Some 30 educators, students, journalists, policymakers and funders met in July at Washington D.C., during American Society of News Editor’s annual conference to start planning for a 2014 national News Literacy Summit.

A hot topic of discussion was how to better engage teens in news literacy. Part of the challenge is that some students simply don’t understand that the core of news literacy is verifying the credibility of information.

Michelle Chavez, a recent graduate of Montgomery Clair High School in Silver Spring, MD, recommended that teachers connect with students “where they are.”

Watch a video of Chavez discussing her idea.

 

Later that day, during a speech at the ASNE meeting Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gave a shout out to Robert R. McCormick Foundation’s journalism program for its efforts in news literacy. . 

“The work you are doing to help the next generation become more sophisticated in understanding the news is absolutely vital. To have full power over their lives, young people must understand the world they live in.  They have to read, they have to follow the news and they have to vote,” Sec. Duncan said in a July 25 speech at the ASNE annual meeting in Washington.

After Sec. Duncan’s remarks, McCormick Why News Matters grantees Brenda Butler (Columbia Links), Alan Miller (News Literacy Project) and Dean Miller (Center for News Literacy) participated in an ASNE education panel on the importance of audience development.