Senator Dodd Combats Fake News Epidemic with Media Literacy Bill

SACRAMENTO – California State Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) recently introduced a new bill to incorporate media literacy education into school curriculums. Media literacy is the ability to analyze and evaluate information consumed from various media outlets such as websites, social networking sites. television, and radio. Adolescents can spend up to nine hours a day absorbing media from these various sources.

“The rise of fake and misleading news is deeply concerning. Even more concerning is the lack of education provided to ensure people can distinguish what is fact and what’s not,” said Senator Bill Dodd. “Through new technology news has never been more readily available. However, the quality of that information varies widely. By giving students the proper tools to analyze the media they consume, we can empower them to make informed decisions.”

The prevalence of fake news garnered national attention in the recent election, where in the final months of the Presidential campaign, false and misleading stories from hoax websites outperformed actual news stories in terms of social media engagement. This flood of information can make it difficult for the public to differentiate between reputable news sources and false or misleading claims. The practice of advertisements masquerading as news has also seen an increase in recent years. A recent Stanford study found that 82 percent of middle school students struggled to distinguish advertisements from news stories.

Under Dodd’s legislation, the California Board of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission will be responsible for developing the framework for incorporating media literacy into school curriculum’s. The legislation will also see that media literacy training opportunities are made available for teachers in California. The bill should receive its first committee hearing within the next couple of months.

Below is text of Senate Bill 135 as currently proposed:

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 135, as introduced, Dodd. Pupil instruction: media literacy.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including social sciences.

This bill would require the State Board of Education, in the next revision of instructional materials or curriculum frameworks in social sciences for grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to include media literacy, as defined. The bill would require the State Department of Education to make available on its Internet Web site a list of resources and materials on media literacy and to ensure that media literacy training opportunities are made available for use in professional development programs for teachers.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The social implications of technological development are pervasive, and the reach and influence of digital media platforms will continue to expand.

(2) Nearly two-thirds of American adults use social networking sites, and social media usage is ubiquitous among the youngest adults, with over 90 percent of young adults using social media.

(3) Two out of every three adults say fabricated news stories cause a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current issues and events.

(4) A recent Stanford University study showed that 82 percent of middle school students struggled to distinguish advertisements from news stories.

(5) During the final, critical months of the 2016 presidential campaign, 20 top-performing false election stories from hoax Web sites and hyperpartisan blogs generated 8,711,000 shares, reactions, and comments on social media; where, within the same time period, the 20 best-performing election stories from 19 major news Internet Web sites generated a total of 7,367,000 shares, reactions, and comments on Facebook.

(6) It is necessary to confront questions about the moral obligations and ethical standards regarding what appears on social media networks and digital platforms.

(7) Access to technology literacy and digital media skills education for all young students is a challenge, especially for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged communities.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that young adults are prepared with technology literacy and computer skills in order to utilize social media sites responsibly.

SEC. 2.

Section 51206.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:

51206.5.

(a) For purposes of this section, “media literacy” means the ability to encode and decode the symbols transmitted via electronic or digital media and the ability to synthesize, analyze, and produce mediated messages.

(b) In the next revision of instructional materials or curriculum frameworks in the social sciences for grades 1 to 12, inclusive, the state board shall ensure that media literacy is integrated into social science curricula. Components of media literacy may be designed to include the ability to measure 21st century skills of teachers and pupils using the international standards defined by the International Society for Technology in Education so that teachers may effectively use technology and digital resources within their instructional day, measure and teach the critical 21st century skills pupils need to succeed on California’s next-generation online assessments, and prepare pupils for college and career objectives. The skills to be measured may include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Creativity and innovation.

(2) Communication and collaboration.

(3) Research and information fluency.

(4) Critical thinking and problem solving.

(5) Digital citizenship.

(6) Technology operations and concepts.

(7) Information, media, and technological literacy.

(c) The department shall make available to school districts on its Internet Web site a list of resources and materials on media literacy, and shall ensure that approved media literacy training opportunities are made available for use in professional development programs for teachers.

Senator Bill Dodd represents the 3^rdSenate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Yolo, Sacramento, and Contra Costa Counties. You can learn more about Senator Dodd at www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.

Senator Dodd Combats Fake News Epidemic with Media Literacy Bill

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

SEC. 2.

51206.5.

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