NLP News

Twenty-four journalists have recently joined the News Literacy Project, bringing the total of participating news professionals to 55. Among the new fellows are Mark Halperin, Time Magazine’s political reporter and blogger; Ethan Bronner, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times; Steve Inskeep, co-host of NPR’s Morning Edition; and Pierre Thomas, ABC News’ award-winning…

USA Today is the News Literacy Project’s second participating news organization. The paper has endorsed NLP, will post an internal announcement giving its journalists the opportunity to volunteer in the classroom and will help NLP recruit former USA Today reporters and editors to participate in an after-school program. “In an era in which there’s a…

The New York Times is the News Literacy Project’s first participating news organization. The Times has endorsed NLP, posted an internal announcement giving the paper’s journalists the opportunity to volunteer in the classroom, and is helping NLP recruit former Times reporters and editors to participate in its after-school program. It has also agreed to provide…

Howard Gardner, a prominent Harvard educator, and Dave Jones, a former senior editor at The New York Times, have joined the News Literacy Project’s advisory committee. Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and the author of over 20 books that have…

The News Literacy Project is pleased to announce that Bob Jervis, the former coordinator of social studies for the Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Public Schools, will be its curriculum developer. Bob was responsible for developing the county schools’ social studies curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade. After retiring in 2001, he spent five years with…

Vivian Schiller, who chairs the News Literacy Project board, will become president and CEO of National Public Radio on Jan. 5. She will move over from The New York Times, where she has been senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com. She previously served as senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times…

Alan C. Miller, the News Literacy Project’s founder and executive director, discussed news literacy in the classroom — and NLP’s plans to provide it — in remarks to the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. He did so as part of a panel on “Information, Engagement, and Democracy at the…

The News Literacy Project is pleased to announce that our second New York City pilot will be with the Facing History School, a small, innovative, non-charter public high school on Manhattan’s West Side. The school, which was founded in 2005 and will graduate its first senior class in 2009, focuses on understanding history through the…

The News Literacy Project is featured in the November/December edition of The Social Studies Professional, the newsletter of the National Council for the Social Studies. It is distributed to 25,000 teachers and other subscribers: The News Literacy Project: Coming Soon to the Internet  The News Literacy Project is an innovative national program that intends to…

The News Literacy Project is delighted to welcome Kate Ferrall, a former teacher and broadcast journalist, as program coordinator. She brings valuable experience, talent and commitment to the mission. A graduate of Oberlin College and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Kate began her career teaching at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.,…

The News Literacy Project is seeking retired journalists to work with New York middle school students from East Harlem and Brooklyn in early 2009. The project is partnering with Citizen Schools, a national model that improves student achievement through after-school programs that blend real-world learning and rigorous academics. The project’s journalists will receive training from Citizen…

The News Literacy Project is pleased to announce that Dr. Terry K. Peterson, who served as counselor to former U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley, has joined its board. Peterson spearheaded numerous national education initiatives during the Clinton administration as well as state reforms as education adviser to Riley during his governorship of South Carolina. In…

Frank Baker, a media literacy consultant and member of the News Literacy Project’s advisory committee, has recommended the following for teachers and those interested in news literacy matters: “Turning Pages: High School Journalism in Transition” is a recent article in The Nation that examines the decline of high school journalism programs in the San Francisco…

An administrator in a New York charter school said of her students: “They’re under the impression that if it’s found in print, it’s there because someone has determined that it’s reliable.” Jules Mermelstein, a lawyer turned history and government teacher in a high school in a Philadelphia suburb, said, “One of my seniors insisted all…

How should the News Literacy Project approach students’ widespread use of Wikipedia as a research tool? Should we encourage them to employ it as a living, interactive alternative to the conventional encyclopedia ― an information source that engages and empowers users with a sense of ownership? At the same time, should we caution that it…