Baruch College of the City University of New York
Nov. 12, 2010
Where are students going for their news information? How do they filter and evalute the news information that comes to them via Facebook, MySpace, broadcast media and other platforms? What is their personal role in staying informed on matters of public concern? What is the value of high-quality, independently reported news information? Why is an independent press essential for any free society? What is the role of the press and the public in holding public officials accountable?
Students need to be empowered to become critical consumers of news information so they’re not duped by propaganda, misinformation, marketing spin, and poor-quality information, can find AND share high-quality information, and can be informed participants in society. They need to learn how to assess the information that comes to them and how to go out and seek and verify news information. As members of a public that increasingly contributes to the news information available online, they also need to learn how to be credible contributors of news content.
On November 12, 2010, classes from ten New York City public high schools, along with teachers, administrators, journalists and journalism educators from around the country, will convene at Baruch College in Manhattan. There, the approximately 300 attendees and educators will participate in an all-day series of meetings, panel discussions and events aimed to raise the profile of news literacy education and help provide students with knowledge and tools that can help them to become better informed citizens.
Baruch College’s Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions is working in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center, Stony Brook’s Center for News Literacy, Alan Miller and The News Literacy Project, and Juana Ponce de Leon and the New York Community Media Alliance to create this event, which is possible because of the generous support of the McCormick Foundation.
Participating Organizations:
Baruch College
Pulitzer Center
Stony Brook’s Center for News Literacy
The News Literacy Project
New York Community Media Alliance
McCormick Foundation
The Harnisch Family Philanthropies
Participating High Schools:
Bronx Academy of Letters
Curtis High School (Staten Island)
Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (Queens)
GED Plus Tenzer Learning Center (Manhattan)
Herbert H. Lehman High School (Bronx)
New York City Lab School (Manhattan)
Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
Townsend Harris High School (Queens)
