# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Death of Journalism and the Rise of The Newsroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How the media landscape has changed

Media visionary Clay Shirky gave a TED Talk on how the media landscape has changed. "The moment we're living through, the moment our historical generation is living through, is the largest increase in expressive capability in human history."

In other words, the amount of information we are capable of capturing is unprecedented. As a result, we need new techniques to filter through the information and need to work much harder than previous generation to better understand our world.

Watch Clay Shirky's fascinating media discussion on TED-Ed.

Understanding social media

The TED Book "Our Virtual Shadow: Why We Are Obsessed with Documenting Our Lives Online" discusses the challenges of social media turning every day folks into journalists. The chapter "A World of Mush" focused on the evolution of news and how, in our modern age, "A rumor can carry as much weight as a verified fact."

You can read an excerpt of Our Virtual Shadow on the TED blog.

Journalism can be much more than reporting. An authentic, human narrative touches audiences and keeps them reading. Learn how to shape a human-centered news story, and the importance of facts, context and heart.

In 1992, Stella Liebeck spilled scalding McDonald's coffee in her lap and later sued the company, attracting a flood of negative attention. It turns out there was more to the story.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With the advent of the Internet and social media, news is distributed at an incredible rate by an unprecedented number of different media outlets. How do we choose which news to consume? Damon Brown gives the inside scoop on how the opinions and facts (and sometimes non-facts) make their way into the news and how the smart reader can tell them apart.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Top Tips to Engage Students, Staff, and Families

As teachers begin the school year, we often spend days, weeks even, building a supportive and positive classroom community. We discuss, model and practice classroom expectations for everything from sharpening pencils to resolving peer conflicts. We continue to nurture our community as the school year goes on, intent on developing the ideal school citizens. But what about the online environment? As a greater percentage of teaching and learning moves to online platforms, the necessity for intentional and ongoing digital citizenship education cannot be ignored or checked off a list at the beginning of the year.

One way to kickstart or amp up your digital citizenship game plan is to participate in Digital Citizenship Week (Oct. 15-19)! Recognized on the third week of October each year, this initiative aims to build capacity for students and families to make safe, smart, and ethical decisions in the digital world.

To help you engage all members of your educational community in this digital citizenship initiative, we've gathered a few ideas and resources. Think about what elements you already have in place as well as ways you can level up your #digcit game this school year!
Students

Engage students through careful planning and implementation of digital citizenship lessons.

Gather a group of students to help promote awareness of the topic and develop a positive social media push.
Create a #betechpositive or #digcitcommit multimedia campaign with posters, videos, or even podcasts-- See how teacher Marti Weston empowered her 5th grade students to write and record podcasts to promote digital citizenship

Staff
Devote a staff meeting to information and idea sharing around digital citizenship topics.

Invite teachers to map their digcit journey on this great infographic.

What is your current stage? Digital Aversion, Anxiety, Awareness, Action or Advocacy? Commit to taking steps toward growth.

Ask early adopters and teacher leaders to share successes with the group

Encourage staff to take the #digcitcommit pledge and share one way they'll promote digital citizenship in their classrooms this year.

Families

Send routine messages and tips about digital citizenship through your school's communication channels.

Host a #DeviceFreeDinner chat on Twitter. Encourage families to tweet photos of their meal sans devices. Provide discussion starters on the topic of digital literacy and citizenship during the chat.

Consider starting a Parent Digital Citizenship Academy like the one described in this article by teacher George Lopez-- https://www.commonsense.org/education/blog/engage-your-community-with-parent-digital-citizenship-academies

Whether you're taking your first #digcit steps or well on your journey towards advocacy, we applaud you! Every bit counts working together as students, staff, and families to build a positive, supportive community of digital citizens.

*Tweet us @TeachersRSmart or join our Techie Teacher Society Facebook page to share your videos, photos and #digcitcommit plans.
For more Digital Citizenship information, be sure to check out our Technology courses:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Celebrate Digital Citizenship Week Oct. 15-19th

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As teachers begin the school year, we often spend days, weeks even, building a supportive and positive classroom community. We discuss, model and practice classroom expectations for everything from sharpening pencils to resolving peer conflicts. We continue to nurture our community as the school year goes on, intent on developing the ideal school citizens.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Skip to main content

The internet is an amazing tool for teaching and learning. But, before we can teach students to harness its power and become good citizens of the web, we need to understand the intricacies of how it works and how it can be manipulated to mislead and even harm users.
Learning the Landscape of Digital Literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Digital and Civic Literacy Skills The internet is an amazing tool for teaching and learning. But, before we can teach students to harness its power and become good citizens of the web, we need to understand the intricacies of how it works and how it can be manipulated to mislead and even harm users.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This guide will allow you to further help students to explore and discuss the importance of checking sources, which sources to trust or not and the benefits and pitfalls of using social media to gather information. Learning outcomes

Young people will question which sources are trusted sources, and how to carry out basic checks

They'll have a greater understanding of the benefits and pitfalls around using social media sources, both as individuals and as journalists and news organisations

Preparation

Young people will need smartphones, tablets or desktops to play on

Get young people to play the BBC iReporter game as part of the lesson or as homework ahead of the lesson. Please note the game cannot be saved so students will need to try and complete in one go if they want to reach the end

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teachers guide to the BBC iReporter interactive game

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This guide will allow you to further help students to explore and discuss the importance of checking sources, which sources to trust or not and the benefits and pitfalls of using social media to gather information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with former Vice President Al Gore about the new edition of his book, The Assault On Reason.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Hackers, fake news, conspiracy theories tweeted and retweeted. One takeaway from the election is that the internet isn't living up to the promise that it would revitalize the marketplace of ideas.

