

Four major national journalism organizations have endorsed the News Literacy Project: the American Society of Newspaper Editors; the National Association of Black Journalists; the Asian American Journalists Association, and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

“This program will systematically address a significant gap in the educational community and is being conceived in a way that is both smart and strategic,’’ said Diana Mitsu Klos, senior project director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors. “Many baby boomers are in career transition. The news industry is in turmoil. This work has the strong potential to strengthen the ranks of the next generation of Americans who can recognize and demand quality journalism.”

Poynter Institute is News Literacy Project’s New Partner and Administrative Home

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2008

Contacts: Alan C. Miller, 301-651-7499
alanmiller@thenewsliteracyproject.org
Cathy Campbell, 727-553-4308
ccampbell@poynter.org

The News Literacy Project is pleased to announce that the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a leader in providing training that promotes excellence and integrity in journalism, has become its new partner and administrative home.

Poynter will help the project achieve its goal of building a national program that brings journalists into middle schools and high schools to help students sort fact from fiction in the digital age. It will serve as the nonprofit umbrella organization for the News Literacy Project by providing bookkeeping, payroll, insurance, auditing and other financial services.

Poynter, based in St. Petersburg, Fla., replaces the Tides Center, which had those responsibilities in the project’s initial year. The News Literacy Project’s headquarters will remain in Bethesda, Md.

“We applaud the project’s mission to give students the tools to be smarter, more frequent consumers and creators of credible information,” Poynter President Karen Dunlap said. “And we are proud of the many journalists and journalism organizations that have agreed to give time and resources to help students become well-informed citizens and voters in our democracy.”

“The Poynter Institute’s mission to train journalists and elevate public appreciation of quality journalism is a perfect match for us,” said NPR President Vivian Schiller, who chairs the News Literacy Project’s board. “We could not be more pleased to have Poynter as a partner.”

The New York Times, ABC News, USA Today, “60 Minutes” and other major journalism organizations have endorsed the project and more than 65 journalists, including national and foreign correspondents, book authors, television news correspondents and Pulitzer Prize winners, have enrolled as volunteer participants. The project plans to launch pilots in middle schools and high schools in New York City and Bethesda, Md. next month.

The project will retain control of its program but will collaborate with Poynter where the two organizations share interests. This could include working with the institute’s online training arm, NewsU; partnering with Poynter’s high school journalism program in St. Petersburg, and joining forces to promote news literacy. Poynter has offered to connect the project with journalists whom it has trained and teachers who participate in its online education program. The Poynter Institute has a long tradition of working with students and high school journalism programs.

Roy Peter Clark, Poynter’s Vice President and Senior Scholar, will join the News Literacy Project’s board. Clark has worked at Poynter since 1979 as director of the writing center, dean of the faculty, and associate director. He has worked with journalists and taught writing in more than 40 states and five continents and is widely considered one of America’s most influential writing coaches. He is the founding director of the National Writers’ Workshops, regional conferences that attract more than 5,000 writers annually.

Nelson Poynter, the publisher of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, founded the Modern Media Institute in 1975 as a financially independent, nonprofit organization that would further his goals and values. The institute was named for him after his death in 1978. Its mission is to stand for “a journalism that informs citizens and enlightens public discourse.”

Poynter’s distinguished resident and visiting faculty offer courses and seminars that focus on discussions, case studies, role-playing and exercises. The News Literacy Project intends to take a similar approach in the curriculum that it is designing.
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Alan Miller Addresses Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy

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 United States better meet their information needs. “A well-informed citizenry is critical to democracy,” the commission said in its mission statement. “News, journalism and other information conduits play a central role in informing society. Yet, at a time when the problems facing American communities are arguably unprecedented in number, scope and complexity, the nation’s news and information systems, both commercial and not-for-profit, are in the midst of a technological revolution that is dramatically changing flows of news and information.” The commission is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and organized by the Aspen Institute. Its co-chairs are former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson and Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search product and user experience. Its members include former FCC chairmen Michael K. Powell and Reed E. Hundt, Knight Foundation president and CEO Alberto Ibarguen and John S. Carroll, the former editor of the Los Angeles Times and the vice chair of the News Literacy Project’s board.

Alan’s remarks to the commission are reprinted here.

