First Lady Cox, superintendent Hart address inaugural National News Literacy Conference
Students need news literacy skills, Cox said
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah., Oct. 9, 2026 – Utah First Lady Abby Cox on Friday offered encouragement and a vision for a more news-literate future to almost 400 educators gathered for the inaugural National News Literacy Conference at Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City.
“We see the effort that you put in every day, that your work is essential for the future of our state and for our country,” she told educators.
Referring to news literacy education, Cox said, “These are powerful skills that we need as adults – that our children, our students need. We know that when students have these skills and when they have debate skills in middle school, high school and college, they are much less polarized.”
The three-day conference is hosted by the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit and the nation’s leader in K-12 news literacy education.
In a video address, Dr. Molly Hart, Utah’s state superintendent of public instruction, said that news literacy skills are “an essential extension of literacy itself.”
“Every day, our students log on to a nonstop stream of information from traditional news and social media to emerging AI trends. Navigating that digital world requires more than just basic reading skills.”
She added: “Preparing young people for college careers and civic life means helping them become thoughtful consumers of information and active, informed participants in their communities.”
Educators from roughly 30 states are in Utah to learn best practices for teaching news literacy, which is the ability to identify credible information and recognize the standards of quality journalism. News literacy teaches students the skills they need to make informed decisions about what information to trust, share and act on.
Utah is leading the nation in news literacy instruction. A bill passed in the 2026 session that requires updates to the state’s digital skills course — a required class for 7th and 8th grade students — to include lessons on news literacy concepts, such as how algorithms shape the information we see online.
More school districts in Utah participate in the News Literacy Project’s selective District Fellowship program than in any other state, with 15 communities accepted. During the three-year fellowship, educators create locally driven plans to teach news literacy, with funding and guidance from the News Literacy Project.
Over the past school year, more than 340 Utah educators have relied on the News Literacy Project’s free resources to teach over 13,000 students across 60 districts.
About the News Literacy Project
The News Literacy Project is a nonpartisan education nonprofit that works with teachers, school districts, states and community partners like libraries and after-school clubs to ensure students in all 50 states receive news literacy instruction before they graduate from high school. Learn more at www.newslit.org.
