News Literacy Project Inc

TO FOSTER APPRECIATION OF THE VALUE OF QUALITY JOURNALISM FOR MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

ENGAGING EDUCATORS:DURING THE 2022-23 SCHOOL YEAR, NLP ENGAGED 13,450 EDUCATORS NATIONWIDE WHO ACTIVELY USED NLP'S PROGRAMS AND RESOURCES, INCLUDING THE CHECKOLOGY VIRTUAL CLASSROOM NLP'S AWARD-WINNING DIGITAL LEARNING PLATFORM. WE ESTIMATE THAT THESE EDUCATORS REACHED APPROXIMATELY 2 MILLION STUDENTS ON A NATIONAL SCALE. WE ALSO MADE SIGNIFICANT STRIDES IN SECURING SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTNERS WHO ARE USING CHECKOLOGY AS THEIR PREFERRED CURRICULUM TO MEET INSTRUCTION MANDATES. IN THE THREE STATES WITH A NEWS OR MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION REQUIREMENT (ILLINOIS, NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE), 139 SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE USING NLP RESOURCES TO MEET THE REQUIREMENT, REPRESENTING 9% OF ALL SECONDARY DISTRICTS IN ALL THREE STATES. NLP ALSO SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT (THE SECOND LARGEST IN THE COUNTRY) NAMING CHECKOLOGY AS THE PRIMARY CURRICULAR RESOURCE TO MEET THE DISTRICT'S MEDIA LITERACY MANDATE.FEEDBACK FROM EDUCATORS CONTINUES TO SHOW THAT TEACHING NEWS LITERACY USING CHECKOLOGY AND OTHER NLP RESOURCES IS TRANSFORMATIVE FOR THEIR STUDENTS AND THEIR CLASSROOMS. KELLY MELENDEZ LOAIZA, A HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER IN MASSACHUSETTS, TOLD US "I AM SO GLAD THAT CHECKOLOGY EXISTS. I KNEW ABOUT MEDIA LITERACY AND KNEW HOW TO FIGURE THINGS OUT FOR MYSELF FOR THE MOST PART BUT, WITHOUT CHECKOLOGY, I WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN ARMED WITH THE TOOLS TO CONCISELY AND COHERENTLY BRING THE CONTENT WITH SUCH DEPTH AND BREADTH TO MY STUDENTS. I REALLY BELIEVE IT IS NOT ONLY A RESOURCE FOR TEACHING STUDENTS, BUT IT ALSO HELPS TEACH THE TEACHERS." EMILY HEDGES, A LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST IN KANSAS, HAD HIGH PRAISE FOR NLP'S RESOURCES: "THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LEARNING THAT OUR STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE IN HIGH SCHOOL."ENGAGING THE PUBLIC:IN THE PAST YEAR, NLP LAUNCHED MORE ROBUST PROGRAMMING AS PART OF A BIG PUSH TO REACH THE BROADER PUBLIC WITH THE GOAL OF BUILDING, FOCUSING AND INSPIRING THE COLLECTIVE EFFORTS OF A NATIONAL COMMUNITY OF UPSTANDERS FOR FACTS. NLP'S NEWEST RESOURCE, RUMORGUARD, IS AN INTERACTIVE WEBSITE THAT INCLUDES AGGREGATED, REAL-TIME FACT-CHECKING ON THE DAY'S LEAD STORIES AND VIRAL RUMORS, PRACTICAL RESOURCES FOR LEARNING THE SAME FACT-CHECKING SKILLS THE EXPERTS USE, AND AN EMAIL ALERT PROGRAM. RUMORGUARD ALERT SUBSCRIBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO FLOOD THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS WITH FACT-BASED DEBUNKS OF THE LATEST VIRAL RUMORS. IN SHORT, RUMORGUARD IS A ONE-STOP SHOP FOR MISINFORMATION PRE-BUNKING AND DEBUNKING. AS WE WORK TO ACHIEVE 2 MILLION ANNUAL VISITORS TO THE RUMORGUARD WEBSITE BY 2026, NLP SURPASSED OUR TARGET OF 200,000 VISITORS BY ALMOST TWICE THE AMOUNT IN ITS INAUGURAL YEAR.FISCAL YEAR 2023 HIGHLIGHTS:- LAUNCHED RUMORGUARD, NLP'S NEWEST LEARNING-AND-DOING RESOURCE DESIGNED FOR ADULTS. 390,000 UNIQUE VISITORS- REACHED MORE ADULTS THROUGH OUR COMMUNITY LEARNING PROGRAMS. 3,876 ATTENDEES- THE FOURTH ANNUAL NATIONAL NEWS LITERACY WEEK WAS NLP'S MOST SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TO DATE. OVER 350 MILLION IMPRESSIONS ACROSS MANY CHANNELS- PRODUCED ADDITIONAL PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS IN RESPONSE TO GLOBAL EVENTS: THE 2022 MIDTERM ELECTION MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN; AN MPOX CAMPAIGN, AND A NEWS LITERACY IN THE AGE OF AI RESOURCE HUB.- DEVELOPED NEW PROGRAMS FOR EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS- LAUNCHED A NEW CHECKOLOGY LESSON, "HARM & DISTRUST," A MASTER CLASS IN HOW MAINSTREAM NEWS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE FAILED TO ACCURATELY AND EQUITABLY REPRESENT BLACK COMMUNITIES, AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING ABOUT IT NOW.- DEVELOPED A PILOT OF NLP'S NEWS LITERACY EDUCATION CERTIFICATE PROGRAM FOR EDUCATORS, WHICH WILL BE PART OF A MORE COMPREHENSIVE DIGITAL PLATFORM FOR SELF-PACED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING MODULES.- PIONEERED A MODEL FOR TEACHING NEWS LITERACY AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL THROUGH OUR GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE, THE DISTRICT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.- REACHED 7,814 EDUCATORS THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES, SCHOOL DISTRICT TRAININGS AND EVENTS.- PRODUCED THE THIRD SEASON OF OUR PODCAST, IS THAT A FACT?, WHICH EXPLORES THE ORIGINS OF FALSE NARRATIVES AND THE HARM THEY CAUSE. 10,894 DOWNLOADS- EXPANDED THE NEWS LITERACY AMBASSADOR PROGRAM TO 16 EDUCATORS, 16 CITIES, AND 12 STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 40 REGIONAL EVENTS FOR 4,138 EDUCATORS