Making sense of the news has never been more challenging. But it is possible to overcome those challenges and identify reliable, actionable information that will inform our lives as 21st-century citizens. It means taking the time to use our critical thinking skills and apply a series of new concepts and tools. That’s exactly what this textbook, and our news literacy course, is designed to help you do.

Howard Schneider is the founding dean of what is now Stony Brook University's School of Communication and Journalism. For more than 35 years, Schneider was a reporter and editor at Newsday on Long Island. At Stony Brook, Schneider helped develop the nation's first course in News Literacy, which seeks to have undergraduates across all disciplines study how to become discerning news consumers. The course has subsequently spread to universities around the nation. He is the executive director of the school’s Center for News Literacy. He also collaborated with the actor Alan Alda in launching the country’s first Center for Communicating Science, which is housed in the journalism school, and which trains future and current scientists on how to communicate more effectively with the public. Schneider began his teaching career at Stony Brook as an adjunct professor of journalism from 1980-1982. Previously, he had been an adjunct professor of journalism at Queens College in 1979. In 2003, Schneider was the recipient of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Alumnus Award (M.S.’67). He earned his B.A at Syracuse University in psychology and journalism (’66). He has been a member of the Pulitzer Prize judging panel three times.