Welcome to the website for News Engagement Day, an annual event created to encourage engagement with news and promote understanding about the principles and processes of journalism in a democratic society!
The first News Engagement Day, which was called National News Engagement Day, was announced at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. and launched Tuesday, October 7, 2014. Sponsored by AEJMC, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the world’s largest association of journalism and communication educators, News Engagement Day, which is always held the first Tuesday in October, began as an initiative of 2013-2014 AEJMC president Paula Poindexter.
Poindexter’s idea for News Engagement Day came from her book Millennials, News, and Social Media: Is News Engagement a Thing of the Past?, where she proposed an “Engage with News” Day as a national campaign to help reverse the public’s declining attention to news, lack of understanding about journalism, and waning trust in the news media. A journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Poindexter felt that unless we took action to encourage the public to engage with news that news consumption would continue its downward slide, which would be unhealthy for the news media, our democracy, and the public good.
Beginning on campuses with journalism and communication programs, News Engagement Day has grown into a worldwide event, where people of all ages across the globe are encouraged to read, watch, listen to and discuss news, and share News Engagement Day activities using #newsengagementday. Journalists and journalism educators are also encouraged to help educate the public about journalism’s purpose and principles, the importance of a free press in a democratic society, and why being informed matters.
As you browse the News Engagement Day site, you’ll find resources to support your News Engagement Day plans, inspirational NED activities and tweets, and award-winning research by AEJMC members that provides greater understanding about the public’s relationship with news.
News Engagement Day Committee Chair Paula Poindexter can answer any questions you may have so please email her at .
What is NED For?
NED Facts
News Engagement Day Committee
AEJMC
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and media professionals. The Association’s mission is to advance education, foster scholarly research, cultivate better professional practice and promote the free flow of communication. To find out more about AEJMC, visit www.AEJMC.org.
