Teaching News and Media Literacy in an Election Year
Navigating the news and media landscape can be challenging – especially in an election year. From wall-to-wall campaign coverage to attack ads and stump speeches, there’s a lot to process – especially for students. Political schemes like October surprises have been around for a long time, but young people might not understand them. And in the digital world, things get even thornier and more complex, with everything from social media bots to deepfake videos, data voids, and viral memes (just to name a few).
These news and media literacy challenges are important topics for students to consider. Young people are curious about what they’re seeing and hearing online and in the news. They bring this curiosity into the classroom – and eventually the voting booth. Nevertheless, many teachers find it challenging to discuss the news and current events topics with their students. So, how can we help students explore these issues?
photo credit: Darron Birgenheier and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0