VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — How do you get your news? Many of us have gotten accustomed to watching the news on our televisions, but more and more of us — particularly younger people — are getting their news on their cell phone from apps or social media. That presents a challenge of trying to make sure that news is legit. Well, a class at Cox High School is tackling those concerns head-on.
English teacher Eric Bodenstein has a special assignment for the teenagers in his Media Studies class.
"So basically, you're going to look for a true story, a politically biased story and a flat-out fake story. You're kinda playing detective of sorts where you're gonna cull through some news," he explains to the class.
One of Bodenstein's students, junior Joseph Pellicano, says he primarily gets his news from Instagram or TikTok. However, he acknowledges it's more challenging to make sure the news that pops up on his phone is legit.
"There's a lot of stuff people make up just for like, entertainment or... views... likes," Pellicano shares.
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Senior Emory Butt chimes in, "I don't think you can trust just one network to get your news from."
Bodenstein, a former TV news photojournalist, has been an English teacher for more than two decades. He explains why this course is so important, saying, "What always comes to mind is how much these students, this generation—-they just get inundated with information all the time and it's harder than ever to pick through what is true, what is not."
Aurora Lavelle, 17, says when crazy headlines show up in her feed, it makes her skeptical.
"I mean, if it sounds weird for the most part, I immediately think: is this even real?" Lavelle shares.
I asked the class how many of them watch local news on their TVs. No hands were raised. But when I asked how many get news from their cell phones, everyone's hands shot up. A recent Pew Research survey says it's a growing trend among Instagram and TikTok users, reinforcing the need for this course.
Bodenstein co-wrote the curriculum for this Media Studies class with the goal of helping students distinguish if the news they stumble upon online is trustworthy.
"When I started teaching the course, the idea was give them the tools to develop a filter. Even as an adult, I think it's hard — nearly impossible — to weed through it all and determine: what should I really believe?" he says.
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This class, an elective, helps students with that. During class, they break up into groups and get to work searching websites. It doesn't take long to see how some content spreads. One group finds a fake story that popped up on one popular social media app before popping up on another platform.
12th-grader Henry Ehrmentraut found an article he believes is credible on the Isaeli-Hamas ceasefire, suggesting the reporter appears to have done his homework.
"He links all his sources. Every time he mentions a fact, he links where he found it from. It feels like he's trying to tell me something and give it to me straight," Ehrmentraut explains.
On to another story found by 17-year-old Malachi Barker's group on the L.A. wildfires — a story Malachi trusts because of its source.
"The LA Times is like normally reliable and they got different perspectives from different people," Malachi explains.
The students use an online tool to help, Senior Emory Butt explains: "We look at a site in class called All Sides that represents the left, the right and central point of view."
The website has a media bias chart, which places various media outlets in the following color-coded sections: blue, signifying left; light blue for leaning left; purple for in the middle; pink for leaning right; and red, signifying right. The website says these ratings are based off of data gathered through multi-partisan analysis.
Bodenstein is hoping his students are feeling challenged.
"I've tried to urge them or nudge them to read deeper, read multiple sources. If you put yourself in that bubble as the algorithms do — if you're getting your news through TikTok , Instagram, Twitter, X, whatever it may be — they begin to pick up what you want to see in your feed. Then, you end up getting in your bubble and that bubble gets smaller and smaller and all of the sudden, you're deaf to the outside world and deaf to other views," Bodenstein says.
He continues, "News should be uncomfortable, and that's one thing that I tell them. You should be able to watch the news and feel uncomfortable because it challenges you — it challenges your own perception of things. And if you're not challenging yourself, you are in that bubble."
A lesson we all need to learn.
