Apple Launches 'Media Literacy' Initiative to Encourage Critical Thinking and Better Informed Evaluation of News

Apple today announced the launch of a new media literacy initiative that's designed to encourage critical thinking and empower students to be better informed.

Apple is teaming up with several nonprofit nonprofit organizations in the United States and Europe that offer nonpartisan, independent media literacy programs, including the News Literacy Project (NLP) and Common Sense in the U.S. and the Osservatorio Permanente Giovani-Editori in Italy.

Each of these nonprofits will receive support from Apple to help them further their media literacy goals. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that news literacy is "vital" to maintaining free press.

"News literacy is vital to sustaining a free press and thriving democracy, and we are proud to be collaborating with organizations on the front lines of this effort," said ‌Tim Cook‌, Apple's CEO. "We've been impressed by the important work being done by the News Literacy Project, Common Sense and Osservatorio, empowering young people to be active and engaged citizens."

Alan C. Miller, founder and CEO of NLP, said that the organization is grateful for Apple's commitment to fighting misinformation.

"We are grateful for Apple's commitment to fighting misinformation and sustaining quality journalism," said Alan C. Miller, founder and CEO of NLP. "NLP is committed to equipping the next generation with the critical thinking skills to discern what news and other information to trust and the tools to become informed and engaged participants in our country's democracy. We welcome this timely initiative to help achieve our vision of seeing news literacy embedded in the American educational experience."

The News Literacy Project and Common Sense are both aimed at teaching students skills to become "smart, active consumers of news" and other information.

These media literacy programs are designed to teach students to identify different types of media and understand the messages that are being sent. The skills taught in these programs allow students to take a look at why something was created, who created it, and whether it's credible or not, evaluating viewpoints, hidden messages, and persuasive intent.

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Top Rated Comments

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StellarVixen

8 months ago

Apple is becoming too political lately.

I liked the old Web better. You had all the sources available to you, and you had to pick what you think is right.

This is just another face of censorship.

Rating: 21 Votes

AngerDanger

8 months ago

Too bad the new generation doesn’t know how to even think consciously at all

As opposed to thinking… subconsciously? Dunno what you mean by "think[ing] consciously," but I do know that seeing the worst in the next generation has been in vogue for nearly 2.5 millennia.

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
—Socrates

Rating: 18 Votes

LordVic

8 months ago

One of the biggest failings of modern education is the lack of critical thinking skills and the focus on rote memorization without understanding.

Anyone who thinks that learning critical thinking is a bad thing has an agenda and is trying to keep you uneducated and placid for their own gain. A well informed population with critical thinking is important to a stable, and healthy society.

edit: forgot half my sentence.

Rating: 13 Votes

neuropsychguy

8 months ago

Too bad the new generation doesn’t know how to even think consciously at all

This isn't a new problem. Critical thinking has always been a struggle.

Rating: 10 Votes

lunarworks

8 months ago

The "FAKE NEWS!" crowd isn't gonna like Apple teaching people how to identify actual fake news.

Rating: 10 Votes

M.PaulCezanne

8 months ago

People need less news. LESS news.

Rating: 9 Votes

mozumder

8 months ago

Need people to pass high school for any media literacy to work. Teach them scientific principles, on how to determine facts from evidence. Too bad many anti-science activists are against that.

Rating: 9 Votes

scrapesleon

8 months ago

Too bad the new generation doesn’t know how to even think consciously at all

Rating: 8 Votes

lunarworks

8 months ago

Apple is becoming too political lately.

I liked the old Web better. You had all the sources available to you, and you had to pick what you think is right.

This is just another face of censorship.

It was a lot more difficult to spread hate, misinformation, and propaganda on the old web. You had to pay your monthly hosting bill, which could be expensive depending on your traffic, and getting your message out there was more difficult because search engines were primitive and you didn't have social media to propagate it.

Now people use the web as their primary source of news, hosting is dirt cheap, and you can spam your crap on Facebook and Twitter.

Rating: 5 Votes

Naaaaak

8 months ago

Even without considering the way the news is written, the bias of what is news worthy is already baked in the information the public is exposed to on a daily basis. So much is happening in the world and yet all the "news" channels have the same stories. "News" outlets direct and shape the public's opinions on issues from the very beginning of deciding what is "news."

Many "news" outlets distract from bad events for their political owners by burying a story. I've noticed when celebrities are dominating a news cycle, real events are being buried. Comparing international takes on events to domestic takes can sometimes reveal things.

Apple News is just Apple wanting a cut for repeating a message while pretending the user is "informed".

Rating: 4 Votes

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