AL GORE: There are some bright spots, to be sure, but the internet is still in a Wild West phase, as was the case during the early age of the printing press as well.

SHAPIRO: Few recognize those shortcomings better than former Vice President Al Gore. Ten years ago, he wrote a book about how governments use and abuse information. It's called "The Assault On Reason." Back then, Gore thought the internet would have a self-healing quality that would allow truth and journalism to counteract falsehoods and abuse. Now he's updated his book for the Trump era. Our co-host Audie Cornish talked with him about how he thinks about all that now.

GORE: We've seen the bankruptcy of many newspapers. We've seen a further erosion of the line between news and entertainment. But I do believe that there is reason to hope that over time we will see the higher-quality journalism rise to the surface.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Have you become more sensitive to this issue of, like, facts and misinformation because in part, you know, one of your key issues, climate science, has become the subject of political fighting - right? - where people cast doubts all the time on data and the scientists involved?

GORE: Yes, of course. And in some ways, it's not at all new for wealthy and powerful interests to try to hide the ball and ignore independent analyses of relevant facts. But we see a prime example of this now with the new head of the EPA (laughter) brazenly declaring that CO2 has nothing to do with the climate crisis when even...

CORNISH: And this is Scott Pruitt, the EPA's chief.

GORE: Yes. And he took a softer line in his confirmation hearings, but now he's reverted to the views that he had expressed in his previous job in Oklahoma.

CORNISH: You know, you're chuckling a little as you describe this, but you've been in the halls of power, right? You've been in the White House. What is your real reaction, your feeling when you hear a Cabinet-level person spread this kind of information?

GORE: Well, I think it's extremely unfortunate. It's not a complete surprise because his background was well known when he was named. And again, in this book, "The Assault On Reason," this new edition, the focus is not really on the personalities of climate deniers or those who obfuscate the facts about health care or the budget or tax policy. It's really about the nature of the public discourse and how it now makes our country more vulnerable to the kind of disinformation and propaganda that is being substituted for the kind of dialogue that our founders hoped we would have.

CORNISH: So what is different today? I mean, what could you say about today that you couldn't say back then?

GORE: Well, others have noted a free press is the immune system of representative democracy. And as I wrote 10 years ago, American democracy is in grave danger from the changes in the environment in which ideas either live and spread or wither and die. I think that the trends that I wrote about 10 years ago have continued and worsened, and the hoped-for remedies that can come from online discourse have been slow to mature. I remain optimistic that ultimately free speech and a free press where individuals have access to the dialogue will have a self-correcting quality.

CORNISH: I shouldn't be shocked at this given your background, but your faith in the internet is stupendous. And I don't know if I'm just being cynical because I have to read it every day (laughter) and...

GORE: (Laughter) Yeah, good point.

CORNISH: You know, the rise of social media news and media literacy, you know, can be quite difficult in this environment. And they have the same profit motive as broadcasters. I mean, why would you think this would be different?

GORE: Well, because of the architecture of the internet. You know, the same complaints were made in the early decades of the printing press revolution. It was chaotic. But the...

CORNISH: But you couldn't get your pamphlet to everybody, right? Like, today, if you plant the seed of something outrageous and not true, there's a chance the president would retweet it.

GORE: Well, yes, but now you see 60 percent of the people saying, enough already with these tweets. And I think that, you know, it's easy to forget we're only less than two months into this new administration. And it's too early to predict how that is going to go. But just to make the point about the architecture of the public forum - in the age of the internet, with all of its problems, over time, the very fact that individuals can join the conversation creates the opportunity for the emergence of - for the re-emergence of a genuine conversation of democracy. In fact, you already see this beginning to happen. And I understand that being optimistic in this age is challenging, but I am optimistic nonetheless.

CORNISH: Vice President Al Gore. A new edition of his book, "The Assault On Reason," is out now. Thank you so much for speaking with us.

GORE: Thank you, Audie.

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
In The Age Of Fake News And Alternative Facts, Al Gore Remains Optimistic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with former Vice President Al Gore about the new edition of his book, The Assault On Reason. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Hackers, fake news, conspiracy theories tweeted and retweeted. One takeaway from the election is that the internet isn't living up to the promise that it would revitalize the marketplace of ideas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fake News. It's Your Fault. | Christina Nicholson | TEDxBocaRaton

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
You're being manipulated and don't even know it | Nate Pressner | TEDxYouth@Basel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
All the latest BBC Bitesize content about fact or fake.