NewsLitCamp®

NLP's NewsLitCamp is a day-long professional development experience hosted in a local newsroom. NewsLitCamps bring educators and practicing journalists together to discuss news literacy and journalism.

What’s a NewsLitCamp®? from The News Literacy Project on Vimeo.

Connecting educators and journalists committed to news literacy

Designed primarily for middle and high school teachers, librarians and media specialists, these participatory workshops include topical sessions (selected with input from participants) and educator-driven planning and development time to empower educators to embed news literacy into any subject matter they teach. Sessions aim to demystify and explain what distinguishes quality journalism. Our in-house experts establish the core skills and concepts of news literacy education and introduce teaching tools.

These events aspire to develop educators’ expertise in news literacy education, share specialized teaching resources and provide a behind-the-scenes view of the news reporting process. Participants leave with new ideas, skills and resources to help their students navigate today’s complex information landscape and beat back a rising tide of misinformation. Most importantly, NewsLitCamps build a greater understanding among educators and journalists that enhances the appreciation of the vital civic role each play in our democracy.

NewsLitCamp stands apart:

• Educators join journalists in their newsroom, where real-world expertise informs classroom teaching.
• In our flexible, teacher-directed model, educators tell us what they are interested in and what they hope to learn.
• Sessions with journalists are structured to address educators’ needs and interests.

Partners have included both local and nationally known news organizations: 9NEWS, Better Government Association, Block Club Chicago, Bloomberg News (New York City), The Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Chicago Defender, the Chicago Sun-Times, CNN Worldwide, The Colorado Sun (Denver), the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois), the Houston Chronicle, the Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky), the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, NBC Bay Area (San José), NPR, ProPublica Illinois, Rockford Register Star, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Texas Tribune, Time, Univision (Miami), the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and WBEZ (Chicago).

Using examples from the news of the day, journalists lead breakout sessions on such issues as:

• Perceptions of bias.
• News judgment.
• The role of social media.
• Journalism standards and practices.

NewsLitCamps are offered only at select locations during the school year based on event sponsorship and scheduling with partner news organizations. We do accept a limited number of RFPs from districts.

Is your school, library, school district or news organization interested in partnering with us on a NewsLitCamp? Email us at [email protected].

What people are saying

"It was some of the best PD I have had in my 16-year career as a teacher-librarian. I have been teaching media literacy, and with greater urgency. But I now have new tools, new hooks, new information, and a renewed sense of purpose for engaging my students in their civic lives through critical media consumption."

Mary Kay Risi
River Dell Middle School
River Edge, New Jersey