by Chloe Patricof and Anabella Paige | 5 May 2022 | Contest winners, Educators' Catalog, Hewitt, Journalism, Media Literacy, Podcasts, Student Posts, Youth Voices
The world is awash in misinformation. But can we rein it in without eroding free speech? Our podcast explores this thorny issue facing our societies. News Decoder · Let's Talk About It This story won second prize in News Decoder’s 12th Storytelling...
Many young people find it difficult to write. They can struggle to convey their thoughts and can get bogged down in convoluted sentences. Our recommendation is to write as though you are explaining an issue to your family over dinner – to keep it simple. That’s one reason a podcast can offer a more natural way to examine an issue, even one as thorny as free speech. In their engaging podcast, Chloe Patricof and Anabella Paige of The Hewitt School speak naturally about a tough topic – misinformation – and turn to the managing editor of a U.S. media company to explore whether government regulation is an answer. Such a conversation can be an alluring way to delve into a knotty issue.
Exercise: Have your students pair up and record a conversation about a polarizing issue in their community, making sure to try to convey the views of all legitimate sides.
by Jeremy Solomons | 8 Apr 2022 | Africa, Journalism, Media Literacy
While around the world misinformation and lies abound, in Africa, stories transmit morals, acceptable behavior and universal truths. “Anansi the Spider” by Annie Wong (Headexplodie), courtesy of Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. In a time of widespread...
by Aralynn Abare McMane | 25 Feb 2022 | Journalism, Media Literacy, Ukraine, Youth Voices
Editors around the world explain how they’re helping kids to understand and cope with the news as Russia invades Ukraine. From News-O-Matic, by a reader named Derin A week before Russia invaded Ukraine, editor Joyce Grant at Canada’s Teaching Kids News conducted...
by Leila Roker | 17 Sep 2021 | Contests, Human Rights, Media Literacy, News Decoder Updates
Innovative educators from Bolivia, the U.S. and Nigeria have won awards for teaching why news matters and about threats to journalists. An international jury has singled out educators in Bolivia, the U.S. and Nigeria for innovative teaching about why democratic...
by Nolwazi Mjwara | 6 Jul 2021 | Contests, Educators' Catalog, Media Literacy, News Decoder Updates, Youth Voices
A News Decoder partner has awarded top prizes to news organizations in five countries for innovative reporting on COVID-19 for kids. News organizations in Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore and the United States have won top global reporting prizes for their...
After more than a year of COVID-19 reporting, it can be hard to find a fresh perspective on the pandemic, especially for children. But the gold-medal winners of the Global Youth and News Media Prize for pandemic reporting did just that. In an interview with the prize’s director, Aralynn McMane, News Decoder Board member Nolwazi Mjwara of UNESCO learns more about the innovative strategies taken by the winning news organizations to engage children in the storytelling process and support their mental health. Winning strategies included creating interactive games, dispatching youth correspondents to cover the pandemic and hosting a virtual art exhibition.
Exercise: How might you adopt some of these reporting practices in your own classrooms? Have your students create a game for kids to learn about issues in the news in a fun, positive way.
by Aralynn Abare McMane | 28 Apr 2021 | Journalism, Media Literacy, News Decoder Updates, Politics
Thirty years after a landmark declaration of press freedom principles, journalists face threats that jeopardize democratic institutions around the world. Committee to Protect Journalists The international community salutes World Press Freedom Day on May 3 with...
by Nelson Graves | 1 Mar 2021 | Health and Wellness, Media Literacy, News Decoder Updates
Two new global prizes will honor news producers who help youth understand COVID-19 and teachers who help students learn about press freedom. Artwork by newsomatic/emma A French not-for-profit that is supported by News Decoder is seeking candidates for two new global...
by Christina MacCorkle | 26 Jan 2021 | Asia, Contest winners, Contests, Media Literacy, Politics, Student Posts, Thacher School, Youth Voices
A pro-democracy movement in South Korea offers lessons to two U.S. social movements — against police brutality and for a defeated ex-president. Black Lives Matter protesters hold their phones aloft in Portland, Oregon, 20 July 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) This story...
Sociologists are the first to admit they are apt to speak their own tongue, so reporting on sociological research can tie even experienced reporters in knots. And high school students are not always interested in events of half a century ago. So it’s a rare pleasure when a student connects a pro-democracy movement in South Korea during the 1960s and ‘70s with social movements in the United States today, and renders sociology understandable to the untrained ear in the process. Christina MacCorkle of The Thacher School takes academic research about a country far from her school’s California campus and connects it to current events in the U.S., using simple language to convey complex academic arguments. Many students are trained to write academic essays, but MacCorkle enlightens those of us outside of academia.
by Stuart Grudgings | 18 Jan 2021 | Educators' Catalog, Journalism, Media Literacy, Technology
Fake news is already eroding our shared sense of reality. Now, deepfakes and AI stand to fuel disinformation and imperil democracy. An image of a deepfake video of former U.S. President Barack Obama (AP Photo) The unprecedented mob assault on the U.S. Capitol on...
Technology permeates students’ lives and has contributed many economic benefits to the world while bringing far-flung communities closer together. But what of the downsides? The polarization of society? The dangers of spending too much time on social media? Citizens being hoodwinked into believing the unreal? One of the biggest questions facing policymakers around the world today is how to protect democracy without infringing on free speech. It’s a question that is not going to go away and which students would do well to start considering today. In this article, Stuart Grudgings introduces us to some of the disturbing possibilities of deep fake technology and begs the question of what to do about it.
by Bryson Hull | 16 Dec 2020 | Human Rights, Journalism, Media Literacy, Personal Reflections, Politics
Journalists and NGOs often rely on each other to inform the world. But beware vested interests. It’s best to follow the money trail to see the full picture. A sign that counter-protesters lit on fire burns after supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump held...