Is managing my Twitter account a full time job? It would be great if it were. I’d be guaranteed employment for life.
Since starting J-school at HKU, I’ve been looking for ways to add news literacy into my education. It is, after all, the most important piece of critical thinking education most of us never got. I’ve audited a class in news literacy and been given an internship with HKU’s media literacy master, Dr. Masato Kajimoto. But there is another source of information in the field that has been keeping me busy as well.
Enter: social media.
In my digital journalism class we’ve been tasked with establishing our social media accounts… something I’ve given various efforts over the last 10+ years. But over the past few weeks I’ve had the most fun diving down endless rabbit holes of news and journalism research, watchdog reports, and (most surprisingly) Twitter feeds.
My Twitter list curation has become somewhat of a hobby at this point. Here are ten of my favorite Tweeters from my News and Media Literacy list, in no particular order:
1. @NiemanReports
Nieman Reports is the monthly publication of Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism, mission is “to promote and elevate the standards of journalism.” @NiemanReports tweets about research done at the Nieman Lab, which focuses on the future of journalism and user behavior, and they tweet about interesting journalism topics from other entities. Their tweets come often, which means if you follow them there is always something awesome to read.
2. @EngagingNews
Engaging News Project is a research project at the University of Texas in Austin that “envisions a vibrant American news media that more effectively empowers the public to understand, appreciate, and participate in the democratic exchange of ideas.” Their work is comprised of research on digital strategies and measuring audience engagement and business outcomes (like clicks, page views, etc.). As a digital engagement specialist and a believer in digital solutions, this is one of my favorite groups to keep up with. Almost every time I have a question about user behavior on news sites, they have a study to answer it. Even better… they research great questions about digital behavior that I haven’t thought of.
3. @CJR
The Columbia Journalism Review might just be the ultimate journalism watchdog. They keep an eye on all areas of news and feature analysis along with the latest research that comes from Columbia’s research on news and journalism. They also feature original articles on topics like ethics and the business. Another frequent tweeter, @cjr is another account that is on top of the latest in the world of journalism and always provides something new to read.
4. @TowCenter
Columbia Journalism school’s Tow Center Center for Digital Journalism isn’t the most frequent tweeter, but on its feed you’ll find their latest research and some great curated posts from news experts around the web. I haven’t been following them long, but so far I am really enjoying the variety of their posts.
5. @knightfdn
The John and James L. Knight Foundation sets out “to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.” They fund journalism projects around the world and partner with other leading funders, like Google News Lab, to improve access to quality journalism and strengthen its future. This is a great feed to watch and keep up with how journalism organizations are trying news things to adapt to the changing news landscape.
6. @pewjournalism
Ahh… the Pew Research Center. Trusted source for research on everything from technology to US politics to religion to social trends. And, they publish amazing research on media and news. This is a must-follow account for anyone who is trying to figure out the current and future landscape of journalism and what people’s opinions, trust levels, and utilization of various outlets are. This is another one of my favorites, thanks to the breadth of research and frequency of posts.
7. @onthemedia
So On the Media might be one of my favorite podcasts. A weekly show that highlights some of the past week’s media moments, they often focus on news topics. Especially during huge media seasons like election years. Although I listen to the show every week, I like seeing and sharing their content on Twitter just because it’s such an important show and a great listen.
8. @Newseum
Newseum is a museum about… wait for it… news! Located in Washington, DC, it is a must-see if you visit the US Capital. Their twitter feed highlights interesting exhibits and events they host along the curation of interesting news news from around the web. If you’re itching for a new documentary about news-related topics, this is a great place to find something interesting you didn’t know existed.
9. @TheNewsLP
The News Literacy Project is an organization based in Chicago that partners with professional journalists to teach grade-school students about news and how to think critically about it. Not only is this one of the only programs of its kind (focusing specifically on news literacy as opposed to the more broad media literacy education that is more often a curriculum focus) its twitter feed is a great way to keep up on the latest trends in news literacy education and find tools to help teach it. Plus, they have just launched their own fack-checking program, called Checkology, that you can help them test. How cool is that?
10. @Journalwatcher
Angela Napoletano is a “Journalist (sometimes) trying to understand more about reporting future.” Tweeting from Rome, Italy, @Journalwatcher has the best curation of tweets about journalism and its ethics, digital future, innovations, etc. that I have seen as of yet. Her feed is a must-follow for anyone studying journalism and #futureofnews.
BONUS: @LiquidNewsRoom
Okay, so I know this is a top “ten” list, but as usual, I found another amazing Twitterer to follow as I was clicking around on the pages above and I had to include it. Liquid News Room is a company in Munich, Germany that has a news CMS called “Liquid News Room.” I didn’t actually know that until I started looking into them for this post and I am not endorsing their product here. What I am endorsing is their Twitter feed, which curates posts about digital journalism and even ethical issues. Pretty much everything they post is mined from elsewhere (much like my feed) and topic range from automation to video news to news about news. Definitely worth adding to your lists.
Do you have any news literacy followers to recommend? Leave a comment below or tweet them using #NewsLiteracy