NLP News

Peter Adams, NLP’s senior vice president for educational programs, examined the future of news literacy for a National Association of Elementary School Principals publication. “If ‘teaching literacy’ means teaching students to access, comprehend, and evaluate information and create meaningful information of their own, then it also necessarily means teaching three overlapping skill sets: news literacy,…

The Washingtonian recently included NLP in its “24 Local Charities That Make Giving Back Feel Great (and Smart)” list. Author Erica Sloan wrote, “This Bethesda nonprofit creates classroom, afterschool, and e-learning curricula to help young people distinguish fact from fiction while analyzing text, photos, and videos.”

The PR Council announced that it will be supporting NLP to celebrate its 20th anniversary, and Nyhus Communications has joined in on that effort. “NLP helps young people determine what information they should trust, share and act upon, and is committed to empowering youth with the knowledge necessary to actively participate in our robust democracy,”…

The News Literacy Project is leading the way in creating a news-literate public by giving American youth the tips, tools and resources they need to sort fact from fiction, Aine Kerr wrote for Independent Business and Technology in Ireland. “The project’s motto is simple: when you’re informed, you’re empowered. Via a series of free lessons,…

John Silva, the News Literacy Project’s director of education, was recently interviewed by Offspring, Lifehacker’s parenting vertical, about what parents can do to spot and fight “fake news.” Silva told writer Leigh Anderson that parents should participate in lateral reading (real-time fact-checking from other news sites) with their children and make sure that the news…

That’s even when those theories appear to confirm an individual’s political belief, a new study shows. “The greater one’s knowledge about the news media — from the kinds of news covered, to the commercial context in which news is produced, to the effects on public opinion news can have — the less likely one will…

It’s never too soon to teach young people media literacy, says Lisa Guernsey of New America in a piece for Future Tense, a partnership of Slate, New America and Arizona State University that explores emerging technologies and public policy. And one tool that’s “gaining traction,” she says, is the News Literacy Project’s Checkology® virtual classroom, which…

In this video, three students — Conor McCormick, Uriel Reyes Morales and Sihin Yibrah — tell Pierre Thomas of ABC News how our lessons opened their eyes to the world of false news and misinformation online. The students — all seniors at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia — spoke candidly about their news and…

 In the six years since New York City’s 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation joined forces with a vision of a day focused on charitable contributions and social awareness, Giving Tuesday has enabled individuals to demonstrate their commitment — through donations of money and time — to nonprofits that provide solutions to our…

The 21st, a production of Illinois Public Media, recently explored how to be news-literate in an age of misinformation. Erika Hobbs, NLP’s communications director and Chicago program manager, urged listeners to “think before you share.” Hobbs explained how NLP works with educators and journalists to teach students the standards of quality journalism — and how…

A day-long conference on Nov. 6, sponsored by Reuters and the National Association of Media Literacy Education, kicked off Media Literacy Week, an annual celebration of the power of media literacy education and its essential role in education today. As part of the day’s events, NLP’s director of community partnerships and engagement, Damaso Reyes, and…

Author and journalism professor Kim Lisagor Bisheff writes in MediaShift about the importance of teaching students to become responsible news consumers. She recommends the News Literacy Project as a great resource to help them separate good journalism from bad. “‘It’s all fake’ is a refrain we can’t afford to accept — as journalists and as…

She served as an English teacher and as a research assistant at the Center for Applied NonViolent Actions & Strategies in Belgrade, Serbia, and as a project assistant for Sarajevo Open Centre in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Maze also was a deputy editor for Balkanist Magazine and has IT help desk experience. She speaks Spanish, Russian and…

A new report by PEN America — Faking News: Fraudulent News and the Fight for Truth — calls on schools to provide news literacy lessons in the classroom, and on teacher-preparation programs to train educators to teach them. The best way that the general public can be protected from the problems associated with “fake news”…

The Daily Herald, which covers eight suburban Chicago counties, published a column by Jim Baumann, vice president and managing editor, in which he discussed misinformation frequently found online and the tools available to help news consumers become more astute. He listed the News Literacy Project as a resource for both teachers and the general public.…

By Amanda Muntz 2008: I was 10. I looked away from the television, where Fox News was broadcasting the election results. My father shook his head in disbelief. “Well, that’s it, folks. Barack Obama has just been elected the 44th president of the United States of America.” My father, who prides himself on being a…

Today, that time has come. We’re proud to announce that we will be working with NewsCo/Lab, an initiative launched yesterday by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University (ASU). This collaborative lab is aimed at helping the public find new ways of understanding and engaging with news and information.…

Welcome to NLP’s NewsLitCamp, where educators from some of the country’s biggest school districts, including Chicago, New York City and Miami, are getting a first-hand introduction to news literacy, along with tools they can use their classrooms. In these day-long professional development sessions, teachers and librarians at middle schools and high schools visit a news…

Alan C. Miller, the News Literacy Project’s founder and CEO, participated in a panel about fake news and news literacy, hosted by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.    

