Today is the launch of the first-ever National News Literacy Week. News consumers these days can find it difficult to determine what is credible information. A reason our parent company, E. W. Scripps has partnered with the non-profit, News Literacy Project. That project includes working with high school students to teach this essential life skill. KGUN 9 has partnered with the Sunnyside High School journalism class. I worked with students over the past few weeks to produce a news story on this topic.
Take a look at their work.
~Valerie Cavazos
“Guys, don’t forget, it’s very important that you know who the source is and where this information is coming from," said Sunnyside HS journalism teacher Nick Duddleston to his class.
High School can be difficult for students. Tests, homework, scholarship applications. There can be a lot to worry about. One thing students should worry about is where they’re getting their news.”
“When I wake up the first thing that I do is check my Twitter to see what’s happening," said student Oksana Giron.
“I usually go on Snapchat and look at the news app," said student Jesus Martinez.
A survey on commensensemedia.org found that more than half of teens, 54%, get their news from social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The same survey said that students who get their news from reliable news sources trust the news more than those who get their news from social media sites. As of March 2018 about 52% of Americans felt that online news websites regularly report fake news.
Students were asked what they know about false information.
“I know that false information is really easy to spread and I know that it can get out of hand sometimes,” student Jose Miguel Mendivil.
“I usually trust google. Sometimes I use Twitter, only if it's credible, and only if it goes back to history," said student Gabriel Palacios.
Statisa.com reports that the main traffic source for false information online is social media websites.
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The following Blue Devil News reporters contributed to this story.
Josue Ramirez
Jayleen Carbajal
Oksana Giron
Antonio Levario
Michael Villasana
Adriana Banuelos-Villalobos
Anthony "Guero" Galvez
Geovani Martinez Avitia
Damian Hathaway
Jesus Martinez
Gabriel Palacios
Jose Miguel Mendivil
RELATED
- Working in our communities to stop the spread of misinformation
- Scripps, News Literacy Project kick off public awareness campaign in lead-up to National News Literacy Week
- Scripps, News Literacy Project join forces to promote news literacy education
We’re very proud of these awesome students. 6:00pm on Channel 9 tonight. Check it out! Go Blue Devils!! Go BDN!! #bdn #bluedevilnews pic.twitter.com/wDsZuimdwl
— Blue Devil News 28 (@bdn28) January 27, 2020
