News Literacy Matters
News Literacy Website and class
Recent group activity
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Coralie Carlson edited the blog post Q: What can we do when in a face-to-face conflict with someone who believes in a conspiracy theory? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 3 months ago
A:
Chances are we all know someone – a family member, a friend, a classmate, or a co-worker – who believes in conspiracy theories. In fact, more than half of Americans believe in at least one conspiracy the […]
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Jeanie Ahn (she/her) edited the blog post Q: Are well-established news sites always trustworthy? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 3 months ago
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With any human endeavor, there’s potential for error. While it is the responsibility of journalists and news organizations to deliver accurate and fair reporting, consumers should never assume that e […]
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David G Alm edited the blog post Q: What is the difference between news and truth? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 3 months ago
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Men were dying. Homeless, indigent, alone, often asleep on city streets or in subway cars. No one knew when the next death might occur. The locations were adding up, too: Washington, then New York. Was […]
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Uku J joined the group
News Literacy Matters 3 months, 1 week ago
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: Why don’t journalists just stick to the facts? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 3 months, 1 week ago
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Journalists get this question—or lament—all the time from people who think the news offers too much opinion and not enough fact. More than two-thirds of Americans say they see too much opinion and bias in […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: Is the personalization of news inherently bad? If so, how do we combat it? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 3 months, 3 weeks ago
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The personalization of news is a permanent feature of our information ecosystem that comes with some benefits and many challenges. News consumers are often overwhelmed by the amount of news they’re e […]
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David G Alm commented on the post, Q: It’s said that newsrooms do not reflect the racial makeup of the country, but census data contradicts that claim. What gives?, on the groupblog
News Literacy Matters 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Hi Neil, thanks for commenting and for the excellent question. I’ve revised the post a bit to reflect the issue you raise, which I also encountered in my research. Take a look and let us know if that helps. It […]
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David G Alm edited the blog post Q: It’s said that newsrooms do not reflect the racial makeup of the country, but census data contradicts that claim. What gives? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 3 months, 4 weeks ago
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This is an excellent question and a tough one to answer. According to the Pew Research Center, newsrooms are 77 percent white, which seems disproportionate at first glance. But according to 2020 census […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: What is being done to protect journalists? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 4 months, 1 week ago
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Not enough. Journalists around the world are targets of both real and online attacks, and impunity for these crimes is on the rise.
Look no further than Ukraine to see journalists risking their lives to […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: What’s behind truth decay and how can we stop it? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 4 months, 2 weeks ago
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Public trust in facts has been on the decline for about two decades, and it’s taken a toll. Americans no longer agree on a common set of facts. Many can’t tell the difference between a fact and an o […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post A Thousand Cuts: The Erosion of Press Freedom Around the World in the group
News Literacy Matters: 6 months ago
It is time to sound the alarm.
Press freedom is under attack by a thousand cuts – and not just in the usual countries known for their media censorship.
The World Press Freedom Index is down again this y […]
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Sissel McCarthy wrote a new blog post A Career in Journalism is still a Worthy Calling in the group
News Literacy Matters: 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Distinguished Lecturer Sissel McCarthy talks about her transition from the newsroom to the classroom, anonymous sources and why a career in journalism is still a worthy calling in this interview with […]
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Sissel McCarthy commented on the post, Q: How do news organizations handle citizen journalists?, on the groupblog
News Literacy Matters 11 months ago
Hi Frank. Citizen journalists are not employed by news organizations, so they are not insured.
Thanks for your question. SM -
Sissel McCarthy commented on the post, Q: What does ‘If it bleeds, it leads’ mean?, on the groupblog
News Literacy Matters 11 months, 1 week ago
Thanks for spotting that! Fixing now… SM
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: Can we trust a story with anonymous sources? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 1 year, 2 months ago
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The short answer is, it depends. A reporter who uses anonymous sources has a much heavier lift when it comes to establishing a story’s credibility. All reporters would prefer to use named sources in their s […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post The Case for Radical Transparency in the group
News Literacy Matters: 1 year, 3 months ago
Although transparency has long been a fundamental principle of journalism, the need for a more expansive interpretation of this practice has never been greater. Record low levels of trust in the news media, […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: What’s the problem with native advertising? Should news outlets limit this content? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 1 year, 3 months ago
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One of the biggest challenges news consumers face today is distinguishing news from other media that does not embody journalism’s three defining attributes: Verification, independence and accountability. […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: How can the news media rebuild trust with the public? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 1 year, 3 months ago
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Trust in the news media is in short supply these days. According to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer shared with Axios, confidence in news sources around the world has fallen sharply. The poll conducted in […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: What will happen to Section 230 under the Biden administration? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 1 year, 4 months ago
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Section 230 doesn’t have many admirers in Washington, D.C., and the need to change it may be one of the few things President Biden and former President Trump agree on—albeit for very different r […]
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Sissel McCarthy edited the blog post Q: Are there more conspiracy theories now than ever? What’s the best way to disprove conspiracy theories? in the group
News Literacy Matters: 1 year, 4 months ago
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Conspiracy theories are nothing new. The oldest ones date back to Roman times and have circulated in varying degrees ever since. From the belief that the Earth is flat or that the CIA assassinated JFK […]
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