Media literacy is having a moment. We can't lose momentum.
A 2024 study by the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that helps educators bring news literacy into the classroom, revealed that 82 percent of teens struggle to distinguish what's news, advertisements, opinions and entertainment. Photo by Deb Cram / Seacoastonline / USA TODAY Network
USA TODAY
It is no understatement to say that social media has dramatically altered the news landscape, often degrading civic discourse into a battleground of misinformation.
Young people, who spend much of their lives online, are thrown into this complex world without the necessary tools to navigate the falsehoods and conspiracy theories that crowd out the facts.
Today, adults under 30 are nearly as likely to trust information from social media as from national news outlets, according to the Pew Research Center.
As I look forward to athletes from around the world converging in my hometown of Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics, I wonder whether dodging online rumors and falsehoods should be added to the competitive games. Like landing a perfect score on the balance beam or setting track and field records, learning to recognize misinformation and find credible sources takes training, skills and practice.
ADDITIONAL NEWS FROM THE INTEGRITY PROJECT
