News Literacy

"What is News Literacy and Why does It Matter?"

Tuesday, October 7, 2014 | 12:30-1:30 p.m. 
Whitewater Room, Idaho Commons

Presenter: 
Steve Smith - Journalism and Mass Media

Abstract
Studies show that young Americans are interested in news but are unlikely to seek it out from traditional (legacy) media such as newspapers or television. In the digital age, students get their news through social media, non-legacy blogs and Internet content providers – and the Daily Show. But much of the material that passes through the digital pipeline is fact-less punditry, false assertion or outright fabrication. News literacy education is designed to help students navigate the digital universe, sorting the true from the false and finding information needed for the exercise of citizenship. Prof. Smith includes a news literacy unit in his Media and Society course, based on a curriculum developed by the News Literacy Institute at Stony Brook University. He advocates a news literacy requirement for all UI students.

Biography
Steve Smith is a veteran news professional who last served as editor of The Spokesman-Review, the daily newspaper in Spokane. In a 38-year professional career, he was editor of newspapers in Salem, Oregon, and Colorado Springs, Colo., and worked two years as assistant to the vice presidents/news at Knight-Ridder Inc. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Newspaper Management Center advanced executive program and a mid-career development program at Duke University. He holds an M.A. in communication from The Ohio State University, where he was a Kiplinger fellow, and a B.S. in journalism from the University of Oregon. Smith has taught in the School of Journalism and Mass Media since 2010.