Working with local newsrooms to improve media literacy in their communities

How can increasing transparency and community engagement help journalists boost community media literacy?

That’s what News Co/Lab Managing Director Kristy Roschke will speak about at the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) 2019 conference in Washington, D.C.

From June 26 to 28, the conference will focus on media literacy’s “path forward” — and how educators, platforms and journalists can create that future. The News Co/Lab is dedicated to not only improving media literacy in audiences across the country, but also to empowering local newsrooms to create solid plans that can help them connect with their communities in the long-term.

Roschke’s presentation, “Making Media Literacy Part of the Mission: Working with Local Newsrooms to Improve Community Information Ecosystems,” explains the important role local journalists play — along with librarians, educators and other community stakeholders — in boosting community media literacy. She’ll be speaking at 2:15 p.m. on Friday, June 28.

The session will review the News Co/Lab’s effective process for helping newsrooms engage with their communities in productive ways that help people seek, understand, act on and even create their own news.

The News Co/Lab is experienced with helping media professionals brainstorm ways to improve media literacy in their communities. Previously, the team helped McClatchy boost its journalistic transparency through a new story-level feature. This proposal could potentially help newsrooms around the country to boost transparency, build connections and improve community information ecosystems through media literacy.

Although the conference is in late June, journalists and attendees are already gearing up for NAMLE. Those interested in the conference can follow #NAMLE19 on Twitter, where educators, journalists and other professionals are tweeting about their ideas for the future of media literacy.