National News Literacy Week runs from today through Jan. 29; here's how your newsroom can participate

Today is the start of National News Literacy Week, an initiative that the News Literacy Project and E.W. Scripps Co. designed to raise awareness of the importance of news literacy for students and the general public.

The observance comes at a critical time, as misinformation and conspiracies have driven public unrest over the recent presidential election. To that end, the NNLW website has created a new online-learning unit called "Conspiratorial Thinking." The lesson, available for the general public, helps people understand the factors that allow conspiracies to gain a toehold and flourish. It also shows people the key components of conspiratorial thinking, the tricks such a mindset can play on people's brains and what makes people vulnerable to it.

The website includes links to social-media campaigns, lesson plans for educators and the general public, and ideas for how newsrooms can participate in the initiative. Click here for more information.