The News Literacy Project

Darragh Worland is a media literacy educator with the News Literacy Project. I absolutely loved hearing about the programs they run. One program I wish existed in the workplace (for adults!) asks students to report on a piece of information they came across that week; they present it to the class, and as a group assess its validity. The other initiative, “Is this Legit?”, has teens posting videos of themselves fact-checking news they’ve seen on social media.

So much of her commentary resonated with me, including the importance of being reflective about who we let influence us and why. Towards the end of the podcast, she talks about the Australian social media ban. While she understands the concerns behind it, she doesn’t think banning is the right approach, I agree. Scaring parents (or teens) won’t help; instead, she proposes starting as a family by reflecting on what a healthy relationship with media and technology looks like.

The podcast is well worth a listen:

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/news-club/id1477008816?i=1000721704616

And here’s an example of the News Literacy Project’s fact-checking/video program: https://www.poynter.org/tfcn/202