Are you news literate? Why that question is so critical for our future

Editor's note: This has been signed by executives of more than 28 U.S. news organizations.

"With imperfect information, we make imperfect decisions."

That line, taken from the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder, neatly summarizes why the crisis of mis- and disinformation demands urgent attention from all sectors of society – including the news media.

Our newsrooms are supporting the third annual National News Literacy Week (Jan. 24-28) to help more people learn to determine the credibility of content they encounter and use the standards of fact-based journalism to know what to trust, share and act on.

It is vital that news consumers attain the skills to discern fact from fiction, understand how our newsrooms decide what is newsworthy, and recognize the standards we follow to ensure trust in what we publish or broadcast. This is essential if fact-based information is to remain central to our discourse and the functioning of our democracy.

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In our role as the Fourth Estate, it is our mission to keep the public well-informed and to provide high-quality journalism that holds those in power accountable. In addition, our audiences must be news literate – and empowered to make fact-based decisions about

their lives.

We pledge to double down on efforts to be fair, accurate, representative and transparent in our journalism – and crystal clear on what is opinion and analysis and what is straightforward news reporting. Everyone – including educators, students, parents, community members, business leaders, politicians and social media influencers – relies on the fact-based information we provide every day.

We urge you to take a moment to become news literate. Visit NewsLiteracyWeek.org

to learn more about what you can do to avoid spreading misinformation.

Please join us in securing a fact-based future where we can all make the best decisions for our communities and our country.

The News Literacy Project is backed by more than 30 news organizations that have signed this op-ed in support of news literacy, agreed to publish it and/or donated ad space to help promote the weekThis letter is signed by 28 editors and leaders of U.S. news organizations, including Paste BN Editor-in-Chief Nicole Carroll.

• Michael A. Anastasi, Editor and Vice President, Tennessean
• Nancy Barnes, Senior Vice President for News and Editorial Director, NPR
• Todd Benoit, President and COO, Bangor Daily News
• Peter Bhatia, Editor and Vice President, Detroit Free Press
• Greg Burton, Executive Editor, The Arizona Republic
• Nicole Carroll, Editor in Chief, Paste BN
• Chris Dolan, President and Executive Editor, the Washington Times
• Timothy C. Dwyer, President and Publisher, The Day
• Stephen Engelberg, Editor-in-Chief, ProPublica
• Patti Epler, Editor and General Manager, Honolulu Civil Beat
• Richard A. Green, Executive Editor, The Press Democrat
• Pascale Fusshoeller, Editor, YubaNet
• Mary Irby-Jones, Executive Editor, The (Louisville) Courier Journal
• Scott Kraft, Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times
• Terry Leonard, Editorial Director, Stars and Stripes
• Beryl Love, Executive Editor, The Cincinnati Enquirer
• Alan Miller, Founder and CEO, News Literacy Project
• Amalie Nash, Senior Vice President of News and Audience Development, Gannett
• Chris Quinn, Editor, cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer
• Michael Shearer, Editor, Akron Beacon Journal
• Ethan Shorey, Editor, Valley Breeze
• Dylan Smith, Editor & Publisher, Tucson Sentinel
• Staff, CNN
• Adam Symson, President and CEO, The E.W. Scripps Company
• Irving Washington, Executive Director and CEO, Online News Association
• Amanda Zamora, Co-founder and Publisher, The 19th*
• Jose Zamora, Senior Vice President, Univision News
• Laura Zelenko, Senior Executive Editor of Standards, Training, Diversity, and Talent, Bloomberg News