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«Back to all edWebinarsEvaluating News Media Bias: A Nuanced Approach to a Vital Topic
Tuesday, February 4, 2025 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm EST
Presented by Peter Adams, Senior Vice President of Research and Design, The News Literacy Project; and Brittney Smith, Senior Manager of District Partnerships, East, The News Literacy Project
Sponsored by News Literacy Project
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
People frequently perceive and allege bias in news coverage, but what does this really mean? What makes a piece of news biased, and who decides? What role do our own biases play in our perceptions of bias? In this session, we’ll help you teach this vital, controversial, and complex topic in ways that empower students to meaningfully evaluate the fairness and impartiality of news coverage.
In this edWebinar, we will:
- Share an approach for helping students evaluate potential bias in news by recognizing different forms that bias could take in news coverage
- Apply this approach to actual examples from news and other information in ways that demonstrate when bias is—and isn’t—obvious
- Reflect on the nuanced, highly subjective nature of perceived bias in news
- Explore the limitations and pitfalls of popular media bias charts and rankings
- Share free News Literacy Project classroom resources for teaching about news media bias, including the Understanding Bias lesson on NLP’s Checkology® virtual classroom
This edWebinar will be of interest to middle and high school teachers, librarians, school leaders, district leaders, and education technology leaders. There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation.
About the Presenters
Peter Adams became the News Literacy Project’s Senior Vice President of Research and Design after several years as the organization’s Head of Education. He began his career as a classroom teacher in the New York City schools through Teach For America. He has also taught in the Chicago public schools, at Roosevelt University, and at Chicago City Colleges’ Wilbur Wright campus. In addition, he has worked with the NYC Teaching Fellows program, with After School Matters, and as an independent education consultant.
Since joining NLP in 2009, he has coordinated classroom and after-school programs, served as Chicago Program Manager, worked on organizational strategy, and developed NLP’s digital program. He has also provided news literacy training and workshops to educators and others throughout the area. He was promoted to his current position in January 2014 and oversees NLP’s education team, which develops resources and training for teachers. He and the other team members are based in Chicago. Peter is a graduate of Indiana University, where he majored in English and African American studies and co-founded an independent monthly student newspaper. He has a master’s degree in the humanities from the University of Chicago.
Brittney Smith is a Senior Manager of District Partnerships (East) at News Literacy Project. Brittney joined NLP in July 2022 after eight years of teaching life science in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was a high school teacher to diverse populations of students, including English language learners. In her tenure as science department chair, she focused on building partnerships with community stakeholders to enrich and improve students’ educational experiences. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biological science from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in teaching science to adolescents and young adults from Mount St. Joseph University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in educational practice and innovation with a STEM focus at the University of South Carolina.
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
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The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan, national education nonprofit, provides programs and resources for educators and the public to teach, learn and share the abilities needed to be smart, active consumers of news and information and equal and engaged participants in a democracy.
