The Chicago Tribune joins the News Literacy Project as NLP launches a Chicago pilot
The Chicago Tribune has joined the News Literacy Project as a participating news organization, becoming the first Midwestern news organization to enlist in the effort to help middle school and high school students become smarter and more frequent consumers and creators of credible information.
It does so as the national program plans to launch a pilot project this fall in Chicago.
“The Chicago Tribune is pleased to partner with the News Literacy Project and looks forward to helping the students and teachers at the participating schools,’’ said Gerould W. Kern, editor of the Tribune. “The mission of the News Literacy Project complements the aims of our newsroom and the volunteer work already being done by many on our staff.”
NLP has received grants from the McCormick Foundation and the Tribune Foundation to expand to Chicago this fall. It is partnering there with LISC/Chicago, which is part of a national organization that provides capital and other resources to support the comprehensive development of healthy, stable neighborhoods.
The Chicago pilot will be based at Marquette Elementary School, one of five public middle schools in which LISC is working to create new opportunities for students. Marquette, located on Chicago’s southwest side, prides itself on an interdisciplinary approach to learning that encourages critical thinking. It is an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme school as well.
“We are very excited to be a participant in the News Literacy Project,’’ said Marquette Principal Paul O’Toole. “Today’s students need to be able to not only discern fact from fiction, but also news from blogs and facts from opinion. Students are savvy about how to access today’s technological media, but not savvy enough to interpret the plethora of information that these media convey.”
