A powerful news literacy tool for schools and libraries

NewsGuard provides schools and libraries with media literacy resources that help guide learners of all ages through the overwhelming landscape of online news and information. More than 800 public libraries globally use NewsGuard’s browser extension on their computers, and educators worldwide consult NewsGuard’s extension and other educational resources to help students develop source evaluation skills.

NewsGuard’s News Literacy Programs are made possible thanks to generous support from Microsoft.

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NewsGuard for Public Libraries

NewsGuard partners with public libraries across the globe that receive free access to its media literacy browser extension and other educational resources. To learn more about the library partnerships, read the NewsGuard Library Partnership Overview, or get in touch to bring NewsGuard to your library.

Testimonials:

“NewsGuard is far and away the best resource we have found that lets people evaluate just what the internet is bringing to their screens. That NewsGuard uses upfront criteria and highly qualified professionals in evaluating websites and makes these recommendations without hindering access in any way is just a real benefit to anyone using the internet today.”

— Sean Farrell, Director of The Library of Hattiesburg Petal & Forrest County (Mississippi, U.S.)

“We are delighted to recommend the NewsGuard initiative to users of libraries across the UK. The unique alerts provided by NewsGuard to the provenance of news websites means that all computer users can be fully informed about the accuracy and source of the information they are reading, enabling them to take their own view about what they are reading.”

— Stella Thebridge, chair of the Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians (U.K.)

Bring NewsGuard to Your Library

NewsGuard for Schools and Universities

K-12 schools and educators interested in using NewsGuard’s tools with their students may license NewsGuard for their students at a heavily discounted rate. Contact us by using the button below to learn about our institutional licensing program. And consult the Resources section below for suggested exercises and lesson plans for using NewsGuard in the classroom.

“NewsGuard provides me with a sense of security as students venture out on the internet. The idea of quick “nutrition labels” is so valuable, as it speaks to students’ desire for efficiency, but teaches them to look at sources critically. I can tell them this until I am blue in the face, but NewsGuard SHOWS it to them.”

— Dougherty Valley High School (CA, USA)

“In a post truth era, NewsGuard is one of a few essential and pivotal tools to help the confused and bewildered make some sense of the blizzard of online misinformation, disinformation and misinformation. NewsGuard is like a virus protection for the truth — a key pillar of democracy.”

— Wilmington Grammar School for Boys (Dartford, England)

Bring NewsGuard to Your School

Partner

Case Study

Read our case study with DePaul College Prep

Tony Powers, the Chief Librarian at DePaul College Prep, a parochial high school in Chicago, uses NewsGuard when teaching media literacy to his students. "The availability of NewsGuard to our students and faculty is both a practical tool for determining reliable sources of information, but constantly serves as a visual reminder of the importance of vetting sources when members are surfing the web," he said.

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Case Study

Read our case study with Cienega High School

Chris Salvagio teaches AP Language and Composition and advises seniors on their “Senior Exit Projects.” He encouraged students to install the NewsGuard browser extension to aid their research, and requested that they reference NewsGuard’s Nutrition Labels to justify why they had cited particular sources. He found that not a single student used a questionable source with NewsGuard installed, which Salvagio called “an extraordinary improvement from years prior.”

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Resources

Click the links below to download NewsGuard’s free resources for teachers, librarians, and parents hoping to use NewsGuard as a media literacy teaching tool.

For Schools

  • Guide for Educators: Created in collaboration with Stony Brook University’s Center for News Literacy, the guide walks through a media literacy lesson plan and ends with suggested exercises, all of which are aligned to Common Core and ISTE standards.
  • Guide for Students: A packet to provide to your students describing how to use the extension and understand the ratings, the nine criteria, and the Nutrition Label reviews.
  • Student Exercise Worksheet: A worksheet that challenges students to “Think Like a NewsGuardian” when evaluating sources and claims.
  • NewsGuard School Success Story: This case study and Q&A highlights how a high school AP Language & Composition teacher used NewsGuard to improve his students’ source evaluation skills.
  • What’s in a (Domain) Name? — U.S. Version: This series of exercises helps students learn how to evaluate source domain name endings — such as .org and .com — and think critically about how domain names may relate to the reliability of a site.
  • What’s in a (Domain) Name? — U.K. Version: This series of exercises helps students learn how to evaluate source domain name endings — such as .org and .com — and think critically about how domain names may relate to the reliability of a site.
  • Hashtags and Hoaxes — U.S. Version: This series of exercises helps students look critically at the information available on TikTok and evaluate the credibility of TikTok videos using strategies including applying NewsGuard’s criteria.
  • Hashtags and Hoaxes — U.K. Version: This series of exercises helps students look critically at the information available on TikTok and evaluate the credibility of TikTok videos using strategies including applying NewsGuard’s criteria.

For Libraries

  • NewsGuard Library Partnership Overview: This one-page overview provides a brief description about what a library partnership might include and outlines next steps.
  • NewsGuard Library Handout: This one-pager provides an overview of what NewsGuard is and how to use it. Many library partners leave this out next to computers to inform patrons about the service.
  • NewsGuard Library Installation Guide: Libraries seeking to install NewsGuard on their devices can reference this guide for information on installing the extension.