REMARKS BY ALAN C. MILLER OF THE NEWS LITERACY PROJECT BEFORE THE KNIGHT COMMISSION ON THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF COMMUNITIES IN A DEMOCRACY, CHICAGO, NOV. 17, 2008

GOOD MORNING. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO APPEAR BEFORE THIS DISTINGUISHED PANEL AND PARTICIPATE IN YOUR IMPORTANT MISSION.

FOR THE FIRST 29 YEARS OF MY CAREER - MOST OF THEM AS AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER IN THE WASHINGTON BUREAU OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, INCLUDING FIVE YEARS WORKING FOR JOHN CARROLL - MY JOB WAS TO PROVIDE NEWS TO THE PUBLIC. DURING THE PAST NINE MONTHS, WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE KNIGHT AND FORD FOUNDATIONS, I HAVE FOCUSED ON FIGURING OUT HOW TO GIVE YOUNG PEOPLE THE TOOLS TO BECOME CONSUMERS AND CREATORS OF CREDIBLE INFORMATION.

DURING THIS TIME, I’VE HEARD SOME SURPRISING THINGS:

IN APRIL, A TEACHER AT A SCHOOL IN BROOKLYN TOLD ME THAT HER STUDENTS BELIEVE THAT IF SOMETHING IS ON THE INTERNET, SOMEBODY VERIFIED IT BEFORE PUTTING IT THERE.

A FEW MONTHS LATER, A SENIOR IN AN A.P. SOCIAL STUDIES CLASS IN A MARYLAND HIGH SCHOOL ASKED WHAT TO READ TO LEARN ABOUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY.  WHEN I MENTIONED THE NEW YORK TIMES AND OTHER WELL-REGARDED PUBLICATIONS, HE ASKED INCREDULOUSLY, “IS THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA OK?”

LAST WEEK, I MET WITH HOWARD GARDNER, THE HARVARD EDUCATOR. HE TOLD ME THAT IN A FOCUS GROUP OF INNER-CITY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS THE PREVIOUS WEEKEND, NOT A SINGLE STUDENT HAD HEARD OF THE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN GRIPPING THE COUNTRY. GARDNER SAID EVEN HE WAS “SHOCKED.”

THESE ANECDOTES, BOLSTERED BY REPORTS SUCH AS “YOUNG PEOPLE AND NEWS” DONE FOR A CARNEGIE-KNIGHT TASK FORCE LAST YEAR, RAISE SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF A WELL-INFORMED CITIZENRY, THE HEART OF A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY.  THE CARNEGIE-KNIGHT REPORT, FOR INSTANCE, FOUND THAT HALF OF TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS AGED 18 TO 30 RARELY, IF EVER, READ A NEWSPAPER AND DO NOT MAKE CONSUMPTION OF NEWS FROM ANY SOURCE PART OF THEIR DAILY ROUTINE. THE STUDY REPORTED THAT RESPONDENTS WERE DRAWN TO STORIES “THAT HAVE LITTLE OR NO PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTENT” AND THAT MANY WERE “ILL-EQUIPPED TO PROCESS THE HARD NEWS STORIES THEY ENCOUNTER.”

EVEN AS THE INTERNET HAS GIVEN STUDENTS UNPRECEDENTED AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION AT THEIR FINGERTIPS, MANY CONSIDER GOOGLE THEIR PRIMARY SOURCE. AND MOST VIEW ALL THE INFORMATION THAT APPEARS ON THEIR SCREEN AS CREATED EQUAL. OFTEN, THE ALTERNATIVE IS WIKIPEDIA, WITH ITS PROVISIONAL AND PARTICIPATORY ARC OF TRUTH. STUDENTS CAN, OF COURSE, ACT LIKE HISTORIANS AND DRILL DOWN TO THE PRIMARY SOURCES - BUT HOW MANY DEVOTE THE TIME AND EFFORT TO DO SO?

HOW WOULD STUDENTS KNOW OTHERWISE?

NEITHER MEDIA LITERACY NOR ITS MORE FOCUSED TRIBUTARY, NEWS LITERACY, IS WIDELY TAUGHT IN AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. AT THE SAME TIME, THE NATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM HAS INCREASINGLY FOCUSED ON STANDARDIZED TESTS THAT HAVE LARGELY DRIVEN OUT WHAT SOME OF US KNEW AS “CIVICS” OR “CURRENT EVENTS.” A 2007 SURVEY BY ANOTHER CARNEGIE-KNIGHT TASK FORCE FOUND THAT EVEN THOSE TEACHERS WHO RECOGNIZE THE VALUE OF USING NEWS IN THE CLASSROOM SAID THEY PLANNED TO USE IT LESS BECAUSE OF THE DEMANDS OF MANDATORY TESTING.  HARDEST HIT, THE COMMISSION FOUND, ARE DISADVANTAGED URBAN AND RURAL STUDENTS, WHOSE PARENTS TEND TO PAY LESS ATTENTION TO PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND DISCUSS NEWS LESS AT HOME.

