NLP News

Cory Turner, senior editor with NPR Ed, spoke with students and their teacher at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, about their use of NLP’s virtual classroom to discern fake news and build their critical-thinking skills.

As we reflect on 2016, we look back at some of our social media posts that you liked most. We’re sharing your top five favorites for one more read: Our guide to spotting fake news Facebook taking steps to combat misinformation Our new Checkology™ virtual classroom “In Jest” Biggest publishers of hoaxes and fake news

The Alaska news organization published NLP’s column on how to tackle “fake news.” It was written by guest journalist Gene Foreman.

Peter Adams, NLP’s senior vice president of educational programs, urges MarketWatch readers not to forget the role that quality journalism plays in a democracy when some types of news coverage frustrate them.

A survey released by the Pew Research Center today shows that fabricated news stories are causing members of the public to be confused about basic facts. About two in three U.S. adults say that fake news has caused “a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current events,” while roughly another quarter say it causes…

NLP journalist fellow Alicia Shepard mentions NLP as a key force in educating the next generation how to navigate news and information in a piece for Moyers & Company about how news consumers can avoid getting duped by fake news.

Peter Adams, NLP’s senior vice president for education programs, led a workshop on how educators can use authentic examples of viral rumors to drive civic learning and engagement. The session couldn’t have come at a better time. With little regulation or controls, social media platforms occupy a greater and greater space in the public attention…

Appearing this week as the featured speaker at a News Literacy Project breakfast in Washington, Chris Wallace, the anchor of Fox News Sunday, called NLP “a terrific program.” The 52-year veteran of the broadcast industry added, “News literacy in the 21st century is literacy.” And, he continued, “Knowing how to consume and judge the news is…

A new study by Stanford History Education Group shows that students’ digital fluency does not include understanding the news and information they read online. “The News Literacy Project has been working with educators for the past eight years to teach middle school and high school students how to address the challenges reflected in the Stanford study,”…

Christian Armstrong grew up in the same housing projects where Michelle Obama had lived as a young girl — a notoriously dangerous section of Chicago’s South Side now known as O Block. He never read a newspaper, watched the news on television or listened to it on the radio. “I figured it had nothing to…

This year, we’re kicking off the charitable season by joining #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. #GivingTuesday is less than a week away, and we’re looking forward to joining in for the first time! The outpouring of support we’ve seen for news literacy since the presidential election underscores the…

In her column, Washington Post opinion writer Kathleen Parker argues that the mainstream media was this year’s “biggest loser,” and that programs like the News Literacy Project are part of the solution. “The mainstream media need to work harder at presenting balanced reporting to rebuild trust,” she writes. “And education programs aimed at teaching students how to evaluate…

Gwen Ifill, one of the most respected journalists of her generation and a member of the News Literacy Project (NLP) board, died today in Washington, D.C. She was 61. Ifill was the award-winning moderator and managing editor of Washington Week on PBS and co-managing editor and co-anchor of PBS NewsHour. She covered the presidential campaign and the…

In The Mercury (Manhattan, Kansas), Adams, the News Literacy Project’s senior vice president for educational programs, discusses the ways in which confirmation bias and media echo chambers distort fact — and how news literacy education can help moving forward.

Editor Gilbert Bailon discusses the need for reliable information during election season — and how news literacy skills such as what NLP teaches can help bolster civic engagement.

The Spokane, Washington, news organization published retired AP reporter Larry Margasak’s piece that grapples with media fairness standards in the context of the 2016 election — and how journalism can move forward.

Judy Patrick of The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, New York, discusses the importance of developing critical-thinking skills in an era where fake news is everywhere — and how groups such as NLP are working to educate future news consumers.

We have just weathered a presidential election in which a bitterly divided nation seemed incapable of agreeing on facts — let alone solutions — for the country’s myriad challenges. Meanwhile, the press, polls and pundits proved to be stunningly wrong in crafting the narrative of this election and appeared out of touch with broad swaths…

Eva Haller, a much-honored nonprofit leader and philanthropist, is the newest member of the News Literacy Project board. She has been informally advising NLP President Alan C. Miller for the last three years. “Eva brings a wealth of experience in both the business and nonprofit worlds to the project’s board at just the right moment,” said…

Reprinted with permission of the National Council for the Social Studies: Confronting Confirmation Bias: Giving Truth a Fighting Chance in the Information Age By Alan C. Miller Guns. Immigration. Climate change. Abortion. Race relations. Trade. Global terrorism. Across the spectrum of politically charged issues confronting the nation, Americans are more deeply divided along ideological lines…

NLP President Alan C. Miller presented the News Literacy Project’s John S. Carroll Journalist Fellow Award to David Gonzalez of The New York Times at a luncheon at the paper on Oct. 21. Gonzalez, a reporter, photojournalist and editor at the Times for 27 years, delivered the News Literacy Project’s first journalist lesson in 2009…

Peter Sagal, the host of NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri and Ashley Nicole Black, a writer and correspondent for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, talk with Brian Lehrer on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show about why political satire is such a potent force in American culture and politics today.

