If 2020 has made anything clear, it's that the future of our democracy depends on our collective ability to sort fact from fiction — and teaching students news literacy skills is crucial to this. It’s been our focus throughout a tumultuous year.
We’ve captured our important achievements, milestones and stories in an annual report, which we hope allows you to revisit the year with a sense of satisfaction as news literacy leaders and the promise of more good things ahead. In the coming weeks, we will offer several events and resources to help your students learn how to avoid harmful content and discern credible information.
Announcing NLP’s first class of news literacy ambassadors
We are now building our local footprint through community organizing efforts in the fight against misinformation with the launch of our News Literacy Ambassador Program. Through this regional model for news literacy education, we can create a sense of belonging and community among educators. We know that if this movement is to be successful, it must be inclusive and local. These paid local organizers serve as our thought leadership partners, helping to identify the unique needs of educators in their school districts. These efforts will further help to combat misinformation and create a more news-literate generation of news consumers.
We welcome the following group of ambassadors:
Live podcast: Misinformation and the election
To better understand how misinformation has impacted the 2020 election, we invite you to join us for a live episode of our podcast Is that a fact? today at 5:30 p.m. ET. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from experts working on the front lines of this issue. Host Darragh Worland will moderate a lively conversation with Enrique Acevedo, correspondent for 60 in 6, NLP board member and former Univision anchor; Jane Lytvynenko of BuzzFeed News; and Joan Donovan, research director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. We hope you will join us for this timely conversation. Register here.
Professional development
NewsLitCamp®: We created this free professional development experience primarily for middle and high school educators. It features topical sessions (selected with input from participants) and educator-driven planning time to empower you to teach news literacy. This format gives education professionals an opportunity to connect with journalists and news literacy experts. Check out our NewsLitCamp video below for a quick look at what the event can offer you.
If you are a San Francisco Bay Area educator please join us — along with our partners at the San José Public Library and NBC Bay Area (KNTV) — on Dec. 2 and 3 for a virtual, teacher-centered NewsLitCamp. The day will feature breakout sessions with local journalists. Sign up today to reserve your seat.
On Dec. 10, NewsLitCamp goes nationwide with a national, virtual, teacher-centered event held in partnership with The Texas Tribune that features breakout sessions with their journalists. This event is open to educators across the country. Register here.
These FREE programs are part of a series of NewsLitCamp events held in collaboration with a diverse group of news organizations around the country.
Checkology® office hours: Join us on the last Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. ET to learn more about the Checkology virtual classroom. Hear about recent platform updates and new resources and get answers to commonly asked questions. Each webinar will contain a live Q & A session at the end. Register now.
NewsLit Nation speaks: Survey request
NLP wants to hear from you! We want to better understand our educators’ practices and preferred information platforms. This month, we are focusing on Wikipedia. If you could spare 10 minutes to complete this anonymous survey by Thursday, Dec. 3, our education team would be extremely grateful. By knowing your preferences and familiarity with various resources and platforms, we can design our materials to better meet your needs. Thank you for your participation!
Additional resources
We now reach beyond the classroom with free tools and resources available to the general public. Learn more here.
For weekly tips, tools and classroom-ready resources, subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, The Sift®.
