NMLC-fake-news-session

Northeast Media Literacy Conference:

The Past, Present and Future of Media Literacy Education

Defining the Fake News Moment: Fiction, Fad, Fatal or Media Lit Opportunity?

Plenary "unconference" breakout: 1:00 p.m.-1:45 p.m.
With Katherine Fry, Allison Butler, Mellisa Zimdars and Bill Densmore

FAKE NEWS BREAKOUT:

Gordon teaches media literacy Tom hs teacher public hs westcester ny Teresa – ccsu graduate student Mellisa – 19 years ig scool teacer Demi – comm. Maor at ccsu Ulie freschette – WSU, corporation Bill Densmore Lindsay Grant – ccsu media production Mj moriary – adjunct at CCSu critical thinking and communication Tom Goodkind John Boyer – board ACME Sarah Taylor – Spark media proje t Frances Jensen with spark Breana, instructional library at ccsu Paul, media educator, spark media project in poughkeepskie Rob Williams Laurie Binday – ACME and Sacred Heart Bill Youseman – her husband

CONVERSATION:

Melissa: Thinking about calling news imposters with her seventh graders. Can that be done in 50 minutes? Being skeptical not cynical.

Allison: Fake News means you can be cynical. No. This is not the first president to lie or manipulate the news, although it feels more horrific and is happening faster. WE are naïve if we think it is brand new of Nov. 9 or Jan. 20. IT is super-well coordinated. Try not to be cynical or give up on it. I’m exhausted. I go home and watch the West Wing because it is pretty, they solve problems and are nice to each other and they are so articulate.

Bill Youseman: That’s really important. The task is to explain something that is complicated. On the one had what we’re seeing in both politics and the news is something new and is indeed not normal. But at the same time it is also a continuation of things that have come before. How do you do that in 15 minutes or in the elevator. That’s the issue at hand.

Branna: The problem of trying to digest to 15 minutes is a problem for librarians too. Just tell me where I shouldn’t go and whre I should go instead of let me teach you how to tell the difference.

Tom Goodkind: Are we getting lazy as human beings? Accepting one word rather than a moe length exclamation.

Julie Frechette: When we teach political economy, go back to teaching media theory and how the way our minds accept and process information has been changing. Photos can be manipulatd. We have to teach the impact of the Attention Economy.

See: Global Critical Media Literacy Project http://gcml.org/

Francis Jensen -- Two questions: What is the definition of news? Getting a simple answer to that is complicated. There are five rooms but we are all here. Why are we here? With me, I’m teaching kids in 4th and 5th grade to make films but at the end of the day what I want most is impact – ripple effect, that something will happen tomorrow. We need to be part of the people who are tacking the problem fake news.

Katherine: What do your students say news is?

Francis: Most of them say news is what you see on TV. But is that all the news? Each kids has their own idea. The what is news question is for me.

Katherine: She likes to ask people, where do you get your news.