As I walked around the school library, I peered down at the sheets of paper students had scattered across the tables. Splashes of blacks, greens, pinks, yellows, and every color in between brought life to drawings of stick figures with ten fingers and ten toes. But one child struggled to fill the page with images of what they just learned.
“Do you need help figuring out what to draw?” I asked as I kneeled beside them.
“Yes” squeaked out.
“Well, what do you think the story was about? What do you love most about your family?”
Shrug.
Eventually, the student and I workshopped ideas: making tamales on the weekends, playing in the park, reading their favorite books. After picking the perfect topic, their classmates shared in their enthusiasm, and correctly recognized that a spider-shaped blob was a dog or a squiggly half moon was a bowl of pasta.
Soon, the hybrid class of kindergarteners and first graders began discussing the meaning behind the picture book we just read. They quickly shouted out themes of identity, kindness, and self-love when explaining why you might look different from your family. One child summed up the story with empathy and nuance that felt beyond their years. If only all adults were this reflective, I thought.
Our lesson rooted in media literacy, or how to critically read, evaluate, and discuss content, images, and stories, isn’t a new pedagogy. But it must be seen with renewed urgency. This education begins in the classroom with story time. But not every child benefits from it, due to poor education funding, a misunderstanding of what constitutes learning, or outright bans on diverse and inclusive literature. Without a strong foundation that allows kids to analyze and consider media messages, from books to newspapers to video games, those vital critical-thinking skills and deeper analysis of works won’t fully develop.
In fact, adults who learn media literacy and critical-thinking skills by their high school years are 26% less likely to believe in conspiracy theories. While those who rely on social media for their news are less engaged and the most likely to believe fake news. They are more vulnerable to “deliberate misinformation,” including the fallacies spread in the last two presidential races and the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s true that challenging the complex information landscape with insightful analysis doesn’t come effortlessly, even for us journalists. Sometimes, it’s simpler to accept the first bit of information we see. But as our collective society invests in strong media literacy programs, the easier it’ll be for news organizations to build trust within their communities. And, in turn, it will allow us breathing room to be more reflective in the news we’re producing rather than just reactionary with (often ill-informed) hot takes.
But we must start at the beginning. Without thoughtful reinvestment in the concepts we’re teaching in the classroom, we’ll continue fostering societies that allow disinformation and misinformation to run rampant during national elections, pandemics, and violent uprisings. Combating the half-truths and lies that spread across social networks at lighting speed takes teamwork. In the coming year, we’ll see more parents, educators, and lawmakers evaluate the types of literacy we’re sharing in schools with an aim to both inform and eradicate the vitriol spewed against inclusive literature. They’ll reexamine each lesson’s effectiveness in creating a society of mature, reflective, and empathic human beings.
Media literacy remains an essential life skill everyone deserves to wield. Literacy empowers future generations to pursue their dreams. It creates a better informed and more engaged society. And it leads to a stronger democracy. In 2023, we’ll work together to ensure more people have the opportunity to dissect and comprehend the news they’re consuming—both through better engagement with news audiences and the elevation of community-led initiatives.
Perhaps we’ll create a future with less shrugs for what’s comfortable, and more raised voices for what’s true. Perhaps we’ll usher in universal acceptance of legislation encouraging strong news literacy, rather than accepting the handful of piecemeal laws on the books as “good enough.” Perhaps it’s time we invest in that ability with fervor once and for all.
Kaitlyn Wells is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter and author of A Family Looks Like Love, a picture book that explores multiracial belonging through the eyes of her dog.
As I walked around the school library, I peered down at the sheets of paper students had scattered across the tables. Splashes of blacks, greens, pinks, yellows, and every color in between brought life to drawings of stick figures with ten fingers and ten toes. But one child struggled to fill the page with images of what they just learned.
“Do you need help figuring out what to draw?” I asked as I kneeled beside them.
“Yes” squeaked out.
“Well, what do you think the story was about? What do you love most about your family?”
Shrug.
