Here’s an experiment — I’m going to type a phrase and I want you to ask yourself if you’re going to consider skipping the rest of this section. Ready?
Media literacy.
I know. It’s not as exciting as if I’d typed “free pizza for life” or “permanent upgrade to first class.” This week is U.S. Media Literacy Week, and those of us with a hand in the media literacy world wish we had a more seductive name for this very important stuff.
For those who celebrate, we here at Poynter (MediaWise, PolitiFact and the International Fact-Checking Network) applaud your decision and offer these resources.
- Teenagers and Misinformation: Some Starting Points for Teaching Media Literacy (New York Times)
- Media literacy masterclass with MediaWise Campus Correspondents (MediaWise)
- 5 media literacy tips to avoid election misinformation, from Carl Azuz and Hasley Pitman (Poynter)
There are plenty of unsexy things that are still good for your health like raw broccoli, getting in 10,000 steps, and wearing a mask on a five-hour flight (can you tell I’m writing this in an airplane?).
Ahead of the Nov. 8 midterms, consider preaching the gospel of media literacy to your students, won’t you? Thank you, amen, and be kind to the flight attendants in your life.
ICYMI
I’ll actually be on campus this week when “Penn State to Host Proud Boys Founder” (Inside Higher Ed). The student paper and local paper have more. Poynter is doing some training there with the fine students and faculty of the Bellisario College of Communications, and my colleague Al Tompkins is delivering the keynote, “Fighting Truth Decay: How and Why Fakers Fake” at about the same time. I suspect his presentation will be better. I’ll let you know how it goes next week.
There’s a nationwide Adderall shortage. My mind goes not just to legal use but illegal use by college students. It sure would be an edgy story to poke around at this.
Penn students claim university ‘campaign of intimidation’ as they face disciplinary hearings for protests (Philadelphia Inquirer)
A Playbook for Knocking Down Higher Ed| A decade ago, Wisconsin’s governor made college a wedge issue. Now his approach has gone national. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Student journalism scoop! “LSU building renaming committee quietly disbanded in December 2021” (The Reveille, Louisiana State University)
The University of Maryland continues to wow me: “Board of Education Voter Guide” (Capital News Service)
Great journalism to share with your students
- Afghan couple accuse US Marine of abducting their baby (AP
- After Surviving a High School Shooting, He Was ‘An Empty Shell. No Emotion.’ Now What? (Sports Illustrated)
One last thing
May you also have a friend who would not leave you during a bear attack. God bless the bonds of college students.
Resources for educators
- Help your students fill their news feeds with facts with the latest course from MediaWise’s Campus Correspondents. They can sign up for free.
- Subscribe to The Collective — Poynter’s monthly newsletter for journalists of color by journalists of color.
- Get access to a growing library of case studies — Professor’s Press Pass.
- Honor free press, democracy and the distinguished careers of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein at Poynter’s Bowtie Ball. The duo will receive the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism with Carl Bernstein accepting the honor in-person on Nov. 12, 2022, in Tampa, Florida. Get tickets.
