News literacy is an imperative skill in the digital age. Every day, people are bombarded with information – some of it true, some of it false. The key is providing them the skills needed to differentiate news from noise.

Because News Matters: A News Literacy Summit 2014 aims to increase the scope and impact of news and information literacy programs for students and all citizens nationwide. The summit will bring together more than 100 scholars, journalists, students and experts Sept. 14-15 in Chicago.

“I look forward to a productive two days with a broad array of smart people who want to find a way to get news literacy into the classroom,” said Wendy Wallace, primary organizer of the summit and grants manager at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

Heading the conference are leaders in the field of news and information literacy. Presentations will feature experts from such organizations as The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Stony Brook University Center for News Literacy, Why News Matters and the News Literacy Project.
Participants will break into small groups to discuss and then report back about essential questions facing news and information literacy: What does it mean to be news literate? How can news literacy be taught? What is the future of news literacy?

The summit is funded by The Robert R. McCormick Foundation and coordinated by The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Additional funding has been provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Summit partners are the American Society of News Editors, Stony Brook University, the News Literacy Project, Baruch College and Chicago Youth Voices Network.

For more information, contact Le Anne Wiseman, director of the Youth Journalism Initiative of ASNE, at [email protected].

Follow along with summit attendees: #NewsLiteracy.