As flooding from Hurricane Harvey devastated southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, many people shared news online that wasn’t always what it seemed to be. Whether a shark on a freeway or airplanes nearly submerged, some of the images have been shared tens of thousands of times — yet simply aren’t true. Peter Adams, senior vice…

Peter Adams, NLP’s senior vice president for educational programs, shared tips for spotting “fake news” with Glamour’s Kat Brown. “The internet has allowed anyone to create a webpage that appears to contain verified information,” he said. “Give it a name that sounds like news media – a city plus ‘Gazette’ or ‘Times’, for example –…

IVY, which describes itself as “the world’s first social university, created to unite thoughtful individuals through a lifetime of new inspiration and connections,” talks with NLP founder and CEO Alan C. Miller about the work of the News Literacy Project, including the Facebook public service ads aimed at people who share fake news online.

The hour-long sessions cover the basics of news literacy and delve into more complex topics, such as the connection between news literacy and civic involvement. You will come away with fresh ideas, new tools and top-of-the-line resources that will help you integrate news literacy into your lessons and empower your students to become active and…

Lisa Nielsen (a/k/a The Innovative Educator), director of digital engagement and professional development at the New York City Department of Education, attended the News Literacy Project’s Aug. 1 #NewsLitCamp at Time Inc. headquarters. She wrote two blog posts about her experience — one outlining the benefits of the Checkology® virtual classroom (which she said provides “high-quality,…

“Today, misinformation, rumor and spin can overwhelm real news, and the News Literacy Project provides the tools to meet this challenge,” NLP’s founder and CEO, Alan C. Miller, writes in a blog post for the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. In his post, he outlines NLP’s purpose, accomplishments and goals.

Damaso Reyes, who is overseeing NLP’s expansion in Miami, was recently interviewed on Topical Currents, a public affairs program on South Florida’s public radio station, WLRN. He discussed how NLP’s growing presence in Miami is empowering students to resist fake news.

Then, Mitchell recalled some lessons she had learned from the News Literacy Project in her U.S. government class at KIPP DC College Preparatory, and she decided to check the rumors out. What she discovered brought relief to her and her friends: The number of missing youths had actually declined, and most of the young women…

“We were the antidote to fake news long before anybody coined that term,” NLP’s president/CEO tells writer David Frey. The article explores how NLP grew from an idea that hatched during Miller’s visit to a Bethesda middle school to a national nonprofit that today has a potential reach of more than 1 million students worldwide.

The News Literacy Project got a shout-out in a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed by Larry Atkins, a journalism professor at Temple University and Arcadia University. One way to fight fake news, he writes, is including media literacy as a mandatory part of every child’s educational experience.

“I am so honored,” she said after being presented with the award at an NLP dinner in June. “To be selected from among well-deserving colleagues by a respected group of journalists and journalism educators makes this beautiful plaque quite valuable to me.” Named for one of the most revered newspaper editors of his generation, the…

After a “murky” survey made its way across the country, Glendora Meikle of the International Reporting Project analyzed the effects of publishing news items that haven’t been properly vetted. In a piece in Columbia Journalism Review, she highlights NLP’s tips for determining the accuracy of what we’re reading, watching and hearing.

The launch of the News Literacy Project’s Checkology® virtual classroom was “fortuitously timed,” Elia Power of MediaShift writes in a Q&A with Peter Adams, NLP’s senior vice president for educational programs. The two discussed the use of e-learning methods to teach news literacy.    

The News Literacy Project’s Checkology® virtual classroom is being offered this summer to patrons of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. Holly Pretsky of WLRN, Miami’s public radio station, has the details.    

A senior writer at Wired returns to her old high school in Philadelphia, where today’s students are learning how to know what to believe — thanks to the Checkology® virtual classroom. (And the online magazine Ozy included the Wired piece in its Presidential Daily Brief, a daily listing of articles that it considers “important” or “intriguing.”)

In reporter Jim Rutenberg’s story on why fake news dies hard, Alan C. Miller, the News Literacy Project’s president and CEO, explains how organizations such as NLP are responding to viral rumors, hoaxes and conspiracy theories.

In a report on the prevalence of false news pieces about celebrities, NLP President and CEO Alan C. Miller talks with Suzanne Marques, an entertainment reporter at CBS2 in Los Angeles, about the News Literacy Project’s collaboration with Facebook in fighting fake news.

“Paul has been one of NLP’s most engaged and effective journalist fellows since he first volunteered in 2011,” said NLP President Alan C. Miller. “His remarkable dedication to our mission has earned him our heartfelt appreciation and this well-deserved recognition.” The award — named after the revered editor of three U.S. newspapers and the former…

The Columbia Chronicle captured humor writers’ discussions about the hard work behind satire, news and “fake news” in its report on the News Literacy Project’s VIP breakfast at Columbia College Chicago on April 28. “Fake News, Alternative Facts and Microwaves: We’re Just Trying to Keep Up!” featured Chad Nackers, head writer of The Onion, and…

And because of NLP’s latest resource, the Checkology® virtual classroom, Alexander now looks at what she reads a lot more skeptically. She acknowledged that she hadn’t really cared about the news before she participated in the virtual classroom as part of her government class at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. But now, she said, she…

“How ‘News Literacy’ Gets Web Misinformation Wrong” was published last month on Caulfield’s own website and earlier this month on Medium and Observer.com. In it, Caulfield specifically cites our Checkology® virtual classroom, a web-based e-learning platform for educators and students in middle school and high school. We thank Caulfield for his interest in our work and…