NewsLiteracyPlaybook - Flipbook - Page 5
Foreword
5
Foreword
The worldwide pandemic of misinformation and
disinformation is, to be blunt, a global public
health crisis.
We have seen it play out with deadly consequences
in India and Myanmar. We have seen it manifested
in the 2016 presidential election in the United
States and in elections in the former Soviet
republics, Western Europe and Brazil. And we have
seen it in the growing international demand for our
Checkology® virtual classroom.
To help stem the spread of this virus, we have put
together what we are calling a “global playbook.”
Our hope is that our experiences in the field of news
literacy — and the lessons we have learned — will
be useful to you as you introduce or expand news
literacy programs in your community and country.
I started the News Literacy Project in 2008 for
two reasons. I was concerned about the large
quantities of misleading (and often outright false)
information that my daughter, then a teenager, was
finding online. And as a reporter for the Los Angeles
Times, I was caught up in the wrenching change
that the newspaper industry was experiencing —
and feared that unless young people developed
an understanding of, and appreciation for, quality
journalism, deep and accurate reporting would be
overtaken by rumor, spin, propaganda, hoaxes and
other falsehoods. Over time, we have discovered that
these issues are not simply local or national — they
are found in every country around the world.
We do recognize the limitations of this guide. The
News Literacy Project is based in the United States,
and our curriculum and resources — which include
The Sift, our weekly newsletter for educators, and the
tools on our website, newslit.org — were designed
for a U.S. audience. We realize that social, political,
educational and cultural challenges differ from
country to country — so we hope that you will use this
guide by adapting what is relevant and useful to your
situation.
To be honest, we were surprised by the international
reach of our programs. With no marketing efforts
outside the United States, the first version of
Checkology, launched in May 2016, attracted
registrations from teachers in 93 countries — and
Alan Miller, the founder of the News Literacy Project, discusses his Pulitzer Prize-winning series, “The Vertical Vision,” during a visit to
Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, in October 2015.