LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — This week you're going to hear us talking a lot about National News Literacy Week. It aims to raise awareness that news literacy — understanding your news sources — is an essential skill.
LEX 18, along with our parent company, Scripps, and our partners at the News Literacy Project, are in our second year for News Literacy Week.
Angie Beavin sat down with a group of student journalists from Lafayette High School for a Zoom call to talk about news literacy.
Five students and one of their teachers joined the Zoom to play a game of "Fact or Fiction," using information about the COVID-19 vaccine gathered from a University of Kentucky publication.
Watch how the students did below:
"What is your take on a lot of the coverage that you've seen, particularly on the COVID-19 vaccine?" Angie asked the students.
"I would say it really varies from news source to news source," said Noah, a student at Lafayette High School. "If you go to more articles and papers, it's going to be more accurate than compared to social media."
"I would say that there is always an implicit bias on most sources that you read, especially when you're on social media," another student said.
Angie: "What kind of challenges have you come across just trying to make sure that you're getting quality information?"
"With social media, things spread like wildfire, and especially with teenagers," said Zaida. "We're more susceptible to believe something that a lot of people are reposting or sharing even if that's not necessarily true.
