Today’s educators and college students play an important role in sharing news and information. But, as Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” 

 The sharing of misinformation has contributed to a division in our communities and, likely, on your campus. 

 That’s what makes this third annual National News Literacy Week (Jan. 24-28) so important.

 News literacy involves discerning fact from fiction and understanding what sources to trust. National News Literacy Week was created to raise awareness of news literacy as an essential life skill in a healthy democracy. 

 Whether you are working for the student news media, sharing information on social media or talking about what you have seen or heard in the news, everyone has a role in separating harmful and divisive rhetoric from fact-based reports.

 Please take a moment to ask:

• Do you consider yourself news literate?
• What about your friends and family? 
• Do you share only credible, truthful, verified information?
• Do you pause before you post or tweet?
• Are you contributing to uniting others around credible information or are you sowing division?

We all have more to do to ensure that our communities are well-informed.  

 Please make the commitment to be news literate and encourage others to do the same. Visit www.newslit.org [newslit.org] to learn more. 

Alan Miller, Founder and CEO, News Literacy Project

Adam Symson, President and CEO, The E.W. Scripps Company