These Students are Developing a Nose for (Fake) News

Media literacy fellowship teaches high schoolers to identify bias and untruths

If it’s on the internet, it must be true, right? While most adults know that’s not the case, do children? Turns out, most kids don't, despite having grown up with technology.¹ Over the last decade there has been a drastic increase in the amount of time young people spend with media, so it’s important for them to learn to control the media that surrounds them, rather than letting it control them.

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Learn4Life media influence fellowship teaches students to think critically about the media they consume (Photo: Business Wire)

Learn4Life, a network of public high schools that offer personalized instruction, created a Civic Literacy and Media Influence (CLMI) fellowship program. Working with seasoned media professionals, students develop critical thinking skills about the media and learn how the media shapes our culture and society. The 12-week course focuses on the fundamentals of journalism, editorial narrative, public policy, government and storytelling through experiential, project-based and lecture modules.

Click to Tweet: Teens learn to spot #fakenews and think critically about the media they consume in this fellowship #CivicLiteracy #HighSchoolIntern

“I never understood how intentional media companies are about the information they share,” said Aspen A., who just completed a CLMI fellowship. “They want enticing headlines and stories that captivate audiences. People think that the most important stories are the exciting ones, which isn't the case.”

Aspen learned that 48 percent of adults get their information mostly from social media.² “With a growing intricacy in news consumption, we are now seeing a prevalence of false and deceptive news,” she said. “It is critical that teens learn how to decipher facts from fiction in journalism and advocacy to ensure we are not being persuaded by inaccurate narratives.”

Aurora G. said the CLMI program acquainted her with valuable, reliable research sources. “They encouraged me to search for evidence-based data and less opinionated pieces, while informing me of the danger of misinformation and disinformation easily accessed through popular online search engines,” she explained. “Much of the world has transitioned to online-based information and recordkeeping, but not enough people know how to efficiently use, understand and translate the information handed to them online.”

The field of journalism has declined in recent years and is expected to shrink another nine percent in the next 30 years. The CLMI program at Learn4Life emphasizes the important role journalism plays as a watchdog for the public interest. Fortunately, media literacy programs like this have ignited some students’ interest in pursuing a career in journalism.

Click to Tweet: #DidYouKnow the field of journalism has declined in recent years and is expected to shrink another 9% in the next 30 years? Here is how Learn4Life's CLMI program is helping to address this. #CivicEngagement #CivicLiteracy #HighSchoolIntership

Aspen recalls a challenging assignment to write unbiased posts for the BE Note blog. “When you are passionate about a topic, you want to infuse your writing with your opinions,” she explained. “But the goal of informing people is to report facts without bias. I learned what language to use and to avoid. I now can tell when an article is deliberately leaning toward a certain opinion.”

For more information about Learn4Life’s Civic Literacy and Media Influence program, visit https://learn4life.org/programs/clmi-fellowship/.

About Learn4Life

Learn4Life is a network of nonprofit public high schools that provide students personalized learning, career training and life skills. Each school is locally controlled, tuition free and gives students the flexibility and one-on-one attention they need to succeed. Serving more than 53,000 students – including full-time and intersession students – we help them prepare for a future beyond high school. For more information, please visit www.learn4life.org.

¹ https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/raise-a-source-savvy-kid-in-the-age-of-fake-news-and-internet-hoaxes/

² https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2021/09/20/news-consumption-across-social-media-in-2021/

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