While the LogicCheck site I started last year was created to use the news of the day to teach critical-thinking skills, it was also meant to demonstrate how media and media consumption could be improved if journalists recognize that they should be checking not just the facts but the reasoning behind the news.
Since then, I’ve given a few interviews that dive more deeply into how critical thinking can be applied to improve the craft of journalism, most recently in an extended interview in Authority Magazine (which included the accompanying video above).
I’ve also done a couple of audio interviews specifically on the application of critical-thinking principles to the practice of journalism at the It’s All Journalism and EdSurge podcasts, the latter one paired with an interview with Peter Adams from the wonderful News Literacy Project (full disclosure, I’ve been doing some work for that organization).
Given that we’ve quintupled down on fact checking over the last 4-5 election cycles without noticeable improvement in the depth and quality of political campaigns, it might be time to recognize that journalists are as much in the critical-thinking as they are in the news business and align their (our) training and priorities accordingly.
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