You Must Be a Smart Consumer of News
It is a topic we’ve talked about many times before. As a consumer of news, it is your responsibility to be smart about the news you consume.
This week is the Fourth Annual National News Literacy Week. News literacy is the ability to determine the credibility of news and other information and to recognize the standards of fact-based journalism to know what to trust, share and act on.
So how can you be a smart consumer of news? There are some great recommendations here, to which I’ll add:
- With so many media outlets available, get your news from a variety of sources. Different outlets will report differently on a topic, get the facts from several angles.
- Read more than just the headline of a story. The headline writer has the difficult job of condensing an entire article into just a few words. It can’t possibly capture everything in the story.
Professional journalists subscribe to a code of ethics, as recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists:
SEEK TRUTH AND REPORT IT
MINIMIZE HARM
ACT INDEPENDENTLY
BE ACCOUNTABLE AND TRANSPARENT
Their job is to report the news accurately, fairly and objectively. Our job as consumers is to thoughtfully and diligently read/listen to the information and make an informed decision about what we’ve just learned.