FINALLY, AMID THE EXPLOSION OF TECHNOLOGY, YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY TEND TO BE FIXATED ON SOCIAL NETWORKING - INTERCONNECTING THROUGH A VIRTUAL, OMNIPRESENT WORLD OF CELLPHONES, I-PODS AND LAPTOPS.  OF COURSE, STUDENTS ARE LEARNING A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT THROUGH THESE NETWORKS - ABOUT EACH OTHER AND EACH OTHER’S TASTES, ABOUT THEIR COMINGS AND GOINGS, ABOUT MUSIC AND SPORTS AND, IN THE ELECTION JUST PAST, ABOUT BARACK OBAMA. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THROUGH FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE AND ALL THE OTHER DIGITAL BELLS AND WHISTLES, THEY HAVE ACCESS TO ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION.

MOREOVER, AS THEY TEXT AND E-MAIL AND BLOG IN THIS NEW PARTICIPATORY INFORMATION AGE, THEY ARE THEMSELVES NOT ONLY CONSUMERS BUT ALSO PRODUCERS - WHAT TOM ROSENSTIEL AND BILL KOVACH, IN “THE ELEMENTS OF JOURNALISM,” CALL “PRO-SUMERS.”

YET THESE YOUNG PEOPLE MUST DEAL NOT ONLY WITH THE MANY WAYS THAT INFORMATION IS DELIVERED IN THIS RAPIDLY CHANGING ELECTRONIC LANDSCAPE, BUT ALSO WITH THE DAUNTING TASK OF DETERMINING THE RELIABILITY OF MYRIAD SOURCES OF “NEWS.” MOST ARE SIMPLY NOT LEARNING HOW TO DISCERN CREDIBLE INFORMATION FROM RAW INFORMATION, OPINION, GOSSIP, SPIN, ADVERTISING AND PROPAGANDA.  HOW MANY UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NEWS REPORT IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OR NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO AND A POSTING BY THE PROVERBIAL PAJAMA-CLAD BLOGGER OR A POLITICALLY CHARGED VIRAL E-MAIL? AND IF THEY DON’T, WHY WOULD THEY EVER SEEK QUALITY JOURNALISM?

WITHOUT SOME EDUCATION AND GUIDANCE, IN THIS ERA OF LOUD VOICES AND SHORT ATTENTION SPANS, HOW ARE STUDENTS TO KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE?

I BEGAN THE NEWS LITERACY PROJECT EARLIER THIS YEAR WITH TWO PRIMARY GOALS: TO LIGHT A SPARK OF INTEREST IN INFORMATION THAT HAS A PUBLIC PURPOSE, AND TO GIVE STUDENTS THE TOOLS TO SEPARATE FACT FROM FICTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE - ENABLING THEM TO SEEK AND PRIZE UNVARNISHED TRUTH THROUGH WHATEVER MEDIUM AND ON WHATEVER PLATFORM THEY FIND IT.

WHAT SKILLS DO THEY NEED TO DO SO? FIRST, THEY NEED TO RECOGNIZE WHAT MY COLLEAGUE HOWIE SCHNEIDER, WHO FOUNDED THE CENTER FOR NEWS LITERACY AT STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY, CALLS “WHAT NEIGHBORHOOD ARE YOU IN?” ARE YOU IN THE NEWS NEIGHBORHOOD? THE OPINION NEIGHBORHOOD? THE ADVERTISING NEIGHBORHOOD? WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION ARE YOU LOOKING AT, LISTENING TO OR WATCHING? AND WHAT STANDARDS AND VETTING HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO THE WAY THIS INFORMATION WAS GATHERED AND PRESENTED?

IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT WHAT PURPORTS TO BE NEWS, HOW CAN YOU JUDGE ITS VERACITY? FIRST, ASSUMING YOU CAN DETERMINE THIS, WHO CREATED IT AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE? IS THE GOAL A DISPASSIONATE, EVEN IF IMPERFECT, SEARCH FOR TRUTH TO SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST?  WHAT ARE THE SOURCES - ARE THEY NAMED, ARE THEY EYEWITNESSES OR EXPERTS, DO THEY HAVE AN AX TO GRIND? WHAT DATA OR DOCUMENTS ARE CITED TO VERIFY THE ASSERTIONS?  IS THE STORY FAIR - IS THE SUBJECT GIVEN A CHANCE TO RESPOND? IS THERE BIAS, AND HOW CAN YOU TELL? WHAT IS THE DOWNSIDE OF AUDIENCE BIAS - SEEKING INFORMATION ONLY FROM SOURCES WITH WHICH YOU ARE LIKELY TO AGREE?

WE’LL ALSO ADDRESS THE PRINCIPLE OF ACCOUNTABILITY: HOW DOES ANY INFORMATION PROVIDER DEAL WITH CHALLENGES TO ITS VERACITY, PARTICULARLY FACTUAL MISTAKES? IS THERE A WILLINGNESS AND A PROCESS TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND CORRECT ERRORS AND SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT?

WE INTEND TO TACKLE THIS CHALLENGE BY FIRST PARTNERING WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TO PROVIDE THEM WITH AN INNOVATIVE, COMPELLING CURRICULUM THAT EXAMINES THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND THE ROLE OF A FREE MEDIA IN A DEMOCRACY, PARTICULARLY THE WATCHDOG ROLE, AND WHY NEWS MATTERS TO THESE STUDENTS.

THEN WE WILL BRING JOURNALISTS INTO SOCIAL STUDIES, HISTORY AND ENGLISH CLASSROOMS - IN PERSON, OR THROUGH VIDEOS AND VIDEOCONFERENCES - TO ENGAGE THE STUDENTS BY SHARING WHAT THEY DO IN A WAY THAT RESONATES WITH OUR THEMES AND WITH THESE STUDENTS. THE JOURNALISTS WILL INVOLVE STUDENTS IN HANDS-ON EXERCISES THAT CHALLENGE THEM TO THINK ABOUT WHERE THEY OBTAIN THEIR INFORMATION.  THE LESSONS WILL CULMINATE WITH THE STUDENTS USING THE TOOLS OF JOURNALISM TO SPARK CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT THEIR WORLD AND THE LARGER WORLD AROUND THEM.

AND WE WILL USE THE NEW MEDIA PLATFORMS TO TEACH, ENGAGE AND SHARE OUR CURRICULUM TO ACHIEVE WIDE NATIONAL REACH.

IN THEIR EFFORTS TO HOLD ON TO THEIR OFTEN-SHRINKING AUDIENCES, NEWS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE TENDED TO FOCUS ON THE SUPPLY SIDE. OUR FOCUS IS ON THE DEMAND SIDE OF THE NEXT GENERATION.

TEACHERS, STUDENTS AND JOURNALISTS HAVE EXPRESSED EXCITEMENT ABOUT THE PROJECT. I BELIEVE THAT NEWS LITERACY IS AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME. SOME HOPE THAT IT HASN’T COME TOO LATE.

JULES MERMELSTEIN, WHO TEACHES HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT IN A SUBURBAN PHILADELPHIA HIGH SCHOOL, SAID, “THIS PROJECT COULD HELP ME PRODUCE STUDENTS WHO CAN FUNCTION IN THE 21ST-CENTURY INFORMATION OVERLOAD AND, HOPEFULLY, BECOME RESPONSIBLE, PARTICIPATING MEMBERS OF OUR DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY.”

AT THE SAME TIME, MARTY BARON, EDITOR OF THE BOSTON GLOBE, RECENTLY WROTE TO ME:  “I HOPE YOUR EFFORTS PRODUCE A GENERATION OF PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND THE ELEMENTS OF QUALITY JOURNALISM, AND I HOPE THERE’S ENOUGH QUALITY JOURNALISM LEFT FOR THEM TO ENJOY.”

THANK YOU. I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS.

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The News Literacy Project Launches Web Site and Plans Pilot Projects for Early 2009

View this press release in PDF format.

(September 17, 2008)

An innovative national program that will mobilize professional journalists to help secondary school students sort fact from fiction in the digital age plans to launch its initial pilot projects in early 2009. the News Literacy Project (NLP) unveiled its website, www.thenewsliteracyproject.org, today.

