Media Literacy, News Literacy, or News Appreciation? A Case Study of the News Literacy Program at Stony Brook University

Abstract

This case study provides practical and theoretical insights into the Stony Brook news literacy program, which is one of the most ambitious and well-funded curricular experiments in modern journalism education and media literacy. Analysis of document, interview, and observation data indicates that news literacy educators sought to teach students how to access, evaluate, analyze, and appreciate journalism. Students responded favorably to the approach that was designed for all undergraduates, instead of just journalism majors. Implications and future directions include looking at the preferred readings of news texts found in the Stony Brook curriculum in the same way one would contextualize lessons in college-level music appreciation courses.