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BBC Young Reporter, British Council fight fake news

January 17, 2020

In a partnership aimed at helping young people navigate digital media and spot ‘fake news’, BBC’s Young Reporter team has worked with the British Council to create a media literacy teaching resource for schools around the world.

BBC News has been tackling ‘fake news’ through its media literacy project, BBC Young Reporter. The project offers media and journalism learning resources to thousands of 11-18 year olds in the UK – in schools, colleges and youth organisations. Building on the acclaimed scheme, the BBC World Service Group has been working with schools in markets including Kenya, India, Brazil and most recently Nigeria.

BBC Young Reporter resources are available as part of a ten-lesson pack from the British Council’s Connecting Classroom through Global Learning initiative, funded by the British Council and UK aid. Designed to develop media literacy and critical thinking skills, teachers and youth leaders around the world will be able to download the resource.

Katie Lloyd, Development Director, BBC News, said: “For almost 100 years, the BBC has been providing accurate and impartial news. But as ‘fake news’ becomes more widespread, teachers and youth leaders have shown increasing interest in BBC Young Reporter’s resources focused on disinformation. To ensure impartial journalism is protected, we continue to push our action on media literacy both in the UK and globally.”

Darren Coyle, Global Programme Director for Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning, British Council, added: “Our programme works with schools across the globe to help young people develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to make a positive contribution to their world.  This new media literacy resource will enable teachers all over the world to give their students a better understanding of the role of the media in our global society, and the skills to critically evaluate media and produce their own content in the future.”

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