NLP Annual Report FY23 - Report - Page 3
Dear Friends of NLP,
As we’ve seen in recent years, the continued decline of local
journalism, the rise of conspiratorial thinking around a wide variety
of subjects, and persistent efforts to sow distrust regarding
the 2020 election results have created an increasingly urgent
threat to the country’s public life. Now, arti昀椀cial intelligence
looms as the latest challenge to knowing what to trust.
At a time when mis- and
disinformation can cause harm on
a scale previously unimaginable,
news literacy empowers people with
the skills to navigate our complex
information landscape, mitigating
the detrimental effects of falsehoods
about public health, democracy,
social cohesion, economics, climate
change and more. By elevating
news literacy as an essential skill
for all, we not only protect the rights
and well-being of individuals — we
also safeguard the fundamental
values that underpin society.
As we aim to build a national
movement for a more news-literate
country, we are especially proud of
our accomplishments this past year.
With your support, 13,450 educators
in all 50 states used our news
literacy resources, reaching an
estimated 2 million students.
More than 34,000 people attended
our live news literacy community
learning events throughout the
year, and we drew more than
8,000 educators to educatorspeci昀椀c events and trainings.
In October 2022, we launched
RumorGuard™, an interactive
website that fact-checks the latest
rumors and provides concrete tips
for building the news literacy skills
necessary to con昀椀dently evaluate
online content. The public also can
sign up to receive RumorGuard
alerts to help push back against
misinformation. In its 昀椀rst nine
months, the website had more
2022 –
2023
than 390,000 unique visitors, more
than double our expectations.
Our newest Checkology® virtual
classroom lesson, “Harm & Distrust,”
explores how mainstream news
coverage of marginalized groups has
historically done signi昀椀cant harm,
resulting in legacies of mistrust that
persist today. Using coverage of
Black Americans as a case history,
we explore the larger topic and
bring it into focus for students. The
lesson explains what aspects of the
practice of journalism require trust,
details the harmful coverage of Black
Americans throughout history, and
highlights the role of the Black press.
Even as it draws attention to these
challenges, “Harm & Distrust” clearly
acknowledges the demonstrable
progress that has been made in
newsrooms across the country.
We hope you feel pride as you read
these accomplishments and take
heart in the growing community
of people using our news literacy
resources. Thank you for being a
champion of NLP, and we hope you
will continue to share our resources
with your family and friends as we
pursue a more civically engaged,
information-savvy America.
“ Thank you
for being
a champion
of NLP ... ”
Greg McCaffery
BOARD CHAIR
Sincerely yours,
Greg McCaffery
Chuck Salter
Chuck Salter
PRESIDENT AND CEO
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