How can you tell if the news you read is real?

In this Nov. 15, 2018 file photo, the icons of Facebook and WhatsApp are pictured on an iPhone.

Before we end our special week of coverage about who is in charge of the news, we wanted to empower all of you with ways to distinguish credible journalism from social media posts that may be shared by your friends and family that’s not based in fact. Today on the show, we were joined by the head of UIUC’s journalism department and a Ph.D. student in Learning Sciences at Northwestern. We also had advice about distinguishing posts from the News Literacy Project’s senior vice president of education.

GUESTS: 

Peter Adams

Senior vice president of education, News Literacy Project

Stephanie Craft 

Professor and Head of the Department of Journalism, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Michael Spikes 

Ph.D student in Learning Sciences, Northwestern University

 

 

Prepared for web by Owen Henderson

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Reginald Hardwick

Reginald Hardwick is the News & Public Affairs Director at Illinois Public Media. He oversees daily newscasts and online stories. He also manages The 21st Show, a live, weekday talk show that airs on six NPR stations throughout Illinois. He is the executive producer of IPM's annual environmental TV special "State of Change." And he is the co-creator of Illinois Soul, IPM's Black-focused audio service that launched in February 2024. Before arriving at IPM in 2019, he served as News Director at WKAR in East Lansing and spent 17 years as a TV news producer and manager at KXAS, the NBC-owned station in Dallas/Fort Worth. Reginald is the recipient of three Edward R. Murrow regional awards, seven regional Emmy awards, and multiple honors from the National Association of Black Journalists. Born in Vietnam, Reginald grew up in Colorado and is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado. Email: rh14@illinois.edu Twitter: @RNewsIPM