Insider Spotlight: Philip Lensi

Welcome to the Insider Spotlight, where we feature real questions from our team and answers from educators who are making a difference teaching news literacy. This month, our featured educator is Philip Lensi from North Plainfield, New Jersey, where he teaches media literacy to middle and high school students. Read on for Philip’s tips to help students find credible information and avoid feeling overwhelmed as they scroll through seas of content.

Q: Every day, students are navigating a lot online — from breaking news headlines to AI-generated content to sponsored posts from influencers. Do you have any tips to help students minimize overwhelm? 

A: I, of course, encourage them to limit their screen time (with minimal success!). But mostly, I model and encourage mindfulness when scrolling, as well as try to get students to put the phone down when spending time with friends and family or when studying. We also spend some time normalizing that overwhelming feeling so they don’t feel alone — we all feel it sometimes. 

Q: How do you teach students to seek out credible sources of information? 

A: Slowly. Patiently. Understanding that this is a lifelong goal and we all struggle with this sometimes. We talk about journalists and their professional standards. I encourage students to find some credible people, follow them and see who they trust, building a trust chain.  

Q: Online content can influence students’ beliefs, values and choices. How can educators help students reflect on the impact of their scrolling and content consumption? 

A: This is such a difficult question that I think about all the time. I’ve found the most success with the little things — encouraging them to spend quality time offline with friends and family, to follow better, more reliable accounts, and to talk about what they’re seeing online with trusted people in their lives. Spending time discussing the methods and tricks that companies use to get and keep your attention can help take away some of the power of their algorithms. It’s very tough, though — screens are very appealing and can reach our kids 24/7. It’s like fighting a monster.  

Q: If a fellow educator is interested in incorporating news and media literacy topics into their curriculum, how would you advise them to start? What News Literacy Project resource would you recommend? 

A: Invite a certified media specialist like me into your classroom! But besides that, I encourage teachers to start small, maybe adding a reflection piece to research assignments. Or encourage them to be more purposeful with their information gathering and discuss that with their students. I’m always sharing and encouraging them to start with NLP’s one-page handouts and infographics. Who doesn’t love a good infographic? And I always encourage everyone to subscribe to the Sift — it’s always compelling and timely. 

Q: Finally, what’s your favorite way to relax after a long school day? 

A: By scrolling endlessly online, of course! But seriously, I love spending time with my wife, kids and dog — reading with a cup of coffee, preferably.