Community Dialogue: News Literacy

In a crossover event spanning the ages, the Center for Civic Justice and the Stony Brook University School of Journalism joined hands to present a Community Dialogue on none other than the combined topics of fake news and news literacy.

Okay, admittingly, it’s no blockbuster superhero event. Still, February’s Community Dialogue marks a significant step in both the School of Journalism’s quest to bring the ideologies of careful media consumption and skillful maneuvering of hostile Internet forces together with the Center’s hopes to craft a new generation of highly knowledgeable voters.

Therefore, I can happily say with utmost confidence that the collective work of both the School of Journalism and the Center of Civic Justice helped those in attendance become more informed voters, keenly aware of the dangers surrounding them, especially on popular social media platforms.

In attendance was Jonathan Anzalone, professor of news literacy at Stony Brook University and Howard ‘Howie’ Schnieder, a former dean of the School of Journalism. Both men offered their expertise at the event and guided students in the right direction as each group of students, led by their facilitators, discussed the topics of fake news and news literacy in small groups of at most ten individuals. Students offered different perspectives on the issue, and they clashed or found common ground with one another in discussion on one of the most critical issues of the past few elections.

“How do we address known figures who are actively working to spread disinformation?” said Professor Schneider in a presentation before discussions began. “Hopefully, this serves as a lesson into how to become more careful media consumers.”

Although the event presented Stony Brook students with the opportunity to discuss a timely issue and the different options that exist to address it and its impact on the national climate, conversations were kept civil. Participants were discouraged from controlling the conversations, thanks in no small part to the facilitators, volunteers that came from across the Stony Brook University campus to assist in the event.

“I enjoyed the group discussions,” said Andrew Scott, a junior journalism major. “Not only did everyone have a chance to share their ideas, but the facilitator made sure nobody went off on a tangent.”

Overall, participants not only learned a new set of abilities to discern information but also gained insight into the importance of that ability and how vital it was in promoting critical thinking skills. And as the event drew to a close, Professor Schnieder reiterated the fact that the spread of news literacy would be an ongoing project, one that needed to be spread beyond the borders of Stony Brook University.

“Hopefully, today’s discussions raised the visibility of how challenging the problem is.,” said Professor Schneider.

“But, this is not where it ends. The conversation doesn’t end here.”

-Kevin Wu

Leave a Reply