Izzy, London

This article explains that gender critical beliefs refer to people who believe that sex assigned at birth is overall, more important than gender and often believe that the rights of women are being threatened by trans rights. It also explains the views of LGBT+ activists who oppose these beliefs. I chose this article because I thought it effectively highlighted the dangers behind gender critical beliefs and how they are often just poorly veiled transphobia, along with the damage towards the transgender community caused by privileged people in positions of power who hold these beliefs.

Is it a news story?

This article was recent, as it was written late July. The points made by the journalist are also not new since they report on things such as the controversial tweets made by JK Rowling over a year ago, and ongoing discussions which have been happening since long before it was written. However, the article itself is still informative as it provides interesting information about the debate and a clear explanation behind it.

Did this really happen?

It is clear to me that the article is legitimate since the events which are described are all things which have actually happened and been reported on by other companies. It also provides quotes from real people such as Nim Ralph, a transgender activist.

Is the story balanced?

The news story is balanced, providing multiple viewpoints from both self described “gender criticals” and also LGBT+ activists and organisations who believe gender critical beliefs to be harmful. It is therefore balanced since it provides different viewpoints on the situation.

What do you think?

I agree that gender critical beliefs are a form of transphobia and are incredibly harmful, as they ultimately stigmatise trans women, who do not pose a threat to cisgender women as gender criticals will often claim, and exclude them from women’s spaces. The article did not change my view as this was one I held prior to reading it. Whilst it did provide viewpoints from gender critical people, they were views which I didn’t agree with.

What do you think of this story? Do you agree with Izzy’’s analysis? Have a go yourself with the three news stories of the week that she has chosen and use our question cards to help you.

https://news.sky.com/story/harrow-stabbings-five-people-taken-to-hospital-with-stab-wounds-following-large-fight-in-northwest-london-12395169

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/30/pentagon-kabul-drone-strike-islamic-state

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9939501/Marketing-executive-killed-murder-suicide-police-not-looking-else.html

The post What Are Gender Critical Beliefs? appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

Dozens of COVID testing providers to be removed from GOV.UK list after review | UK News | Sky News

Izzy, London

This article talks about how certain companies providing day 2 and day 8 tests for people arriving to the UK from overseas will be removed from the GOV.UK lists since they had been advertising misleading low prices. I chose this article since it brought to light the misleading information about testing.

Who is telling the story?

The story was published by Sky News which is a fairly reputable company. They have published other articles regarding politics and COVID-19 and are normally quite reliable.

Did this really happen?

The news story provides quotes from real people, such as Sajid Javid, the Secretary of Health and Social Care. It also provides statistics about reported cases from Public Health England, last updated on the 22nd of August meaning that they are relevant.

Is the news story unbiased?

The news story uses neutral language, although only uses one view point on the situation. However, I don’t think that the story would change too much even if different viewpoints had been included.

Is the news story presenting facts or opinion?

The news story is presenting facts since the tone is neutral and the journalist presents statistics and quotes to report on the story.

What do you think of this story? Do you agree with Izzy’’s analysis? Have a go yourself with the three news stories of the week that she has chosen and use our question cards to help you. 

Germany in talks to allow civilian airlift after deadline – as it happened | World news | The Guardian

Extinction Rebellion London protests live: Police try to clear roads as activists ‘scrub clean’ door of HMRC | The Independent

Up to 200 anti-vaxxers storm ITN’s London HQ | Daily Mail Online

The post Dozens of COVID testing providers to be removed from GOV.UK list after review appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

Theo, Leeds

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58230278

This article attempts to highlight the issue that is caused by air pollution in the City of London, specifically its effects on school children. The main headline  reports that nearly every school (98%) within the limits of the city is within toxic air conditions, compared to only 25% outside the city. 

I chose it as it provided an interesting insight into the problem of air pollution in urban areas. 

Who is telling this story/is it a news story? 

The story is written by the BBC which I consider to be a reputable source and the main place from which I get my information. The story itself is based upon data mostly sourced in 2019 when a child died from air pollution, making the actual main body of data fairly old. However, the data is fairly well sourced, with links to further reading from the appropriate time. 

The main part of the story does concern new rulings made by Sadiq Khan far more recently about expanding the ultra-low emissions zone which makes this update a news story. 

Who is this news story for? 

This news story appears to be mainly aimed towards Londoners, informing them of what is happening within their city. However, with the additional information on how air pollution can affect cities, it can be seen as cautionary advice towards the rest of the UK too. 

Is this news story balanced? 

