On May 7, 2020, educators gathered online with Pulitzer Center staff representing both our education and editorial teams to discuss underreported stories and ways to help students find them. Pulitzer Center Managing Editor Nathalie Applewhite, Executive Editor Marina Walker Guevara and Senior Education Manager Fareed Mostoufi outlined how students can find, evaluate, and make connections to reporting on under-reported global issues by exploring the news and engaging with their communities.
First, Applewhite and Walker Guevara describe the Center's process for identifying these stories, and why the organization has dedicated itself to shedding light on them. Next, they shared reporting projects that educators can use in the classroom to teach students about how many journalists identify under-reported stories, and why those stories are important.
Then, panelists shared a variety of tips and avenues that students can take to find under-reported stories in the media and in their communities. From critically analyzing news headlines, and asking questions about how those stories impact their own communities, to curiously engaging with their own communities to evaluate what stories are underrepresented, the webinar encourages viewers to seek out the stories that are most important, but that are easy to miss. Finally, the Q&A portion dove into challenges that educators may face in sharing underreported news stories with students, how Pulitzer Center-supported reporting in languages other than English can support learning, and how to navigate a time of unprecedented distrust and apathy toward the media.
The Pulitzer Center invites educators to view the webinar at their convenience to discover tools for connecting their students with reporting on today's crucial issues. A lesson outlining how to explore these strategies with students can be found here.