“This program will systematically address a significant gap in the educational community,’’ said Diana Mitsu Klos, senior project director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), one of several major journalism groups to endorse the News Literacy Project. It has the "potential to strengthen the ranks of the next generation of Americans who can recognize and demand quality journalism.

The project is spearheaded by Alan C. Miller, a former reporter with the Los Angeles Times and winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. It was initiated in early 2008 with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and recently received a two-year grant from the Ford Foundation. More than 30 prominent journalists have already volunteered to serve as fellows, and the project plans to recruit hundreds of additional journalists nationwide.

Even as young people increasingly participate in the national discussion through such media as text messages and blogs, news literacy is not widely taught in America’s public schools. Amid the 24-hour news cycle and the explosion of information continuously available online, today’s students have access to unprecedented amounts of information. Yet they are also confronted with the daunting task of determining the reliability of myriad sources of `”news.’’ And surveys show young people are increasingly uninterested in information with a civic purpose.

The primary aim of the News Literacy Project is to give middle and high school students the tools to be smarter and more frequent consumers and creators of credible information across all media and platforms. Students will be taught how to distinguish verified information from raw messages, spin, gossip, and opinion and encouraged to seek information that will make them well-informed citizens and voters.

The project will create partnerships between active and retired journalists and English, social studies and history teachers as well as after-school media clubs. The journalists and teachers will devise units focusing on why news matters to young people, the roles of the First Amendment and a free media in a democracy and how students can determine the veracity of what they read, see and hear. Material will be presented through games, hands-on exercises, and the journalists’ own compelling stories. The curriculum will also address new media tools from Google to Wikipedia.

“Ultimately, this project aims to equip the next generation of news consumers with the ability to judge for themselves what is credible and what is not, increasing their awareness of the value of free press and their demand for news in the public interest,” said Eric Newton, vice president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

“Without the critical capacity to distinguish between what’s journalistic, what’s partisan, what’s entertainment, and what’s fabrication, people are bound to make uninformed choices in a digital age of limitless information,” said Calvin Sims, Ford Foundation Program Officer for News Media. “The Ford Foundation is proud to support efforts like the News Literacy Project, which seeks to equip young people with the skills needed to be informed consumers of news.”

The first pilots will be in schools in New York City and Montgomery County, Md. Additional sites will be added in the next year.

The board is chaired by Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com, John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun and Lexington Herald-Leader, is vice chairman.  Also participating as board members are Soledad O’Brien, CNN anchor and special correspondent for the network’s Special Investigations Unit, and Chuck Lewis, a distinguished journalist-in-residence at American University and founder of the Center for Public Integrity.

Its other members are: Neil Budde, a national pioneer in online news media and the president and chief product officer of DailyMe.com; Mary M. Chambers, a management, public affairs and strategic communications consultant with a strong background in education and non-profit work; John S. Gomperts, a leader in promoting civic engagement as president of Civic Ventures and CEO of Experience Corps; Paul S. Mason, a senior vice president at ABC News, and Howard Schneider, a former editor of Newsday who is the founding dean of the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University and executive director of the Center for News Literacy.  The project is an activity of the Tides Center.

The News Literacy Project has been endorsed by the National Association of Black Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association as well as ASNE and has the support of Investigative Reporters and Editors. The initial diverse and distinguished group of journalist fellows includes Pulitzer Prize winners, book authors, newspaper foreign bureau chiefs and network television correspondents. Both active and retired journalists are encouraged to participate and can sign on to do so through a form on the website.

The website features a directory of participating journalists, each with his or her bio, photo and resume. Journalists can enlist through the site. Participating teachers will be able to request journalists in their regions that fit their curriculum. A social studies teacher might seek a political reporter for a government class; a colleague focusing on Latin America might request a Mexico City correspondent. Journalists will address classes through video conferencing as well as in person and will be trained by the project.

The idea for the project arose from Alan Miller’s experience talking about his work and why journalism matters to 175 sixth graders at his daughter’s middle school in Bethesda, Md.  He left the Los Angeles Times in March 2008 after 21 years, the last 14 as an investigative reporter in the Washington bureau, to commit himself to this new mission. His decision prompted this statement by the media blog FishbowlLA: "It’s a rare reporter who leaves daily news to try to make journalism a better institution.’’