2 April 2024 - Media literacy and our crusade

The place to go for conversations about the news

Hello Squizer - there’s been something of a storming of The Squiz citadel this week, with me, Bryce from Squiz Kids, staging a takeover of News Club…

But don’t worry. Claire and Kate are fine. And it’s all for an excellent cause.

Unless you’ve been living under an AI-generated rock, you’d have heard the news about Meta refusing to renew deals with Aussie publishers as it smothers news content on its platforms. Among the many flow-on effects will be an inevitable uptick in the amount of misinformation allowed to flourish unchecked online. It comes as the US Government debates a ban on TikTok and Florida’s Governor tables legislation to ban kids under 14yo from social media. 

That’s why we created Newshounds, our free media literacy classroom resource for primary school kids. It teaches them to spot misinformation when they come across it online. Launched 18 months ago, it’s now used in over 2,000 primary school classrooms across the country.

When this newsletter drops, I’ll be touching down in New Zealand to launch Newshounds across the ditch. And later this year, I’m off to the Northern Hemisphere as part of a Churchill Fellowship to study how media literacy has been incorporated into primary school curriculums in the US, UK, France, Finland, and Estonia.

So, yeah - it’s fair to say media literacy is having a moment. This is why the folks at The Big Squiz (as I like to call them) have given over this week’s edition of News Club to chat with me about my passion. Go for the chat about media literacy, and stay for the lurid details about my former life as a journalist, author, Paris showgirl enthusiast, and wannabe rockstar. 

All this brings me to your Club Picks for this week: 

1. For some context on the Meta/News Media Bargaining Code saga, here’s an article penned by The Conversation editor Misha Ketchell on how it all reminds him of the fable of the scorpion and the frog.

2. This is a great Forbes article on California’s introduction of mandatory media literacy education at every grade level last year. It includes the sobering stat that on Twitter/X, fake news stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted than real ones.

3. By virtue of its proximity to Russia, Finland has been inoculating its population against misinformation for almost 2 decades. As this article explains, education starts with kids at primary school. 

You can listen to my interview with Kate on the News Club podcast. As always, we’d love to know what’s on your mind and answer any questions you have - hit reply to this email if that’s you. And while you’re here, give us your opinion by taking the poll below. 

Your friend in media literacy
Bryce Corbett from Squiz Kids

PS No clue what Squiz Kids is? We’re a daily news podcast for busy families. Find us here.

Share us with your mates

A few weeks ago, Kate and Claire talked about Meta and what could happen if they pulled Aussie publishers from Facebook and Instagram. Long story short, it will mean trusted news sources won’t show up in your feed. So if you’ve got mates who rely on a social scroll for their news, get them onto the Squiz Today newsletter. Tell them to go here and sign right up. Imagine the great conversations you’ll have after they Squiz...

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Hit reply with everything you’re dying to know. You can also DM us on Insta @thesquiznewsclub - we’re all ears.

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