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In this digital age, media literacy is crucial to a functioning democracy. So why isn’t it a higher priority in our schools?
With Elon Musk taking over Twitter and allowing an anything-goes policy on postings, the change has renewed the debate over the role that social media platforms should play in limiting the spread of misinformation on their sites. We believe that platforms should do all they can to keep their sites free of phony content, but… Read more
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Many still confuse ‘misinformation’ with ‘disinformation’ when discussing false content on the internet. Here’s the difference.
“Misinformation” is inaccurate information that is spread on social media regardless of the intent to mislead, while “disinformation” is false information that is spread with the express purpose of duping people. This can be done for many reasons. It could be a political smear, which you will see a lot during election season, or it… Read more
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Training program aimed at creating a pipeline of diverse journalists announces a new cohort of students
The second cohort of the Fresno-area Journalists of Color training program has been selected, and now there are 14 students in the program designed to create a pathway that will offer greater diversity to the reporting staffs of San Joaquin Valley newsrooms. The students are paid $300 a month during the academic year and can… Read more
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Without reporters covering city hall, school board, planning commission meetings, democracy at local level threatened by an uninformed citizenry
When I watch TV coverage of a news conference at the White House, I’m reminded of how reporting resources are disproportionately allocated in today’s news environment. The dozens of journalists at the White House are essentially giving us the same story, while many city council and school board meetings across America are not being covered… Read more
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America’s newsrooms should be reporting their diversity numbers, and this proposal might finally encourage them to be more transparent
The News Leaders Association has been surveying newsrooms for more than 40 years to determine how many journalists of color are gathering and reporting news across the country. But in recent years, most newsrooms stopped reporting their diversity numbers. These are the same newsrooms, by the way, that preach diversity and transparency for other professions.… Read more
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As legacy news outlets struggle financially, philanthropy and non-profit sites play larger roles in delivering reliable local news
The broken business model for traditional newspapers and their digital news site have left many communities seeking to find reliable news about their schools, local government agencies, the homeless and land-use decisions that impact their quality of life. Now non-profit news site have sprung up, and foundations are raising money to help local news operations… Read more
Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State 