Archived: Election 2016: News Literacy

This lesson, from Canada's Media Smarts, introduces students to the concept of bias or slant, in newspapers and in television newscasts. Students begin by comparing three newspaper articles about the same news event - each reported from a different perspective. They then explore the role the gatekeeper, or editor, in determining the slant of a story and analyze the titles of newspaper stories for slant or bias. Once students have looked at newspapers, they will use viewing logs to analyse television newscasts from two different television stations. These newscasts will be analysed based on language usage, story selection and story order. (High school)

The article presents a guide to understanding the bias of a publication. From EBSCO's Point of View Reference Center.

The article provides advice on judging the difference between fact and opinion. From EBSCO's Point of View Reference Center.

Resource by U of Mich students who believe "the art of reading the news is being able to carefully scrutinize what you see, asking yourself where the information is coming from, why it's presented in the given format, and how this affects your perception of the actual event. ...The art of reading the news is about taking everything with a grain of salt, and asking yourself the important question of "What in this piece might be biased?"

FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

This resource, from the website PolitiFact.com, reviews statements made and gauges the amount of truth to them--there is a range of truth possible and detailed explanations are given.

This publication, produced by the Interfaith Alliance and Religious Freedom Project of the First Amendment Center, provides answers to frequently asked questions about religious freedom and American Muslims and is provided on the Teaching Tolerance website.

You can use this handout from Teaching Tolerance to engage students in critical literacy before, during and after reading historical sources. This handout encourages students to engage actively with texts, to interpret messages and challenge power relationships found within those messages, and to analyze social norms and institutions (e.g. family, education).

Resources from Canada's Media Smarts that include professional development, lesson plans, and background articles.

What is “truth?” And will we know it when we see it? Deciphering credible, accurate information from an abundance of perspectives is harder today than ever before. These lesson plans, developed by Megan Fromm and made possible through a grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, will help you discover how teaching news literacy in your program develops critical minds, encourages active citizenship, meets Common Core state standards, and strengthens your publications’ public reputation and perception. From the Journalism Education Association.

MediaSmarts’ resource, (a lesson for Grades 8-12), shines a light on how the different aspects of an election – from the debates to political ads to the candidates themselves – are actually media products.

Justin P. McBrayer, an assistant professor of philosophy at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, posted a thought-provoking op-ed on The New York Times’ “Opinionator” blog in which he argues that today’s students “view moral claims as mere opinions that are not true or are true only relative to a culture.”