By Tyler Arnold | From Watchdog.org
Pennsylvania Democrats introduced a bill in the state legislature last week with the stated intent of helping shield school children from what they deem to be “fake news.”
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Beginning in kindergarten and continuing through the senior year of high school, public school students would be required to take media literacy classes to better acquaint themselves with identifying bias, misinformation and holes in a story.
The language of the bill is benign and includes some good ideas.
“The curriculum may include, but need not be limited to: developing critical thinking skills; understanding how media messages shape culture and society; identifying target marketing strategies; naming techniques of persuasion used; recognizing bias and misinformation; discovering parts of a story that are not being told; and evaluating media messages based on personal experiences, skills, beliefs and values,” the bill reads.
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“As the 2016 election progressed, the prominence of intentionally false stories made to appear as legitimate news reports increased,” state Rep. Tim Briggs, a Democrat from Montgomery County, wrote in a letter seeking co-sponsors, according to The Sentinel. “While it may be difficult to determine how much affect this ‘fake news’ had on the outcome of the election it is, at a minimum, a disservice to our public discourse.”