Eventually, the student and I workshopped ideas: making tamales on the weekends, playing in the park, reading their favorite books. After picking the perfect topic, their classmates shared in their enthusiasm, and correctly recognized that a spider-shaped blob was a dog or a squiggly half moon was a bowl of pasta.
Soon, the hybrid class of kindergarteners and first graders began discussing the meaning behind the picture book we just read. They quickly shouted out themes of identity, kindness, and self-love when explaining why you might look different from your family. One child summed up the story with empathy and nuance that felt beyond their years. If only all adults were this reflective, I thought.
Our lesson rooted in media literacy, or how to critically read, evaluate, and discuss content, images, and stories, isn’t a new pedagogy. But it must be seen with renewed urgency. This education begins in the classroom with story time. But not every child benefits from it, due to poor education funding, a misunderstanding of what constitutes learning, or outright bans on diverse and inclusive literature. Without a strong foundation that allows kids to analyze and consider media messages, from books to newspapers to video games, those vital critical-thinking skills and deeper analysis of works won’t fully develop.
In fact, adults who learn media literacy and critical-thinking skills by their high school years are 26% less likely to believe in conspiracy theories. While those who rely on social media for their news are less engaged and the most likely to believe fake news. They are more vulnerable to “deliberate misinformation,” including the fallacies spread in the last two presidential races and the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s true that challenging the complex information landscape with insightful analysis doesn’t come effortlessly, even for us journalists. Sometimes, it’s simpler to accept the first bit of information we see. But as our collective society invests in strong media literacy programs, the easier it’ll be for news organizations to build trust within their communities. And, in turn, it will allow us breathing room to be more reflective in the news we’re producing rather than just reactionary with (often ill-informed) hot takes.
But we must start at the beginning. Without thoughtful reinvestment in the concepts we’re teaching in the classroom, we’ll continue fostering societies that allow disinformation and misinformation to run rampant during national elections, pandemics, and violent uprisings. Combating the half-truths and lies that spread across social networks at lighting speed takes teamwork. In the coming year, we’ll see more parents, educators, and lawmakers evaluate the types of literacy we’re sharing in schools with an aim to both inform and eradicate the vitriol spewed against inclusive literature. They’ll reexamine each lesson’s effectiveness in creating a society of mature, reflective, and empathic human beings.
Media literacy remains an essential life skill everyone deserves to wield. Literacy empowers future generations to pursue their dreams. It creates a better informed and more engaged society. And it leads to a stronger democracy. In 2023, we’ll work together to ensure more people have the opportunity to dissect and comprehend the news they’re consuming—both through better engagement with news audiences and the elevation of community-led initiatives.
Perhaps we’ll create a future with less shrugs for what’s comfortable, and more raised voices for what’s true. Perhaps we’ll usher in universal acceptance of legislation encouraging strong news literacy, rather than accepting the handful of piecemeal laws on the books as “good enough.” Perhaps it’s time we invest in that ability with fervor once and for all.
Kaitlyn Wells is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter and author of A Family Looks Like Love, a picture book that explores multiracial belonging through the eyes of her dog.
Janet Haven ChatGPT and the future of trust
Barbara Raab More journalism funders will take more risks
Nikki Usher This is the year of the RSS reader. (Really!)
Sue Cross Thinking and acting collectively to save the news
Simon Galperin Philanthropy stops investing in corporate media
Kaitlin C. Miller Harassment in journalism won’t get better, but we’ll talk about it more openly
Susan Chira Equipping local journalism
Laxmi Parthasarathy Unlocking the silent demand for international journalism
Christina Shih Shared values move from nice-to-haves to essentials
Cari Nazeer and Emily Goligoski News organizations step up their support for caregivers
Janelle Salanga Journalists work from a place of harm reduction
Martina Efeyini Talk to Gen Z. They’re the experts of Gen Z.
