Organization Description NewseumED provides free learning tools on media literacy and our First Amendment freedoms.
Program Information The purpose of this project is two-fold: (1) to help students critically think about the candidates and issues for the California mid-term election and corresponding campaign coverage in political ads, news reports, op-eds, and social media; and (2) to inspire more civic engagement in the election process. Based on the 2017 National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, only 56.9% of CSUN students registered to vote or voted in the 2016 election. Students will collaborate with two community partners: League of Women Voters, and Newseum, an interactive museum that promotes public understanding of the importance of a free press and the First Amendment. Students will create interdisciplinary teams, each of which will study a designated campaign issue/candidate and its corresponding news coverage across media platforms. The week prior to the mid-term election the teams will facilitate a student-led News Literacy/Voter Summit to educate and empower their peers to use their voices in the upcoming election. This will be a two-day event, in partnership with Oviatt Library, and relevant student groups will be invited to partner and participate. While the goal is to increase news literacy and citizen involvement in the democratic process, Coms students will also work with the community partner to register voters on campus in October. Additionally, the Jour students will help facilitate news literacy activities during National Media Literacy Week, November 5-9 in conjunction with a discipline-based community engagement project with the Center for Media Literacy (if granted).