The News Literacy Project holds its 2011 Fall Forum event on Oct. 19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 14, 2011

Contact:

Maureen Freeman
[email protected]

Josh Wozman, 202-530-4608
[email protected]

Columnists David Brooks of The New York Times and E.J. Dionne Jr. of The Washington Post will be the featured speakers at the News Literacy Project’s second annual Fall Forum, a series focusing on politics, public policy and the press.

The program begins at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Walt Whitman High School, 7100 Whittier Blvd., Bethesda, Maryland.

Brooks and Dionne will discuss “Demosclerosis: The Challenge of Moving America Forward in a Hyper-Partisan Age.” Jessica Yellin, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, will be the moderator of the event.

The News Literacy Project initiated the Fall Forum at Whitman in 2010 with three events featuring prominent journalists and other public figures. The Washington Post, The New York Times and CNN are among 20 news organizations that are participating in the project, which is active at Whitman, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., as well as schools in New York City and Chicago.

The Washington Post and Qualcomm Incorporated are the sponsors of this year’s event. Qualcomm, the world leader in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies, is also the lead sponsor of the project’s programs in Washington and Bethesda. Qualcomm believes that mobile technology provides an opportunity to improve and transform the educational experience of students worldwide.

Brooks has been an op-ed columnist for The New York Times since 2003. He is also a commentator on PBS NewsHour and makes frequent appearances on NPR and other broadcast outlets. His most recent book is The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement (2011).

Dionne is a columnist at The Washington Post, where he writes about national policy and politics. A frequent commentator on NPR, MSNBC and other broadcast outlets, he is also a professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Dionne joined the Post as a political reporter in 1990.

Yellin is CNN’s chief White House correspondent, a position she has held since June 2011. She joined CNN as a Capitol Hill reporter in August 2007 and in January 2009 was named a national political correspondent, reporting on politics, policy and culture for programs that included The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and John King USA.

The News Literacy Project, which is based in Bethesda, brings seasoned journalists into middle school and high school classrooms, where they give students the critical-thinking tools to appreciate the value of quality news coverage and to encourage them to consume and create credible information across all media and platforms.

The project is headed by Alan C. Miller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former reporter with the Los Angeles Times. The board is chaired by John S. Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun. Leslie Hill, a former member of the Dow Jones board, is the vice chair.

The News Literacy Project is working with at least 35 English, government, history and humanities teachers to reach more than 2,000 students. It is in its fourth year at Whitman and its second year at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.

More than 185 journalists are listed in its online directory, including broadcast correspondents, authors of best-selling books and winners of journalism’s highest honors. Since 2009, nearly 100 journalist fellows have made more than 250 presentations in classrooms, conferences, workshops and other programs.

The Charles H. Revson Foundation and the McCormick Foundation are the project’s largest funders. For more information about the News Literacy Project, go to www.thenewsliteracyproject.org.

Tickets for the event are $15 (adults) or $10 (senior citizens and middle school, high school and college students). They can be purchased in advance at www.thenewsliteracyproject.org. Tickets will also be available at the box office, starting at 6:30 p.m., the night of the event.

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