The Latest
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Jeopardy-style game activity
by Michael Johnson Following the How to Spot Fake News lesson or Satire’s role in Current Events lesson (or perhaps even on its own or before the lesson), urge students to download the Jeopardy-style game to see how they really do in identifying fake news. There are three predominant types of news in our world…
Spin and how it works
by Michael Johnson Title Spin and how it works Description In this lesson, students pick up where they left off in propaganda techniques as well as the concept of “spin” and discuss how politicians use these techniques to sway public opinion. Students will identify propaganda used in past and current ads and create their own…
Free expression and your school
by Lori Keekley Title Free expression and your school Description In this noncontinuous lesson, students will localize the 2016 Gallup survey “Free Expression on Campus: A Survey of U.S. College Students and U.S. Adults.” Students will use their technical writing skills to craft the directions (teachers and students), questions similar to the Gallup questions, and…
Satire is hard
by Jeff Kocur Title Satire is hard Description Students are funny. Students are smart. But are they smart enough to be funny with satire in a way that advances the journalistic goals of the publication? Can they do it without violating the SPJ ethical guidelines or their own publications’ ethical guidelines? Use this lesson to…
News v. public relations
by Kristin Taylor Title News vs. Public Relations Description The community gets information about what is happening at school through different publications, but not all of these publications are journalistic. In this lesson, students will differentiate between student reporting and school public relations by comparing and contrasting student publications with school public relations content such…
Fake news in an ever-changing media environment
by Jeff Kocur Title Fake news in an ever-changing media environment Description In the 21st century, we choose the media sources we consume in an increasingly passive manner. Stories show up in our news feeds and social media feeds, or in forwarded emails; often we don’t know the sources, or the sources look familiar, but…
How to spot fake news
by Michael Johnson Title How to spot fake news Description There has been a lot of talk lately about “fake news” because it has been particularly prevalent during the recent 2016 Presidential election campaign. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 62 percent of Americans get their news from social media sites and 44…
Tips for training ethical reporters
by Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE What’s the best advice you can give your beginning reporters? What’s going to help them enjoy what they are doing because they’re doing it well? Columbia Journalism Review had an outstanding article in mid-August by Adeshina Emmanuel and Justin Ray. “Top journalists reveal the best reporting advice they have received,”…
Prior review v. prior restraint: Quick Tip2
In brief, the Journalism Education Association has found prior review has no educational value. Instead, JEA believes it is simply the first step toward censorship and fake news. Prior review also contributes to self-censorship and lack of trust between students, advisers and administrators. Prior review conflicts with JEA’s adviser code of ethics. Prior review occurs…
How people interpret the news
and why it matters
by Maggie Cogar Title How people interpret the news and why it matters Description Why, and how, can two people be exposed to the exact same news story and interpret it differently? Why should this matter to journalists? People interpret the news differently depending on their cognitive schematic structure, or prior experiences. It’s important for…
Introducing Tools of Truth package
focusing on preventing fake news
To introduce the SPRC’s new Tools of Truth package that examines approaches to cope with fake news, please go here for a sample lesson. The package consists of more than 20 lessons on dealing with fake news in four categories: censorship, satire, sloppy reporting and deceptive news. This lesson on “How people interpret the news…
The importance of an independent and active press
by Matthew Smith Title The importance of an independent and active press Description Having a press that is independent and active enough to hold the government accountable has long been considered important for the proper functioning of a democracy. In fact, although the benefits of an active, adversarial press has come under fire, recently, many…