Mariana Moura Santos A woman who speaks is a woman who changes the world
Laura E. Davis The year we embrace the robots — and ourselves
Ryan Gantz “I’m sorry, but I’m a large language model”
Khushbu Shah Global reporting will suffer
Rodney Gibbs Recalibrating how we work apart
Emily Nonko Incarcerated reporters get more bylines
Masuma Ahuja Journalism starts working for and with its communities
Dominic-Madori Davis Everyone finally realizes the need for diverse voices in tech reporting
Ariel Zirulnick Journalism doubles down on user needs
Walter Frick Journalists wake up to the power of prediction markets
Jacob L. Nelson Despite it all, people will still want to be journalists
Gabe Schneider Well-funded journalism leaders stop making disparate pay
John Davidow A year of intergenerational learning
Dannagal G. Young Stop rewarding elite performances of identity threat
Jim VandeHei There is no “peak newsletter”
Tamar Charney Flux is the new stability
Alexandra Borchardt The year of the climate journalism strategy
Jessica Maddox Journalists keep getting manipulated by internet culture
Jaden Amos TikTok personality journalists continue to rise
Don Day The news about the news is bad. I’m optimistic.
David Cohn AI made this prediction
Taylor Lorenz The “creator economy” will be astroturfed
Sam Gregory Synthetic media forces us to understand how media gets made
Cindy Royal Yes, journalists should learn to code, but…
Peter Bale Rising costs force more digital innovation
Michael W. Wagner The backlash against pro-democracy reporting is coming
Mael Vallejo More threats to press freedom across the Americas
Sue Robinson Engagement journalism will have to confront a tougher reality
Megan Lucero and Shirish Kulkarni The future of journalism is not you
Doris Truong Workers demand to be paid what the job is worth
Ryan Nave Citizen journalism, but make it equitable
Jakob Moll Journalism startups will think beyond English
Mar Cabra The inevitable mental health revolution
A.J. Bauer Covering the right wrong
Jarrad Henderson Video editing will help people understand the media they consume
Anthony Nadler Confronting media gerrymandering
Kirstin McCudden We’ll codify protection of journalism and newsgathering
Sue Schardt Toward a new poetics of journalism
Joe Amditis AI throws a lifeline to local publishers
Upasna Gautam Technology that performs at the speed of news
Jim Friedlich Local journalism steps up to the challenge of civic coverage
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Well-being will become a core tenet of journalism
Alexandra Svokos Working harder to reach audiences where they are
Joanne McNeil Facebook and the media kiss and make up
Cory Bergman The AI content flood
David Skok Renewed interest in human-powered reporting
Basile Simon Towards supporting criminal accountability
Eric Ulken Generative AI brings wrongness at scale
Matt Rasnic More newsroom workers turn to organized labor
Danielle K. Brown and Kathleen Searles DEI efforts must consider mental health and online abuse
Rachel Glickhouse Humanizing newsrooms will be a badge of honor
Mary Walter-Brown and Tristan Loper Mission-driven metrics become our North Star
Amethyst J. Davis The slight of the great contraction
An Xiao Mina Journalism in a time of permacrisis
Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau More of the same
Bill Grueskin Local news will come to rely on AI
Jenna Weiss-Berman The economic downturn benefits the podcasting industry. (No, really!)
Al Lucca Digital news design gets interesting again
Kathy Lu We need emotionally agile newsroom leaders
Tim Carmody Newsletter writers need a new ethics
J. Siguru Wahutu American journalism reckons with its colonialist tendencies
Sarah Stonbely Growth in public funding for news and information at the state and local levels
Nicholas Jackson There will be launches — and we’ll keep doing the work
Delano Massey The industry shakes its imposter syndrome
Anna Nirmala News organizations get new structures
Molly de Aguiar and Mandy Van Deven Narrative change trend brings new money to journalism
Cassandra Etienne Local news fellowships will help fight newsroom inequities
Julia Beizer News fatigue shows us a clear path forward
Wilson Liévano Diaspora journalism takes the next step
Elite Truong In platform collapse, an opportunity for community
Surya Mattu Data journalists learn from photojournalists
Johannes Klingebiel The innovation team, R.I.P.
Burt Herman The year AI truly arrives — and with it the reckoning
Bill Adair The year of the fact-check (no, really!)