The news story appears to be fairly well balanced, leaning towards stating a small number of facts and quoting leading figures. However, while it does provide a useful bit of background information, it lacks a more detailed dive into the issue which could be more informative, such as maps of the current London air quality, or sources/interviews with health experts or more people affected by the event. 

What is this story trying to achieve? 

This story, as stated earlier, appears to be attempting to maintain interest in a story by giving the latest update on a longer on-going storyline. As such, it gives only the minimal information needed to generate a view and keep the thought in peoples head. For this it does a good job, however if wanted to be more ambitious, a great deal more information could have been added to keep the story more informative/engaging.

What do you think of this story? Do you agree with Theo’s analysis? Have a go yourself with the three news stories of the week that he has chosen and use our question cards to help you. 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/17/uk-homes-low-carbon-hydrogen-economy-jobs

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a37317306/womens-rights-afghanistan/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9900587/Banning-phones-class-pupils-ANXIETY.html

The post Nearly every London school in high air pollution area, report says BBC News appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

Saskia Seddon, York

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/06/lotion-in-the-ocean-is-your-sunscreen-killing-the-sea

This article highlights the dangers posed to the ocean by sunscreen. It takes a look at the harmful ingredients which can cause coral bleaching and how it occurs. It includes different views from scientists and researchers, one of which is that, while damage is caused, there are more important actions to take in the fight to protect marine ecology. 

I chose this article to study as it highlights the everyday impact we are having to our crucial ecosystems and how little we know about the dangers of commonly used products. 

Did this really happen?/who is telling the news story?

The media company this story was covered by is The Guardian – a reputable source which I have been reading from for years. It used quotes from scientific experts and their research to provide a well balanced and accurate report of the effects of sunscreen. It is written by Emine Saner who is a feature writer for The Guardian. The topics she covers are wide and varied and has written this particular story in a more factual and less opinionated way. 

Is it a news story?

The topic it covers is useful as while it has been affecting the ecosystems for years the adverse affects may not be well known by the general public. I would argue it is not a news story as it is provides research studies from a number of years and is more an informative article that will be read by the general public in the hope it will raise awareness of the dangers of common products and how to choose more eco-friendly products. 

Is the news story balanced?

The story is balanced and includes perspectives of scientists who have conducted intensive research on this subject. However, it does not push the point that changing sunscreen itself is the magic cure all for climate change and includes a different perspective by Prof. Terry Hughes suggesting ‘no scientific evidence that use of sunscreens by people has a harmful effect’ and that swapping sunscreens alone will not make a big difference.

Is the story presenting fact or opinion? Is it unbiased?

The story is presenting facts with the use of quotes and statistics by leading scientists in the field covered. It includes conflicting opinions between these scientists which may suggest that further investigation of this topic should still be carried out. I would be interested to include the perspective of the creators of sunscreens which contain harmful chemicals and find out more about their process of testing and how they ensure that these chemicals don’t have a harmful effect on the environment to give a full view on the subject. This could shift the article from informative to more argumentative with the manufacturers being more interested in protecting their product than investigating it. I would say that no one is treated unfairly in the article. Despite being on the topic of climate change, it avoids being accusatory and is instead balanced, providing information and tips on what can be done differently. 

What is the story trying to achieve?

I would say the story is trying to raise awareness using studies of the impact of chemicals that we use everyday and prove suggestions on what we should be avoiding and what we can use instead. The language used is not particularly emotive, focusing more on concrete evidence but through the use of quotes, I feel inspired to not simply carry on in the blissful idea that simply because something is beneficial to me, it must also be to the outward environment surrounding me. 

I had some awareness coming into this story about the impacts of such products like makeup on the environment but I didn’t know much about the widespread impacts of the chemicals that can be found within them.  I would say this story has increased my awareness and has given me the desire to conduct my proper research into the products I should or shouldn’t be using. I think it’s important for everyone to read about such topics so they can at the very least be aware of the choices they can make.

What do you think of this story? Do you agree with Saskia’s analysis? Have a go yourself with the three news stories of the week that she has chosen and use our question cards to help you. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9877945/Covid-tests-FIVE-TIMES-cost-flights-Screening-expensive-return-journey-Europe.html

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-sounds-clarion-call-over-irreversible-climate-impacts-by-humans-2021-08-09/

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/piers-morgan-says-level-students-24725772

The post Lotion in the Ocean: Is your Sunscreen Killing the Sea? appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

The National Literacy Trust originally started the Tuesday Newsday initiative to encourage teachers to talk about the news with their students. As part of the National Literacy Trust, News Literacy Network, the Charlotte Project has adapted the idea for parents and their children to discuss the news together.

