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An overwhelming majority of teens (84%) express a negative sentiment when asked what word best describes news media. Words or phrases used most frequently include “fake,” “false” and “lies.”
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Many teens believe that journalists frequently engage in the following unethical behaviors: “give advertisers special treatment” (49%), “make up details, such as quotes” (50%), “pay or do favors for sources” (51%) or “take photos and videos out of context” (60%).
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Even when prompted to consider what journalists are doing well, about 1 in 3 teens said something negative like “telling lies,” “reporting fake news,” “spreading misinformation” and “gaslighting.”
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Is this alarming? Absolutely. But don’t blame young people. We’ve dropped them into an information landscape overflowing with misinformation where the path to trustworthy news isn’t always clear.
While the cynicism that these responses indicate can corrode the functioning of society, blind trust in anything that looks like news is just as damaging. But we don’t have to choose between these extremes.
We can fix this — and we must do so with urgency — by making news literacy a required part of every student’s education. News literacy gives young people the essential skills to recognize credible sources, evaluate information and decide what to trust and what to dismiss. It instills the kind of confidence that can replace toxic cynicism with healthy skepticism — and that strengthens democracy. Here's how you can help: |
✅ Read the report. ✅ Share it with your community. ✅ Help us advance the case for news literacy instruction in every school. |
Your voice — and your support — allow us to do this critical work. Thank you! My best, |
Chuck Salter
President and CEO |
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Look what we’ve achieved together |
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Over the last fiscal year, our commitment to transforming the news literacy education landscape had a meaningful impact in classrooms around the country. We’re getting closer every day to our bold vision of making news literacy required teaching in K-12 education. Check out our annual report to read more about what you have helped us achieve.
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NLP is grateful for the generosity of our donors, whose grants and contributions enable us to extend our reach and continually increase our impact. First, a special thank you to NLP’s philanthropic leaders — our Visionary Circle members. In recent months, NLP also received funding from the Henry Luce Foundation and MRB Foundation, Inc. Our partners — and all our supporters — make our work possible. Thank you!
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We’re Anthem Award winners! |
Earlier this week we learned that we’ve won two Anthem Awards, which honor the purpose and mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide. We won the Anthem Community Voice Award, which is determined by a popular vote. And we are the Bronze Winner in the Education, Art & Culture category for Education or Literacy Platforms. We appreciate the recognition and thank everyone who voted for us!
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Have you seen our new website? |
If you haven’t stopped by newslit.org recently, you don’t know what you’re missing! Last month we launched a reimagined website that makes it easier than ever to teach news literacy, keep up with NLP news and support our work. The new design, clear navigation and plain language mean we can better serve all our audiences. And it looks fabulous to boot. Take a look around!
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OUR LATEST news literacy resources |
- An Rx for mental health misinformation
In October we launched a 5-week campaign — news literacy for mental health and wellness — to help students resist health rumors and prioritize their mental wellness. Our free “Brain Gains” planner covered a new topic every week and provided free teaching resources, from vetting sources to weighing evidence and examining data.
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- “Democracy’s Watchdog” lesson reboot
In time for the new school year, we refreshed and enhanced our Checkology® lesson “Democracy’s Watchdog.” Hosted by journalist Corey Johnson of ProPublica, the lesson teaches students about the vital role that First Amendment protections play in American democracy using case studies of notable investigative (or “watchdog”) reporting. Students also can test their knowledge with three new extension activities separate from the lesson.
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- Learning with Labubus
We continue to grow our educator resource library — now housed within the Checkology platform — with new content, including a poster on impostor content that builds on the viral popularity of Labubu toys.
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“In my government class, I collaborate with my school’s librarians to do a lesson on social media and political engagement. We talk about how many people, especially young voters, get their news from their social media feeds. Students learn about how algorithms affect what they see and how to check the credibility of sources.”
Check out more Q&As with news literacy educators. |
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Read: Our latest study, which Chuck describes above, found that most teens hold negative views of the news media and misperceptions about how journalism works — suggesting that news literacy education could be key to restoring historically low trust in the press. The Nieman Lab, Columbia Journalism Review, Education Week, CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter, the American Press Institute’s Need to Know newsletter and other media reported our findings.
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Read: Molly Dettmann, an Oklahoma school librarian, told School Library Journal that news literacy education helps students spot misinformation, including AI-generated content. The article included tips for families from NLP’s Alee Quick and featured social media videos by NLP’s Dan Evon.
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Read: In an opinion piece for The Oklahoman, NLP’s Hannah Covington made the case for news literacy in the age of AI: “News literacy helps young people understand that not all information generated by AI tools is accurate and gives them the skills to fact-check.”
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Read: NLP CEO and President Chuck Salter as well as educators in three Pennsylvania school districts participating in our District Fellowship program were featured in a piece on Pittsburgh’s NPR station.
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What’s happening on social media |
Tying news literacy lessons to viral pop culture moments (like the Labubu and K-Pop Demon Hunters trends) has helped us gain followers across social media platforms like never before. Our video explaining the game-changing AI video app Sora drew 1.4 million views on TikTok and 1 million on Instagram! And our new series Two Truths and AI, which challenges followers to find the AI fake among three examples, is also attracting attention. All this fun and educational content helped our TikTok following reach 50,000. Not on social media platforms? You can find all our videos on our YouTube channel. Help us get our resources in the hands of more educators, students and families! Follow us and share our posts.
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Earlier this year we asked educators how we could involve families in news literacy education, and they told us that parents, guardians and other adults want tools that are short, clear and nonjudgmental. This intel helped us create our first newsletter for families: Scroll Smarter. Published monthly, Scroll Smarter offers family-friendly tools to help kids think more clearly about what they see online. Check out the latest issue and be sure to subscribe.
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