As a Poynter supporter, you’re receiving this newsletter each Friday so we can keep you well informed about the lifesaving work we’re doing to fight against misinformation around the world and help journalists deliver news you trust. Poynter is:

Fact-checking the POTUS interview everyone’s talking about



This week began with a revealing interview of President Trump by Axios political reporter Jonathan Swan. My biggest takeaway was Swan’s ability to press the President on the accuracy of his statements in real-time. But he couldn’t add all the relevant context we as viewers needed, so our PolitiFact team fact-checked 22 of the President’s claims on topics including coronavirus testing and death rates, mail-in voting, and whether this administration has improved the lives of African Americans.

Did this interview confuse you? Check out the PolitiFact report to clear things up.

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This week Poynter officially welcomed 32 prominent journalists of color from across the country into Poynter’s fifth Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media. This program, part of a teaching partnership with The Washington Post, will help these journalists advance their leadership careers so they can have a say in the types of news and the communities their organizations cover. Doris Truong, Poynyter’s director of training and diversity, said, “The need for diversity in newsroom leadership isn’t new, but the urgency is greater than ever as we have seen from the racial reckoning happening across our industry.” Learn more about these incredible journalists!
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Empowering older Americans to defend themselves from online misinformation

When I was a child, my mom had a superhuman ability to always be able to ascertain if I was telling a fib. Now decades later, she regularly asks me if the news story she read online is true. Did her extraordinary polygraph powers peter out? Not quite. Unfortunately, in this infodemic we’re all living through, Americans ages 50 and older are often the target of a deluge of misinformation. The stakes are often matters of life and death.

Poynter is helping these older citizens protect themselves. Beginning next month, our MediaWise for Seniors program is offering a free online course of four 90-minute sessions that will teach seniors how to tell what’s true and false online. Poynter senior faculty Al Tompkins and MediaWise for Seniors senior reporter Alex Mahadevan will cover multiple topics including tools for fact-checking the internet and how to productively talk with your friends and family about misinformation. Learn more and apply here by Aug. 24.

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Scheduling your appointment with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

As you wrap up your week, I encourage you to take a little time and watch this incredible conversation ([link removed])
on COVID-19 misinformation between CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, PolitiFact’s editor-in-chief Angie Holan, and MediaWise for Seniors senior reporter Alex Mahadevan. They cover everything from Dr. Gupta’s own strategies forkeeping himself safe from infection, to a possible issue that could arise with administering a coronavirus vaccine.

Please consider making a contribution toward our mission today so we can continue to keep you informed tomorrow. If you recently made a donation to Poynter ... thank you!

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Be well,
Josh Herrington
Development Director
[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]

Poynter Foundation Board Members:
Brian Tierney, CEO, Brian Communications
Ramon Bosquez – Partner, Seedfunders, LLC
Michael Dreyer, President, Tampa Bay Trust Company
Frank “Sandy” Rief III, Attorney, Allen Dell, Attorneys at Law
Liz Sembler, Board Member, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st-century public discourse.

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