Every week over the summer holiday, we will ask a young student to give us their take on a current news story. We will also post a further 3 stories for you to discuss together. To make it as easy as possible, we provide a series of questions that can form the framework for your analysis of each story.

This week, Saskia, 18, from York looks at the issue of sun-creams damaging the marine ecosystem.

Enjoy the discussion. What do you think of Saskia’s analysis? And she has chosen a further three stories for you to look at

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9877945/Covid-tests-FIVE-TIMES-cost-flights-Screening-expensive-return-journey-Europe.html

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-sounds-clarion-call-over-irreversible-climate-impacts-by-humans-2021-08-09/

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/piers-morgan-says-level-students-24725772

Use the question cards to talk about the stories making the news.

The post Tuesday Newsday: Let’s Talk About The News appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

According to Ofcom, media literacy enables people to have the skills, knowledge and understanding to make full use of the opportunities presented by both traditional and new communications services. Media literacy also helps people to manage content and communications and protect themselves and their families from the potential risks associated with using these services.

In other words, if you don’t understand the information you are getting online and in print, how are you going to be able to make the right decisions that will allow you and your family to stay safe, healthy and prosper?

Which makes the results from Ofcom’s Adult’s Media Use and Attitudes Report 2020/21 very worrying. It showed that 30% of the adults surveyed believe that most of the information they find online is true and a further 24% did not consider the potential trustworthiness of online information at all.

Probably the best practical example of why knowing the difference between truthful and not truthful information has been over the last 18 months with information about Covid-19.

According to Ofcom’s Children’s News Consumption survey published in April 2021, more than six in ten children aged 12-15 agreed that they found it hard to know what was true and what was false about Covid-19 during the second lockdown (November-December 2020) – a higher proportion than had felt this during the first lockdown (April 2020: 52%).

As the year went on, 12-15s used on average fewer news sources than they had earlier in the Covid19 pandemic (3.7 in November-December, compared to 4.5 in April). Friends and family became the most-used sources for news and information about Covid-19, although this decreased from 67% in April to 56% in November-December 2020.

Which means that children are relying on adults to tell them what’s truthful and what isn’t but 54% of adults either don’t think about it or think most of the information is true so don’t necessarily check.

Here are some simple questions that you can ask yourself when reading information to help you work out if it’s truthful or not.

• What’s the source? – Where was it published? What do you know about the publication? When was it published?
• What’s the content? – Is it factual or is it just someone’s opinion? If there are facts, where do they come from?
• Intention – What is the purpose of the article? Does it make you want to do something? Why is that?
• Authorship – Who wrote it? What do you know about them? Do they have an agenda?
• Language – What sort of language is being used? Is it “shouty”? How does it make you feel?

The Charlotte Project offers free media literacy and critical thinking workshops for 15 to 18 year olds and delivered by trained journalists. The workshops are designed to be engaging and give students some tools that they can apply to information that they get to work out what’s truthful and what isn’t.

If you would like to arrange a free workshop at your school just drop us a line at info@charlotteproject.org

The post Why is media literacy important? appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

Despite what some people have claimed, “fake news” is not a new issue. According to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_news one of the earliest examples was as far back as the 13th century BC!

What is “fake news”? The Collins English Dictionary defines “fake news” as: False, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/fake-news).

So is there a Fake News epidemic? Are all the news organisations writing “fake news”? How can you tell? Who can you trust?

If we take the Collins definition then the answer is no, the news media is not full of false news. That is because reputable news organisations spend a lot of time and millions of pounds checking sources and making sure that the stories they run are as accurate as possible. In fact, every year journalists, photographers and cameramen die whilst trying to bring accurate news to us.

In addition, there are now numerous fact-checking websites that check stories and debunk them within hours of them appearing. Sites like www.snopes.com, www.FactCheck.org and www.FullFact.org. You can find links to more sites on our Useful Links page https://www.charlotteproject.org/useful-links/.

Reputable news sources do sometimes make mistakes. No news organisation is perfect but they will normally acknowledge their mistake and correct it quickly.

So if a person or organisation claims that a story is “Fake News” the questions we need to ask are:

1. What’s the source of the story? Is it reliable?
2. What other media outlets have written a similar story?
3. What do the fact-checking websites say?

If other reputable media outlets are writing similar stories and the fact-checking websites confirm the stories are true then we have to ask ourselves why has the person or organisation called the story “Fake”?

