Seattle Prep students are surrounded by news, current events, and media all throughout the environment of the school. Prep challenges students to think outside the box on projects involving current events. But, when Prep students see a breaking news headline of a media outlet they often have to think: is this a reliable source? Sources can often have bias and impartial views on a topic that can be difficult to interpret and understand. Cara Weigand ’21 said that “some news seem to have more left or right wing leanings.”

Tribalism is often displayed when it comes to news sources. Tribalism is believing strongly in your views and your views only. When it comes to news, it can be difficult for news sources to see multiple sides to a story. Mr. Danielson said that all the different news stories can be like a “tsunami of information, it makes you want to run the other direction.”

Students of our generation are surrounded by articles and news every day. Mr. Danielson said that when it comes to our generation and how the biased or fake news impacts us that “the biases can be confusing for students as they try to sort through all the competing messages.”

Anders Kouhia ’21 explained that it “changes the overall opinion about news…the epidemic of fake news has woken people up.”

Students must find the credibility of an article or subject. We are prepared with tests that can check the reliability of a source such as the CRAAP test and our knowledge from our Media Literacy class. There is a large impact from the media on people in high school when it comes to getting the news. Mrs. Lovejoy explained that if you followed the same accounts with similar opinions on Twitter or Instagram, you will never be able to expand on popular news stories. It creates an “echo chamber of one view point.”

News is everywhere Prep, so make sure that you are getting all that correct information.