Readers of George Orwell’s Animal Farm should remember Squealer, the pig whose “journalism” manipulated the entire animal society into unquestioningly supporting the dictatorial pig Napoleon. If they studied Animal Farm in the classroom, the depressing odds are they learned it as a good, all-American attack on socialism. The most simple-minded of our teachers make a [...]

Just a quick share of some resources I made optional for the “In Google We Trust” students I mentioned last time.  Transparency is all, so enjoy, quibble, supplement, whatever: Optional Media Literacy Readings: 1. Think Peer Reviewed journals are no better than blogs? “How Stuff Works” gives a good overview that will (I hope) make [...]

1. Pew News IQ Quiz: America’s college graduates score a D- (61%) on basic news knowledge. (click for larger image) Take the Pew quiz here. It’s only 12 questions.  It raises a few questions, among which these interest me most: a)  I haven’t lived in the States since ’98, and haven’t consumed any mainstream US [...]