1. Has there been a genuine mistake?
2. Does the media outlet have an agenda?
3. If more than one media outlet has written a similar story then do they all have similar agendas? The website mediabiasfactcheck.com has a comprehensive database of media outlet bias.
4. Is it just an easy response to the story, a bit like a naughty child automatically denying it was them when caught doing something they shouldn’t?

The big question is, do people and organisations that are accusing the media of ‘Fake News” share a common interest? What happens if, as a result of the number of accusations of “Fake News” we begin to doubt all news stories? If that happens, who benefits?

It’s easy to get confused with all the claims and counter claims of “Fake News” being bandied about. The good news is there are lots of reliable sites that you can go to in order to check facts and find out media bias. Why not use them?

The post Is there a “Fake News” Epidemic? appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

Since 2016 authorities, intelligence agencies and the media have been exploring the allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 US Presidential Elections and influenced the results. Much evidence has already been uncovered and investigations continue.

It’s not the first time though that alleged Russian involvement in an election has influenced the outcome. In 1923 the Labour Party was elected to power in the UK for the first time. It was a minority Government led by Ramsey MacDonald which meant that they could lose power if the other two main opposition parties, the Conservatives and Liberals came together.

The world in the 1920s was experiencing great political and social change. The first World War had not long ended and there was a change in the old established class order. The rise of Socialism following the Russian Revolution was also causing great concern in Western Democracies that something similar could happen in their countries.

On October 8, 1924 the Government lost a motion of no confidence following its decision to drop the prosecution, under the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797, of the communist Editor of the Worker’s Weekly. The Editor, John Ross Campbell had written an article calling on soldiers to “let it be known that, neither in the class war nor in a military war, will you turn your guns on your fellow workers.” A General Election as called for the 29, October 1924.

4 days before the election The Daily Mail published a letter purporting to be from the Head (Grigory Zinoviev) and the Secretary (Otto Wille Kuusinen) of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, (known as the Comintern) to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). According to Wikipedia one of the most damning parts of the letter was

“A settlement of relations between the two countries will assist in the revolutionising of the international and British proletariat not less than a successful rising in any of the working districts of England, as the establishment of close contact between the British and Russian proletariat, the exchange of delegations and workers, etc. will make it possible for us to extend and develop the propaganda of ideas of Leninism in England and the Colonies.”

Zinoviev, the Soviet Government and the Comintern all strongly denied that they had written the letter. Despite these denials and those of the Labour Party and CPGB the letter and the Daily Mail article caused a media storm.

Whoever did write it, the result was that in the election, the Conservatives benefitted from an 8.8% swing in the vote giving them an extra 154 seats in the House of Commons and a landslide victory allowing them to form a strong majority government.

A Government enquiry carried out in November 1924 concluded that it was unlikely the document was genuine. Subsequent investigations have found no conclusive proof of who may have written the letter.

Sources: Rory Clements, Corpus

https://wdc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/russian/id/2595/

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/twenties-britain-part-one/zinoviev-letter/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinoviev_letter

https://spartacus-educational.com/TUzinoviev.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1999/feb/04/uk.politicalnews6

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/election-2017-guide-swing-what-is-it-how-calculate-important-electoral-expert-conservatives-labour-a7707321.html

The post Influencing Election Results appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

The post How I became a Journalist by Dhara Ranasinghe appeared first on The Charlotte Project.

Whenever she heard it her question to the candidate would be “and what have you done to show this?”. Most often the reply would be “I haven’t had the time as I’ve been concentrating on getting a good degree”. This is perfectly understandable, after all, a good degree is very important but just doing that does not differentiate you from all the other candidates and doesn’t demonstrate your desire to be a journalist.

When I was clearing away Charlotte’s belongings I found a notebook on her bedside table. I’d never seen it before and Charlotte had never spoken about it. Obviously I was curious so I looked through it. The first entry was dated 1986 which would have been the first year of her degree course and continued through the years. The entries were lists of senior politicians and the roles that they had in Government and opposition, not just in the UK but in European countries too. It was clear that she was learning who the important figures were so that at interviews she could show that she knew who the people in the news were and what they did. It also helped her when she volunteered as a reporter and editor on the university newspaper. These were things that Charlotte did to back up her claim that she “wanted to be a journalist”.

You may not be interested in writing about politics and there may not be a university paper or even a local paper that you can volunteer at. The great thing is that with blogs and social media there are lots of ways that you can write about whatever you have a passion for. If you really want to show someone that you want to write there is no better way of doing it than actually writing. Do it ethically, do it honestly and do it regularly.

The post “I’ve always wanted to be a journalist” – Charlotte’s advice appeared first on The Charlotte Project.