media Education Week: Students in Arlon Learn to Build the News
Arlon, Belgium – Students at the Fouches municipal school in Arlon are getting a hands-on lesson in media literacy this week, learning how news is constructed from raw information. As part of a project inspired by the Niouzz news format, students are tackling a critical question: how do we separate fact from fiction?
The exercise centers around a simulated news story: the rising cost of French fries. Students were presented with a series of facts and tasked with building a coherent news report. These facts included reports of heavy rainfall in southern Belgium this summer, impacting potato crops. Specifically, excessive water hinders potato development. This, in turn, is projected to substantially increase the price of potatoes – from €280 to €650 per tonne. The ultimate impact? Consumers could see the price of a bag of fries jump to €4 this winter.
The project aims to demonstrate the importance of informed consumption of media,prompting questions about media’s purpose,the reliability of information,and the methods used to create and disseminate false narratives.
Students worked in small groups to rewrite and order the information, crafting a fluid and engaging news piece. Their work will be showcased alongside this report, offering a practical example of how to build news responsibly.
(Please note: the figures and information used in this exercise are illustrative and do not reflect the current state of the french fry market.)