Andrew Donohue We’ll find out whether journalism can, indeed, save democracy
Esther Kezia Thorpe Subscription pressures force product innovation
Hillary Frey Death to the labor-intensive memo for prospective hires
Parker Molloy We’ll reach new heights of moral panic
Richard Tofel The press might get better at vetting presidential candidates
Jennifer Choi and Jonathan Jackson Funders finally bet on next-generation news entrepreneurs
Eric Thurm Journalists think of themselves as workers
Errin Haines Journalists on the campaign trail mend trust with the public
Joshua P. Darr Local to live, wire to wither
Pia Frey Publishers start polling their users at scale
Anika Anand Independent news businesses lead the way on healthy work cultures
Alex Perry New paths to transparency without Twitter
S. Mitra Kalita “Everything sucks. Good luck to you.”
Amy Schmitz Weiss Journalism education faces a crossroads
Michael Schudson Journalism gets more and more difficult
Gordon Crovitz The year advertisers stop funding misinformation
Andrew Losowsky Journalism realizes the replacement for Twitter is not a new Twitter
Gina Chua The traditional story structure gets deconstructed
Nicholas Thompson The year AI actually changes the media business
Kaitlyn Wells We’ll prioritize media literacy for children
Kavya Sukumar Belling the cat: The rise of independent fact-checking at scale
Peter Sterne AI enters the newsroom
Lisa Heyamoto The independent news industry gets a roadmap to sustainability
Jennifer Brandel AI couldn’t care less. Journalists will care more.
Mario García More newsrooms go mobile-first
Leezel Tanglao Community partnerships drive better reporting
Ståle Grut Your newsroom experiences a Midjourney-gate, too
Joni Deutsch Podcast collaboration — not competition — breeds excellence
Victor Pickard The year journalism and capitalism finally divorce
Francesco Zaffarano There is no end of “social media”
Ryan Kellett Airline-like loyalty programs try to tie down news readers
Felicitas Carrique and Becca Aaronson News product goes from trend to standard
Emma Carew Grovum The year to resist forgetting about diversity
Zizi Papacharissi Platforms are over
Paul Cheung More news organizations will realize they are in the business of impact, not eyeballs
Jessica Clark Open discourse retrenches
Karina Montoya More reporters on the antitrust beat
Ben Werdmuller The internet is up for grabs again
Moreno Cruz Osório Brazilian journalism turns wounds into action
Alan Henry A reckoning with why trust in news is so low
Jody Brannon We’ll embrace policy remedies
Sam Guzik AI will start fact-checking. We may not like the results.
Tre'vell Anderson Continued culpability in anti-trans campaigns
Sumi Aggarwal Smart newsrooms will prioritize board development
Sarah Marshall A web channel strategy won’t be enough
Daniel Trielli Trust in news will continue to fall. Just look at Brazil.
Shanté Cosme The answer to “quiet quitting” is radical empathy
Anita Varma Journalism prioritizes the basic need for survival
Julia Angwin Democracies will get serious about saving journalism
Kerri Hoffman Podcasting goes local
Sarabeth Berman Nonprofit local news shows that it can scale
Ayala Panievsky It’s time for PR for journalism
Raney Aronson-Rath Journalists will band together to fight intimidation
Jesse Holcomb Buffeted, whipped, bullied, pulled
Brian Moritz Rebuilding the news bundle
Eric Nuzum A focus on people instead of power
Josh Schwartz The AI spammers are coming
Snigdha Sur Newsrooms get nimble in a recession
Priyanjana Bengani Partisan local news networks will collaborate
Nicholas Diakopoulos Journalists productively harness generative AI tools
Eric Holthaus As social media fragments, marginalized voices gain more power
Mauricio Cabrera It’s no longer about audiences, it’s about communities
Brian Stelter Finding new ways to reach news avoiders
Larry Ryckman We’ll work together with our competitors
Sarah Alvarez Dream bigger or lose out
Stefanie Murray The year U.S. media stops screwing around and becomes pro-democracy
Dana Lacey Tech will screw publishers over
Alex Sujong Laughlin Credit where it’s due
Juleyka Lantigua Newsrooms recognize women of color as the canaries in the coal mine
Christoph Mergerson The rot at the core of the news business