Organizations from around the city convened at the Harold Washington College on March 19, 2014, to kick off the second year of the McCormick Foundation’s Why News Matters grant initiative.

 

Earlier this year, the Foundation announced more than $2 million in grants in support of news literacy education and training.

The convening, led by Education Development Center, encouraged groups to shared program goals and upcoming milestones toward the goal of creating a more civically engaged and news literate Chicago. “News literacy training needs to be more relevant to target audiences,” says Clark Bell, Journalism Program Director at the McCormick Foundation. “It needs a much broader definition, especially to students,” he says.

Rising to the audience engagement challenge this year are a cohort of new grantees, including Big Shoulders Fund, Columbia College Convergence Academies, Chicago Public Library, Mikva Challenge, Westside Writing Project and Youth Guidance.

The WNM team spoke with a few program leaders who shared tips on news literacy training and education and what’s in store for 2014 programming:

Find a news literacy program near you

Whether you’re a student, educator, journalist or parent, there are plenty of events, trainings and programs that will suit your interests and needs. Browse news literacy programs now.

Categories: Good to Know, News & Updates, Program Updates