ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A group of Tampa Bay teens will spend the next several weeks sitting in front of computers pouring over websites.
While the combination of teens and computers isn’t unusual, these high schoolers will pay close attention to the information on their screens.
They’re at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg to learn how to be fact checkers, studying techniques on how to tell good information from bad.
10News and the TEGNA Foundation presented the Poynter Institute with a $5,000 grant to support this and other summer programs for high school students. The money will go towards scholarships that will make the classes affordable.
Wendy Wallace, who coordinates the summer sessions, says they’re about improving skills and more.
“So they can work on their skills as young writers, but also so they can get a more full appreciation of why the media and why news is important in a democracy,” said Wallace. “It's about creating informed and engaged citizens down the road.”
10News has supported the summer programs at Poynter for more than a decade.
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