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Author
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Lauren Brown-Hulme
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Year
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2018
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Publisher
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln
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Abstract
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This paper serves as a comprehensive report on the need for and barriers to news literacy
education in the United States. Current misinformation issues in the U.S. are introduced and the
importance of news literacy among citizens of a democracy. Answers to these questions are
sought: What are the current challenges regarding news literacy in the digital age and what are
the implications? Further, can news literacy be taught? Based on measured practices, what are
the best methods for news literacy education? Existing literature covers the topics of information
disorder and news literacy, highlighting the importance of news literacy in informing citizens.
Several factors challenge widespread news literacy, such as the overwhelming amount of
information users are met with each day and the echo chambers on social media they operate in.
Several existing news literacy curricula are outlined and their effectiveness in teaching students
how to sort fact from fiction in digital news sources using critical thinking activities are
evaluated. After demonstrating the need for news literacy among U.S. readers in the digital era and discussing existing news literacy pedagogy, I hold news literacy initiatives are but one
solution in the complex fight against misinformation, and their success in educating students to
access veracity is difficult to measure.