2017

SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR

NEWS LITERACY FELLOWS
IN ASIA

Instructor: Masato Kajimoto

E-mail: kajimoto@hku.hk
Bio: http://goo.gl/zBB42x
Phone: +852 9881-0656

Coordinator: Samantha Stanley

E-mail: samanthamstanley@gmail.com

Coordinator: Anne Kruger

E-mail: akruger@hku.hk

Coordinator in Vietnam: Huyen Nguyen

E-mail: newsliteracyvietnam@gmail.com
Phone: +84 919 421 861
 PRE-WORKSHOP LESSONS
WELCOME AND HOMEWORK

On behalf of the Center for News
Literacy, Stony Brook University; the Journalism
and Media Studies Centre, the University of
Hong Kong; and the Department of Journalism
and Communication, the University of Social
Sciences and Humanities, we would like to
welcome you to the 2017 Institute for News
Literacy Fellows in Asia.
The goals of this year’s workshop are three-
fold:
1. to prepare you to incorporate the concepts
of news literacy such as VIA and IM VA/IN into
your teaching,
2. to help you develop teaching/training plans
and if possible, a new curriculum,
3. to build a network of like-minded educators
and professionals in the Asia-Pacific region and
beyond.
This three-day workshop is a shortened
version of a week-long news literacy teacher
training. You will be putting yourself into the
shoes of your students/trainees in order to:
Because we are cutting the length of the
weeklong workshop into half, we would like you
to be ready to tackle exercises, discussions,
presentations and other learning activities when
you arrive in Ho Chi Minh City.
We have created a special, closed group
online course on Coursera for the pre-workshop
lessons and discussions:
Making Sense of the News: News
Literacy Lessons for Digital Citizens
URL: https://www.coursera.org/teach/
news-literacy/
You will be receiving an invitation email
shortly. Please make sure to register and start
going through the material. Once you’re in the
course, you will see the following:
Week 1. What is news literacy? What is
journalism?
1. What makes journalism different from
other types of information

a) familiarize yourself with the pedagogical a. Introduction - News literacy for civil
methodology we’ve developed, and society in the 21st century

b) discuss its effectiveness in teaching and b. What makes journalism different

learning. c. Information neighborhoods
We believe that in today’s social media- d. Blurred lines
saturated, mobile world, it is essential for
2. What makes some information
educatorsto effectively teach how to navigate
newsworthy?
through the abundance of media content while
distinguishing reliable facts and knowledge from a. Universal news drivers
the problematic. b. Editorial judgment
By incorporating the news literacy curriculum, Week 2. Where can we find trustworthy
we hope that you will be able to find the ways information?
to guide the future generation of discerning
media consumers who could critically assess 1. What do journalists mean by truth?
the information they are getting every day. a. Truth
b. Evidence
c. Why verification fails
2. Is being balanced being fair? Not
necessarily.
a. How do we find fairness?

2 Institute for News Literacy Fellows in Asia 2017 I Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
 Week 3. Says who? Deconstructing news.
1. Says who?
a. The importance of sources
b. Evaluating sources: IM VAIN
c. Evaluating anonymous sources
2. News literacy deconstruction basics
a. News deconstruction steps
b. Debunking the viral news
[Optional] Week 4. What does the number
really say?
1. Beyond the news literacy basics
a. Numbers in context: Opinion polls and
surveys
b. Numbers in context: Health science
Each lecture is followed by recommended
readings and assignments (multiple-choice
quizzes). There is also a dedicated closed forum
for us to post comments and questions. Please
e-mail Dr. Masato Kajimoto (kajimoto@hku.hk) if
you have a technical difficulty.
After you complete the course, there
are two pieces of homework.
The first homework is for you to find a local
example of the “blurred lines of information
neighborhoods” in your country, as our colleague
at the University of Hong Kong, Anne Kruger,
explains in the video (http://goo.gl/9MXkMF).
EXAMPLES
The following are some examples by the
students.
Example 1: News report
“Tasty recipes for diabetics”
from New Straits Times
URL: http://www.nst.com.my/node/15971
Why is this a good example of blurred
lines?
The article introduces recipes that are
“nutritious” and “healthy” for people with
diabetes. But each recipe includes this ingredient
called Glucerna powder and at the end of
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam I Institute for News Literacy Fellows in Asia 2017 3
the article, it mentions the 12-week Glucerna
Challenge Me program with its website address
and telephone number. I originally thought it’s
great to have an article like this that would help
diabetic patients but now I am not sure if this
belongs to the journalism neighborhood or
promotion neighborhood.
Example 2: News report
“In Japan, Food Can Be Almost
Too Cute To Eat”
from NPR
URL: http://www.npr.org/blogs/
thesalt/2013/02/04/170583365/in-japan-food-
can-be-almost-too-cute-to-eat
Why is this a good example of blurred
lines?
The article and the embedded radio interview
were both very informative. I think it could be
considered journalism because NPR is an
independent news organization and it should be
held accountable for the content, which seems
to be all factual (verified). But I also felt that
the interview essentially help the author to get
publicity to promote her book. Compared with
this Washington Post article (“On Japan’s school
lunch menu: A healthy meal, made from scratch”
at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/on-
japans-school-lunch-menu-a-healthy-meal-
made-from-scratch/2013/01/26/5f31d208-
63a2-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html) on
the similar topic, the NPR article and the radio
interview are not clear-cut journalism. I think
they are half journalism, half promotion.
Example 3:
Last Week Tonight by John Oliver: Why Is
This a Good Example of Blurred Lines?
URL: http://aimlessnrandom.blogspot.
hk/2015/05/last-week-tonight-by-john-oliver-
why-is.html)
The second homework is simple. After going
through the pre-workshop lessons, please think
about how some of the news literacy concepts
might be integrated into your teaching or daily
practice. You should bring a soft copy of your
course syllabi or personal plan so that we can
discuss how you might benefit from our news
literacy curriculum in the workshop.
 TIMETABLE

July 31 (Mon) Arrival and check-in at the hotel, Muong Thanh.

Afternoon Muong Thanh Sai Gon Centre Hotel
No.8A, Mac Dinh Chi st., Ben Nghe Ward, District 1,
Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Tel: +84 83 827 9595 (Ext: 788)
Fax: +84 83 823 0000
Website: www.saigon.muongthanh.vn

Aug. 1 (Tue) We meet at the university (D Hall, D102) at 9 a.m.

9:00 Overview of news literacy curricula taught at SBU and JMSC
9:30 – 10:55 Key concepts review: Information neighborhoods and blurred lines
11:10 – 12:30 Homework sharing: Blurred lines of information neighborhoods
12:30 – 14:00 Welcome Lunch
14:00 – 15:15 Key concepts review: VIA and IM VAIN
15:30 – 17:00 How to teach VIA and IM VAIN in Asian countries

Aug. 2 (Wed)
9:30 – 10:55 Key concepts review: Fairness and false equivalence
11:10 – 12:30 Discussion: Audience bias and media bias
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:15 Discussion: Deconstructing images in news
15:30 – 17:00 Workshop: Digital tools for fact checking

Aug. 3 (Thu)
9:30 – 10:55 Homework sharing: How I will teach news literacy
11:10 – 12:30 Participants’ teaching demonstration
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:15 Participants’ teaching demonstration
15:15 – 17:00 Discussion: Next step

18:00 – 21:00 Farewell dinner at Gao (Rice) Restaurant

33 Le Quy Don Street , Distrist 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
We meet at the hotel lobby at 6:30 p.m.

4 Institute for News Literacy Fellows in Asia 2017 I Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam