我们经常谈论千禧一代作为数字原住民,以及这对接触这一代有影响力的人意味着什么。 当然,互联网的普及带来了公民新闻的兴起,这是一场既有力量又有问题的运动。 I’m afraid elementary school students 今天 are growing up with no common definition of “truth” and news literacy will suffer if we don’t act.
我是第一个承认新闻业和记者并不完美的人。 在我就读新闻学院的那段时间里,客观性的定义一直是一个热门话题。 记者有时会犯错误,在极少数情况下,在做出编辑决定时判断力不佳。 也就是说,不完美的新闻自由胜过另一种选择。
想象一下这样一种文化:有权势的人和组织不会受到任何第三方的质疑。 在那里,他们控制着叙事,永远不会冒着腐败和侵犯人权被曝光的风险。 这一现实在世界许多地方都存在。 That’s why there are 262 journalists sitting behind bars for doing their jobs (source: 保护记者委员会). 他们不是人民的敌人; 他们经常冒着生命危险为那些一无所有的人发声。
你能做些什么?
If the problem is teaching people the ability to tell the difference between fact and fiction, what’s the solution? According to a recent 报告 from PEN America, students need to be taught news literacy before middle school in order to be “inoculated” from disinformation. Fortunately, there’s already a tool available to help from a venerable name in the news business: 给孩子的时间. The editors and writers work closely with their peers at 时间 to “help make the world comprehensible to students in ways they can trust.” 给孩子的时间 reaches 1.8 million students across the country. 有许多教师想把这些出版物纳入他们的课堂,但缺乏这样做的预算。
如果你和我一样关心新闻素养,请考虑和我一起支持这些积极的教师。 Visit DonorsChoose.org and search for “给孩子的时间”. If you’re not familiar with DonorsChoose.org, it’s a non-profit that allows you to support classroom projects so teachers don’t have to spend their own money to teach their students. 只要你觉得舒服,你就可以给予。
I’ve already funded projects that include subscriptions to 给孩子的时间 in Texas and North Carolina. And I’ve got my eye on a few others. Plus, ICYMI, Salesforce.com founder and social capitalist Marc Benioff is buying 时间. 因此,该品牌旗下的游戏前景一片光明。
I’ll still worry about the future of 新闻 and a society where facts are open to interpretation. Knowing I can put real news in classrooms across the country 今天 helps.