Welcome to the Breaking the News Blog Tour!
To celebrate the release of Breaking the News by Robin Terry Brown on October 13th, blogs across the web are featuring original content from Breaking the News, plus 5 chances to win a hardcover copy!
“If your mother says she loves you, check it out”
By Susan Goldberg
When I was a young reporter in my first job, a veteran newspaperman pulled me aside and gave me this classic bit of journalism advice. (When I told my mother about it, she was not amused. But I got the point: that it’s important to verify facts, even those that seem self-evident.)
Although this expression takes professional skepticism to an extreme—of course your mother loves you!—the essence of this advice is more important now than it’s ever been.
Today, it can be hard to know what, or whom, to believe. With so much information bombarding us 24/7, on platforms as varied as printed pages, Snapchat, and viral videos, how can we sort out real news from fake? What are the tip-offs that we’re reading a fact-based story instead of one that’s largely fiction? When we seek information that we can trust, how can we judge what’s objective and what’s biased?
At National Geographic, I like to say that our journalism is on the side of science, on the side of facts, and on the side of the planet. If these principles matter to you, Breaking the News can guide you in supporting them, especially the first two. It’s a brief course in how to become media literate, at a time when that matters more than ever.
LEARN HOW TO
• Tell if a website is fake;
• Detect phony photos;
• Become an expert fact-checker;
• Use our “Truth Tool Kit” to sniff out fabricated sources;
• Uncover your own biases (we all have them); and
• Become more open-minded about information you might not agree with.
While you’re building these media literacy skills, you’ll read some fascinating stories about the history of news, as well as how today’s journalists work to uncover the facts and share them with global audiences. We’ll also do our best to look ahead, to see how future modes of reporting and delivering news could affect us all.
Being media literate is the first step toward becoming an informed consumer, a critical thinker, and an educated guardian of our democracy. Thank you. And if that sounds like a lot to take on, just remember the basics: When your mother says she loves you, check it out!
*****
Blog Tour Schedule:
November 2nd – Bookhounds
November 3rd – Word Spelunking
November 4th – Always in the Middle
November 5th – From the Mixed-Up Files
November 6th – Feed Your Fiction Addiction
“Robin Terry Brown’s ‘Breaking the News,’ written in consultation with several journalism luminaries, is laid out the way magazines used to be, with captivating images, bite-size fact-filled blurbs and intuitive design. “Breaking the News” urges young people to leave their social media feeds and “read reliable news and information from many different sources.”
―The New York Times
“[Breaking the News] provides a sharp-looking survey that examines the history of news-how it began, how it evolved, and what consumers of all ages must consider before accepting a truth as the truth. Cool bits of history, funny hoaxes, and the scary reality of propaganda are packed in simple bites easy to absorb. Excellent design and a clear narrative help readers navigate the vast and fast-changing concept of news.”
―Kirkus STARRED REVIEW
Visit the Website | Read an excerpt
Headlines leap out at us from mobile phones, TV screens, computers, newspapers, and everywhere we turn. Technology has opened up exciting new ways to tell interesting stories, but how much of it is news … and how much is just noise? This refreshing and up-to-date media literacy book gives kids the tools they need to distinguish what is fact from what is fiction so that they can make smart choices about what to believe.
Topics cover a broad range, from defining freedom of speech, the journalists’ code of ethics, the dangers of propaganda, and the future of news.
Packed with profiles of influential journalists, fun facts, and iconic photographs, this ultimate guide to the information age will get kids thinking about their relationship and responsibility to media.
About the Author: ROBIN TERRY BROWN graduated from the master’s program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a passion for writing, editing, and getting the facts straight. She carried this passion throughout her 17-year career as a senior editor with National Geographic. Brown currently lives with her husband in northern Virginia, where she works as a writer, editor, and truth-seeker.
SUSAN GOLDBERG, contributor, is an award-winning journalist, editorial director of National Geographic Partners, and editor in chief of National Geographic magazine. Prior to National Geographic, Goldberg was an executive editor at Bloomberg News in Washington, D.C. She has also held posts at several news organizations, including The Plain Dealer, San Jose Mercury News, USA Today, the Detroit Free Press, and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In 2017, Washingtonian magazine named Goldberg one of Washington, D.C.’s most powerful women.
GIVEAWAY
- One (1) winner will receive a hardcover copy of Breaking the News
- Check out the other four stops for more chances to win
- US/Can only
- Ends 11/15 at 11:59pm ET
First of all, I think a reader needs to use common sense when evaluating news reporting.
I only trust educational or government websites for fact-checking.
use legit sites
I check websites I trust.