- ABC 27 and Scripps News is celebrating National News Literacy Week. We're highlighting the importance of news literacy and local news for a healthy democracy.
- Florida A&M University’s award-winning School of Journalism and Graphic Communication is preparing the next generation of journalists you will rely on.
- The foundation of credible and reliable news starts on college campuses.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The foundation of credible and reliable news starts on college campuses.
Florida A&M University’s award-winning School of Journalism and Graphic Communication is preparing the next generation of journalists you will rely on.
ABC 27 and Scripps News is celebrating National News Literacy Week. We're highlighting the importance of news literacy and local news for a healthy democracy.
At the SJGC students are trained to seek truth, ask hard questions, and be prepared for anything.
We sat in on a broadcast journalism class where students were being taught about adlibing about their stories of the day.
The journalism students research, pitch, record, and edit their own stories.
William Jiles, the SJGC Division Director, and professor did trial runs having the students pick a topic they were knowledgeable about and practicing a newscast.
"You can see how effective knowing your story is, as opposed to memorizing lines," Jiles said to one student.
ABC 27's Shamarria Morrison sat down with other professors and students to talk about how they emphasize and teach the tenants of news literacy.
"We're asking questions, we're talking to people, and that's the best way to learn," Kendall Williams, a third-year broadcast journalism student in the college.
Morrison asked what does truth mean to her.
"Truth means facts, no opinions, no biases, and ensuring that you're reporting what it is not your opinion," Williams said. "And I know that in today's day and age, it can get sometimes hard because things are constantly happening, things are constantly changing."
News media literacy is the knowledge and motivation needed to identify and engage with strong journalism.
Professors at the college take teaching student journalists the tenets of news literacy seriously.
"I'm talking about the foundational principles of you know, the free press, still being able to teach that just teach it in a unique way," Kenneth Jones, a professor at SJGC said.
Jones said he's teaching his students to rely on the basics and the tried and true ethics of journalism.
"They are knowledgeable, they are critical thinkers," Jones said. "And that they are comfortable enough to deal with the diversity of this nation that we live in, and the communities that we live in, and to be able to meet those stories in the middle."
One student, Antoinette Mason, a fourth-year broadcast journalism major, said it was Professor Jones who opened her eyes to the importance of news literacy.
"Our generation from like the late 90s, now going to the 2000s, we're lacking in learning about our community, and our community is crying out and we are the next generation we have to carry that torch," Mason said.
That torch is constantly under pressure.
"We want them to be the standard when they go out into the world," Mira Lowe, the SJGC's Dean said. "So we want them to be grounded in those foundational skills. But we want them also to be an authority in the field. And the only way you can be an authority is to be able to stand on facts, and truth and not waver from that."
