Overview
PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs, in partnership with the Poynter Institute's MediaWise, hosted “Face the Facts: Election 2020 Youth Town Hall.” The virtual event engaged students and first-time voters to be prepared and better informed ahead of the November 2020 elections. The livestream included different segments featuring young people that have been clipped for educators to use separately or all together to guide conversations about civics, elections and the role of young voters in a democratic society.
NewsHour's Amna Nawaz and Hari Sreenivasan join NBC News' Savannah Sellers and Snapchat Host Peter Hamby for a brief discussion on the election, the challenging nature of spotting misinformation, and finding credibility in the news.
Watch the video with students and then answer the discussion questions.
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think show producers chose journalists to talk about elections and misinformation?
- In what ways are they experts on these topics?
- Based on the conversation, how are this year’s elections going to be different from past years?
- How do journalists fact-check?
- What advice did the panelists have for young voters?
- Did you agree or disagree with anything that the panelists shared? Why or why not?
- Do you think journalists play an important role in our democratic society? Why or why not?