Social Media Activism: Yay or Nay?

Image from learning for justice.org. Growing up, I could not wait to be an adult. I was eager to explore the world, find myself, and to just do adult things. When my parents and elders noticed that I was rushing my childhood, they would say "do not rush your childhood, you are an adult longer …

Wake up America & say NO to racial stereotypes

Image from 'The Columbus Dispatch' https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2021/05/25/ohio-republicans-introduce-bill-ban-teaching-critical-race-theory/7432289002/ When talking about race and racism, how do you feel? Do you feel sad, happy, or dismissed? For many, the conversation of race and racism is extremely hard to have, especially when there are groups of people who benefit from it, while others do not. In 2021, the conversation …

Detecting Propaganda

from Wikipedia.com Propaganda in the news is nothing new. For years, people have used propaganda to persuade and manipulate viewers into believing and supporting many different causes, most of the time involving enlisting in a war. But what is propaganda? Propaganda is defined as “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote …

What is Journalism 2.0 at Wheaton College?

This is a brand new course, first taught in the Spring of 2020. The course examines how the Internet has profoundly altered the nature of journalism and consequently, the nature of civic engagement in the United States. Students gain media literacy training, an introduction to the theory and practice of civic media and with this …