A national project to help communities around the country build a robust news literacy capacity at the local level was announced today by the American Society of News Editors.

“With Americans getting more news from Twitter, Facebook and other social media, it’s important that we all learn the tools and techniques of news literacy to better figure out what we can believe and what we need to toss out from the ocean of information that swirls around us,” ASNE President Chris Peck said in announcing the project.

ASNE, a national organization of print and online journalists and academics dedicated to the leadership of American journalism, will help organize as many as 50 local community and news literacy roundtables in states across the country over the next two years.

The roundtables will work with a local educational partner, a media partner and a community partner to identify a local hot topic and use that topic as the basis for a discussion about news literacy and how to sort out accurate, meaningful information and about that topic.

The News Literacy Project, a national organization that teaches students how to know what to believe in the digital age, will partner with ASNE to develop materials that can be used at the local roundtables.

The National Community and News Literacy Roundtables Project is being funded in part by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation’s Journalism Program, which is dedicated to increasing civic engagement by developing smarter news consumers.

“News literacy is about developing critical thinking skills, and critical thinking skills are vital to positive civic engagement,” said Clark Bell, journalism program director for the McCormick Foundation. “These roundtables are designed to spark constructive dialogue on sensitive issues facing communities.”

ASNE is actively looking for communities interested in hosting a news literacy roundtable.

For more information, contact ASNE Executive Director Arnie Robbins at [email protected].