At first I thought this article was about "New speak" such as 1984.

I'm glad to see it's the polar opposite. This is brilliant in the sense it should have been applied years ago.

Give the youth their brains back, damn it.

Sounds like a good idea. I wonder who decides what the facts are,

edit: Could we start something like this for ATS?

This is a great idea! A more informed generation! I like it very much. Something that they should teach the students is to separate fact from fiction regarding polls. I remember when I first learned about things like standard deviation and how it applies to polls, and how so many results are basically meaningless given the margin of error they have.

I couldn't agree more on how important this class is. The dumbing down of society by the media has been going on for entirely too long. Teaching people, at an early age, how to to see the difference between fact and opinion is such a valuable necessity. It's amazing how many are out there now who think just because they see a story in any MSM that it must be true. I only wish they had this when I was in high school.

I am afraid I have to hold my enthusiasm for the project until I can more meaningfully assess the application of the curriculum.

This sounds great and much needed.... but it also hinges upon the lesson plan, the teacher, and the actual skills taught. For all we know they are simply training people to accept only "MSM Talking heads" as news...

We already have enough blanket generalizations about news which people share as opposed to news which is "produced" or prepackaged by the subject of the story itself.



Edit to add....

For example the article title "News Literacy Project Trains Young People to Be Skeptical Media Consumers" says that there is a project to 'train' young people to be skeptical about the media they consume - but it is couched in the initial terms "News Literacy" as if that were the only media anyone should be skeptical about.

Our thread title "News Literacy Project being taught in schools now." seems to imply this is happening in more than one place.

Such an observation is not meant to diminish the OP or contributing member, but just an example of the difference between 'skepticism' and 'discerning.'

And just in case you were thinking of embracing this development as a good sign... note the final paragraph:

JEFFREY BROWN: To further the effort, the News Literacy Project and the American Library Association are launching workshops around the country to make high school students better media watchdogs, with a specific focus on the 2012 political campaign.

Hmmm.. our tax dollars at work eh? Can you imagine an application for this "focus"?

Shameful thread bump.

I think with all the complaining I see time and time again, about the media, more people should be aware that this is in the works.

I wish I had written a better thread title though. Oh well, too late now I guess..