Fight fake news, boost media literacy with education

In this era of fake news, covfefe, and biased advocacy journalism outlets like MSNBC and Fox News, how can news consumers surf through this wave of information that bombards us daily?

This month, the Newseum in Washington is hosting a three-day seminar on media literacy for teachers. The News Literacy Project works with teachers and journalists to teach middle school and high school students to be better informed news consumers.

A growing number of universities are dedicating themselves to the cause.

The State University of New York at Stony Brook created the Center for News Literacy in 2006. It developed curricula for high schools and the public, started a high school teacher training program, and organizes national conferences on news literacy. After summer training sessions at Stony Brook, the principal and staff at a Coney Island public middle school implemented a program to encourage students to become smarter readers and news analysts. Elements of Stony Brook’s courses have spread to dozens of campuses in America and overseas.

According to NAMLE, other schools with media literacy programs include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas, University of California at Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, Temple University, University of Massachusetts and New York University.

Media literacy provides skills essential for an educated society, and serves as a life raft to save us from drowning in a vast sea of competing ideas. Now people must become aware of the concept and demand that schools teach their children well on this topic. The media should also promote media literacy education and its importance so that people don’t respond with shrugs and have blank stares when they hear the term.