Media Literacy Now, an organization linked to the Southern Poverty Law Center and funded by the Biden administration, asserts it has made significant strides in shaping education laws across 20 states, including some that lean conservative.
According to a recent report, Media Literacy Now is a nonprofit whose board features the founder and CEO of Ad Fontes, a “media bias tracker” that tends to focus on conservative outlets.
The organization’s goal is to promote “media and digital literacy” training in K-12 schools. Their curricula, which are well-crafted by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, help guide students on which online sources are trustworthy and which are not.
A comment from the founder of Media Literacy Now touches on the challenges posed by this initiative, noting connections to critical race theory. R. Allen Berry, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, has put forth ideas advocating for educational programs that blend critical race theory with news literacy and misinformation awareness.
Leaders of Media Literacy Now have a history of making politically charged remarks. For instance, following the events of January 6, the New Jersey chapter president, Olga Polites, referred to it as a “Trump-inspired insurrection” fueled by misinformation regarding the election’s legitimacy. Her editorial pointed fingers at conservative media figures for spreading falsehoods.
The organization also has the Biden administration’s backing, having received a $30,000 grant from the State Department to further media literacy initiatives in Germany. Furthermore, they have been recognized as a resource by the CDC Foundation and the Biden Administration’s Information Literacy Task Force.
Despite the controversies, Media Literacy Now, with representatives from 23 states, is expanding its influence, celebrating achievements in over 20 states, including several Republican-leaning ones like Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, and Florida.
Alam Bokhari, managing director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, cautions that Republicans should be wary of these nonprofits claiming nonpartisanship. He highlighted that after President Trump’s executive order targeting censorship at the federal level, there has been a push in states to control perceptions of trustworthy news sources.
Bokhari warns that what is framed as a straightforward approach to online navigation is more of a veiled attempt by the political censorship industry to entrench itself in educational institutions, noting the inclusion of critical race theory in Media Literacy Now’s approach.
