10/09/2019
Public Libraries 2030 and NewsGuard Announce Partnership to Bring Media Literacy Tool to European Public Libraries
(LONDON AND BRUSSELS—October 9. 2019) NewsGuard and Public Libraries 2030 are bringing NewsGuard’s Media Literacy Partnership Program to libraries in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, and Belgium. NewsGuard uses trained journalists to rate and review thousands of news and information websites for credibility and transparency practices.
The program allows patrons to engage critically with the news and information websites in their social media feeds and search results. Libraries install the NewsGuard browser extension on the computers and laptops available to patrons, and can use NewsGuard’s “Nutrition Label” reviews as a basis for media literacy workshops and discussions.
Public Libraries 2030 is a non-profit organisation that grew out of the Public Libraries 2020 programme funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The original programme began in 2014 and aimed to put public libraries on the EU agenda and raise awareness of the important role they play in life-long learning and literacy.
More than 300 libraries in the U.S. and Europe are deploying the NewsGuard browser extension as a news literacy tool, with hundreds more coming online soon. Since launching in Europe in early 2019, NewsGuard has issued ratings and reviews for the news and information websites accounting for over 90% of consumption and social media engagement in the UK, France, Italy, and Germany.
“Our vision is that public libraries are open places that empower citizens to create a democratic, socially engaged and digitally inclusive Europe,” said Ilona Kish, Public Libraries 2030 Director. “NewsGuard is an innovative news literacy tool that arms EU citizens against the rise of mis- and disinformation, teaching internet users how to distinguish between quality and non-quality journalism.”
NewsGuard and Public Libraries 2030 launched this collaboration yesterday at Generation Code: Born at the Library, an event at the European Parliament in Brussels showcasing how libraries across Europe are using leading-edge technologies. In the coming months, the two groups will also work together to develop materials for librarians to host educational workshops and lessons teaching how to engage with the news critically.
“By reading NewsGuard’s Nutrition Label reviews of websites, library patrons can gain a better understanding of how to assess the credibility of information they encounter online,” said Anna-Sophie Harling, Managing Director of NewsGuard Europe. “Public Libraries 2030 introduces tools like ours to its network, enabling librarians to engage with citizens to tackle global issues. I can’t think of a better partner to bring NewsGuard to libraries around Europe.”
“With so much misinformation and fake news online, it is increasingly important for students and adults to be more discerning about the news they encounter” said Stella Thebridge, Principal Librarian, Warwickshire Library Service. “NewsGuard’s strength is that it does not censor or block sites allowing users to make their own judgements about how they ‘take’ the information on that site.”
NewsGuard’s Media Literacy Partnership Program is sponsored by Microsoft Corp. Public Libraries 2030 and NewsGuard are looking for additional sponsors for the European program. Librarians or educators interested in bringing NewsGuard to their library may visit newsguardtech.com or contact sarah.brandt@newsguardtech.com.
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About NewsGuard: Launched in March 2018 by media entrepreneur Steven Brill and former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, NewsGuard provides reliability ratings and detailed “Nutrition Labels” for thousands of news and information websites. NewsGuard’s ratings and Nutrition Labels can be licensed by internet service providers, browsers, news aggregators, and social media and search platforms in order to make NewsGuard’s information about news websites available to their users.
NewsGuard’s trained journalists rate news websites based on nine basic, apolitical criteria of journalistic practice. These ratings are made available at no cost to consumers through its browser extension, which is available on Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox browsers, and on mobile devices through the Edge mobile browser for iOS and Android devices.
For more information, including to download the browser extension and review the ratings process: newsguardtech.com
About Public Libraries 2030:
Public Libraries 2030 supports innovative European librarians to become powerful social and economic change agents. They:
- Connect a network of innovative library professionals to strengthen their communities
- Innovate by curating and managing cross-border projects between our network of major public institutions and funding partners
- Advocate for libraries at EU level to foster political support and unlock funding opportunities.
For more information: www.publiclibraries2030.eu
Contacts:
NewsGuard:
Steven Brill, Co-CEO, steven.brill@newsguardtech.com, +1 212-332-6301
Gordon Crovitz, Co-CEO, gordon.crovitz@newsguardtech.com, +1 212-332-6407
Anna-Sophie Harling, Managing Director of NewsGuard Europe, as.harling@newsguardtech.com
Sarah Brandt, Vice President of News Literacy Program, sarah.brandt@newsguardtech.com,
+1 212-332-6316
Public Libraries 2030:
Ilona Kish, Director, ilona@pl2030.eu
Hannah Thominet, Operations Manager, Hannah@pl2030.EU