Via
Romenesko:
Proposal unveiled to hire 50 laid-off journalists to teach "news literacy" to non-journalism college majorsQuote:
Stony Brook University unveiled on Friday a proposal to hire 50 laid-off journalists to undergo training this summer and join dozens of U.S. university campuses in the fall to teach "news literacy" to non-journalism majors.
Howard Schneider, dean of the Stony Brook School of Journalism, announced the initative at the end of a three-day conference on news literacy. "Their salaries would be paid for by the grant," said Schneider. He and Alberto Ibarguen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, confirmed that Knight would provide a planning grant to launch the initiative.
Schenider said he will seek funding from two potential sources. He said they would be sought from the federal government's economic stimulus plan and from foundations. He said he was seeking other universities and colleges to help with the effort.
If only they can get the taxpayer or some other fool to pay for teaching "news literacy," which translates roughly as "don't believe anything you read and only half of what you hear."