When does political satire go too far? NLP president Alan C. Miller examines the role of satire in this year’s presidential campaign on The Wall Street Journal’s Lunch Break with Tanya Rivero on Oct. 13 in the lead-up to NLP’s “Satire Summit 2016: Beyond Satire?” event in New York City.

The News Literacy Project’s president and founder spoke with KSFR’s Dave Marash about the importance of teaching news literacy skills to students and the vital role that credible information plays in a healthy democracy.

Knowing what news and information to trust is a daunting challenge for students faced with a tsunami of text, images and video of varying crediblity, accountability and transparency in today’s hyperkinetic information ecosystem. Younger students have a propensity to trust what they see: After all, it wouldn’t be on the internet if it wasn’t true.…

“These students didn’t know Bin Laden was dead. How did we get so clueless about news?” Washington Post media writer Margaret Sullivan features the News Literacy Project in a column that calls for improved news literacy skills nationwide. “News literacy is an urgent mission,” NLP founder Alan C. Miller told Sullivan.

In the middle of the highly contentious 2016 presidential campaign, sometimes the only thing left to do is laugh — and there’s no reason to do it alone. Join the News Literacy Project and a panel of prominent journalists and entertainers for “Satire Summit 2016: Beyond Parody?” — a night of jokes, jabs and a…

The News Literacy Project and The Sacramento Bee are pairing up to hold community discussions about the needs of Sacramento’s Afghan immigrants. The discussion series is part of The National Community and News Literacy Roundtables Project.

Daily Do Good spotlights NLP’s commitment to teaching critical-thinking skills in the digital age — and how you can help.

Peter D. Adams, the News Literacy Project’s senior vice president for educational programs, talks technology and truth — and why social media responses to police violence in Ferguson, Missouri (and beyond) might signal a new era of watchdog journalism. His column, “News literacy lessons from Ferguson that resonate today,” was published in the Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff,…

When the News Literacy Project launched its classroom program with an event at Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School on Feb. 2, 2009, Matea Gold, then a New York-based reporter for the Los Angeles Times and one of NLP’s first volunteer journalist fellows, was right up front in the packed auditorium. That afternoon, David Gonzalez of The…

Rockford (Illinois) Register Star Executive Editor Mark Baldwin reflects on why news literacy is so important and how the News Literacy Project — with programs such as the checkology™ virtual classroom — has helped tailor education to the digital age.

David M. Marchick, a managing director of The Carlyle Group, and Karen Wickre, a digital media pioneer who held senior communications positions at Twitter and Google for nearly 15 years, have joined the News Literacy Project board. “Dave and Karen bring exceptional experience to NLP at an important time in our development,” said board chairman…

Multimedia journalist Damaso Reyes has been hired as NLP’s New York program coordinator. A former NLP journalist fellow, Reyes succeeds Elis Estrada, who has moved to the Washington, D.C., area to become that region’s program manager. “We are delighted to welcome Damaso to the NLP staff,” said NLP President Alan Miller. “His impressive skills as a multimedia…

Alison R. Bernstein, a respected educator, scholar and foundation executive and a senior member of the News Literacy Project’s board, died June 30. She was 69. “She won many battles: for gender equality, humanity in the arts, truth in history, and human rights. She lost the one against cancer,” according to a death notice published…

One year ago today, the newspaper world lost a true luminary — and the News Literacy Project lost one of its guiding lights. John S. Carroll, the revered newspaper editor and a founding member of NLP’s board, died June 14, 2015, at the age of 73. He was one of NLP’s first two board members,…

“Discerning Fact From Fiction in Our Digital-Age Democracy,” a seminar on news literacy, drew an engaged and overflow crowd on Saturday during Wesleyan University’s 2016 reunion and commencement weekend. “News literacy is giving truth, or facts, a fighting chance to catch up with falsehoods —  or at least not be overwhelmed by them in today’s…

The Chicago-area suburban publication spotlights how the News Literacy Project helps to teach critical-thinking skills to Leo High School students in a report that profiles the school’s efforts to increase enrollment.

Peter Adams, NLP’s senior vice president for educational programs, moderated a special conversation with national political reporters Matea Gold and Abby Phillip from The Washington Post. Gold and Phillip offered their insights on examples of rumors and misinformation in the 2016 campaign, discussed the competing issues and agendas they must navigate in their reporting, and…

It is only fitting that Nicco Mele leads one of the core lessons in the News Literacy Project’s new Checkology™ e-learning platform. After all, this digital visionary has been instrumental in helping us reach this milestone. Mele was introduced to NLP in 2010 and served for more than four years as our pro bono tech…