The state of Pennsylvania is pushing “media literacy” education in its K-12 schools, and for children across the state. However, the Keystone State’s obsession with identifying bias and discerning “misinformation” has apparently been undercut by a leftist agenda right from the start.
Over recent weeks, Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro and the state’s Acting Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe have been trying to reup the focus on “help[ing] young people navigate their digital world.”
Shapiro visited Middletown Area High School last week in light of “rising misinformation and violent rhetoric online” to highlight the Information and Media Literacy Toolkit for students, teachers and parents unveiled in September 2024.
“I believe deeply that the power of knowledge comes not just from being able to access the information but from being able to understand it,” Rowe said in a statement earlier this month.
“Our students live in a world where misinformation spreads fast, where media messages compete for their attention, and where the ability to distinguish fact from fiction is no longer optional, but really essential,” she added, as Gov. Josh Shapiro stood behind.
However, while the “toolkit” touted by Shapiro and his Democrat administration promises to prepare kids to engage critically with media and the digital world, a closer look reveals a disturbing left-wing trend.
Who Are The ‘Media Literacy’ Experts?
The PDE toolkit links to both state and external resources (though the site claims this does not quantify an endorsement) to fact check, learn about “misinformation” and “disinformation” and direct users’ understanding of media.
For example, the toolkit links to Common Sense Media as a resource, a group bolstered by high-dollar leftist foundations including the Gates Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Some of the external fact-checking tools reviewed on the site for tweens and teens have been criticized for their own biases, such as Politifact.
Likewise, the toolkit links to several pages within The Boston Children’s Media Wellness Lab. The lab is supported by arguably some of the most powerful enemies of children’s wellbeing online: TikTok, Roblox and Discord.
Another linked resource, Civic Online Reasoning from the Digital Inquiry Group, offers media literacy curriculum. COR is funded by similarly situated foundations, including the Spencer Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation (a funder of Planned Parenthood and “LGBTQ” agendas).
The Federalist contacted the PDE, inquiring whether it believes that promoting sources so ingrained in leftist ideology will help young Pennsylvanians in “recognizing biases, and distinguishing between credible information and misinformation” per the toolkit website. The Federalist also asked if PDE believes that the Digital Wellness Lab could maintain its objectivity when it accepts support from companies like TikTok, Roblox and Discord that will be committed first to their own bottom lines. The PDE did not respond to these questions.
‘Media Literacy’ On The Ground
“Helping” kids evaluate media sources isn’t just a top-down effort. A parent of a student at a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area public high school shared a “trusted” sources list with The Federalist, included in the student’s civics class materials. The list refers to “trusted” news outlets for use in current events assignments – overwhelmingly left-leaning.
The document recommends Reuters, BBC, Al Jazeera, the AP and The Guardian for world news. For U.S. news, it lists the AP, PBS News, NPR news, The Hill, Vox (which it says has a “liberal lean”) and The Dispatch (labeled with a “conservative lean”). It also includes local outlets or affiliates.
According to AllSides analysis of the outlets (or their specific arm reviewed by AllSides), this “balanced” list for world and U.S. news includes six sources categorized as either “left” or “lean left,” three as “center” and only one as “lean right.” Analysis for most of these sources are included on the AllSides Media Bias Chart, but see here for reviews of Al Jazeera and PBS Newshour on the website.
The Dispatch, the allegedly conservative source promoted, is a Trump-administration critical publication, the majority of which is behind a paywall or free article limit. The Dispatch is classified by AllSides as much closer to center right than Vox (the only source the list acknowledges as having a “liberal lean”) is to center left.
The “trusted” resources list reinforces a status quo unwittingly accepted – even by many conservatives — that left is center, and right is extreme. Public school leadership is comfortable with a “balanced,” 6-1 left-right ratio.
The parent reached out to the school principal to raise concerns about the balance of the list, and eventually the superintendent and school board, correspondence records shared with The Federalist show.
While the principal engaged with her concerns and reported that he spoke with the teacher of the civics class, he confirmed that the list would remain as-is. He told the parent the list is merely a “starting point” to keep students from making open Google searches to find sources, and that the teacher informed students in class that they’re free to use other sources.
The parent objected – the list says the sources are “trusted,” and instructs students to use them to find articles for their current events assignments. While alternative sources may have been acknowledged in class, the parent argued, the document itself implies no such thing.
After discussing the list with the principal, the parent had a phone call with the district superintendent, rehearsing the concerns. The school board president responded to the parent’s summary of the call, sent to the school board, saying she believed the parent’s concerns had been heard and addressed, and that her understanding was that the district appeals to the “PDE-endorsed” AllSides Media Bias Chart. She reiterated that students are not restricted to using the sources on the list.
The Federalist asked the principal, superintendent and school board president if they believe this list represents a balanced perspective, especially as it is recommending these sources to students as “trusted.” In an earlier correspondence with a school administrator, the parent was referred to the Ad Fontes media bias chart. The Federalist also inquired about any specific guidance, resource or media bias chart recommended by the Pennsylvania Department of Education that the district uses in evaluating cases like this, but did not receive a response.
Nothing New For Corporate Media
As the Federalist has frequently reported, so-called “trusted” outlets like NPR, Reuters or the AP are willing to relentlessly run cover for Democrats and left-wing causes and smear conservatives at all costs.
Corporate media at large has downplayed and denied leftist violence, peddled debunked hoaxes, misrepresented conservatives, or blatantly lied to push left-wing narratives. The aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk brought the trend in full force, when outlets’ used their coverage of Kirk’s brutal killing to smear the conservative icon’s reputation, or cast his killer as “MAGA.”
It should be no surprise that recent Gallup polling shows American’s trust in mass media tanked to a record low, as covered by The Federalist’s Shawn Fleetwood. Among U.S. adults, 28 percent express a “fair amount” or “great deal” of trust in the media, down 12 points from five years ago. Seven in 10 categorize their trust in the media as either “not very much” or “none at all.”
Parents and students in Pennsylvania do well to be skeptical of corporate media outlets and the entities that push them.
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