Students: Hi, We Are the Democracy Andmedia Literacy Class from Andover High School In

Students: Hi, we are the Democracy andMedia Literacy class from Andover High School in Massachusetts, and Channel One News starts right now!

Keith: All right, we will be checking in with those students in just a bit.Hey guys, I am Keith Kocinski. Let's get started.

First up, the dust has settled after Election Night 2017.It was an off-year election, and usually, those get passed by without a lot of attention. But not this time.This year, there were some groundbreaking winners, a lot of firsts in diversity and also some upsets based on issues important to voters.

It was the election of many firsts: first female winners, first African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslims and first LGBTQ people — like Danica Roem, who will become the country's first openly transgender state legislator.Roem defeated Bob Marshall, who had been in office for nearly 26 years and was known for speaking against gay and transgender rights.

New Jersey elected its first mayor whose religion is Sikh, despite a racist flyer mailed out against him.

Some experts said gun control was more of an issue for voters than in the past; a former TV news anchor whose girlfriend was fatally shot live on air won a seat.He supported stricter gun laws and beat out a candidate who was backed by the NRA — the National Rifle Association.

Over in Philadelphiavoters seemed to send a message about civil rights and police brutality.They elected civil rights lawyer Larry Krasner to be the next district attorney.
The city's newest prosecutor has filed more than 75 civil rights lawsuits against the police for corruption and physical abuse.

All right, next up, lawmakers want answers.They brought the former CEOs of Yahoo and Equifax to Washington, D.C., and they want to know what is being done to protect your data and personal information online.

The former heads of Equifax and Yahoo apologized for the massive break in security that happened on their watch.

Marissa Mayer: I want to sincerely apologize to each and every one of our users.

Richard Smith: Apologize deeply to the American public for the breach that we had.

Keith: The Equifax breach exposed personal information of 145 million Americans earlier this year — info like birth dates, Social Security numbers and addresses, now all in the hands of criminals.Meanwhile, the hack against Yahoo in 2013 affected all of its 3 billion user accounts.

Mayer: We describe this as an arms race; hackers become ever more sophisticated, and we have to become sophisticated in turn.

Keith: Panelists said Americans will need new forms of ID that are tougher to hack.

Todd Wilkinson: Social Security number, a static identity, as a basis for our online identities will not be secure, is not secure and will never be secure in the future.

Keith: All right, everyone, it is Media Literacy Week.So what is media literacy? Well, that is today's Word in the News:media literacy, the ability to analyze and evaluate media, such as TV, newspapers, radio, advertising and social media.

It is especially an important topic these daysbecause of the rise in fake news spreading like crazy all over places like Facebook.And Azia Celestino has a story about how students in Massachusetts are working to become more informed.

Azia: Here at Andover High School in Massachusetts, students are learning the difference between fake and real news.

Natalia: There are so many options and so many people reporting news that sometimes you're just really not sure which one to agree with or which one is real.

Aum: I think the most important takeaway from this class is more the practice of being able to assess media.

Azia: Social studies teacherMary Robb says the course, called Democracy and Media Literacy, has been taught at the school for years.

Mary Robb: When we started out, it was, “Let's look for bias in news media” so that students can become skilled at reading an article, following a news story from a variety of different sources. And now it's totally different. The whole fake news phenomenon — it’s added an additional step: first of all, “Is this a real story?"

Azia: Fakenews stories can be straight-up lies.

Aum: On Facebook, during the election, there was just lots and lots of articles claiming all sorts of wild things.

Azia: Fake news also leaves out facts or evidence, skewing the story in a particular direction on purpose.

Greg: If someone has, like, a really, really strong bias, they might just block out all the other stuff. They could believe something that looks credible. Like, I know a lot of fake news sources look legit, but they actually aren't at all.

Azia: Students say fake stories are a real problem, with consequences that go beyond the internet and social media.

Aum: Information shapes reality.If you're reading fake information, your reality is distorted.

Azia: Fake news articles were promoted by Russians during last year's election as a way to sway public opinion and divide the country. Without media literacy skills, this kind of information can lead people to no longer trust real, credible media sources — trained journalists that abide by a set of standards. It can also influence policies and laws that affect our everyday life.

Aum: This resource makes me really proud of our school community because it shows that we're a really progressive sort of part of this society. I think education is the only way to sort of prevent that spread of a culture of misinformation.

Azia: Andover students aren't alone. States across the country are creating and passing new laws requiring media literacy to be taught in class.

Natalia: I think that all high schools should have this class, yeah, especially in this time and age.

Aum: And that's incredibly important because as soon as we leave this high school, we become voting, contributing members in the system. So the best way for us to educate ourselves is to read about the news, and we need to know exactly how to read it.

Azia: Azia Celestino, Channel One News.

Keith: Definitely an important skill to have. Thanks,Azia.

Now, do you guys think you can spot fake news?Well, take our quizand test your media literacy skills over at ChannelOne.com.

All right, when we come back, a story that may stump you and have you asking, “How does that work?”

Keith: Okay, Arielle, it is no secret; planting trees is a good thing for the environment, eh?

Arielle: You know what? That is a given, Keith, but todaywe are looking at a growing trend which uses trees to help clean up contaminated groundwater. It is today’sGet Your Geek On.

It looks like any other clump of trees at Moffett Field in California, but these plants have been transformed by scientists and Mother Nature into solar-powered groundwater cleanup machines.

John Freeman: The trees are here to help us cleanup the contamination that's been here for a very long while.

Arielle: John Freeman is a plant physiologist with Intrinsyx Technologies, which partners with NASA. His trees are planted in the ground above a Mountain View Superfund site.

Now, Superfund sites are plots of land that have been contaminated by hazardous waste. These plots are identified as cleanup areas because they can pose health risks to humans and the environment. Superfund sites are more common than you think, popping up in areas all across the U.S.

The site at Mountain View has toxic chemicals like trichloroethylene, or TCE, that were spilled by nearby companies in the 1980s. Freeman's process includes injecting some of these trees with a type of bacteria that helps them absorb and actually thrive on TCE.

Freeman: So this is an inoculated row with a very large trunk diameter.

Arielle: The bacteria-injected trees are taller and stronger than a control group that didn't get the bacteria. The trees absorb TCE through their roots and turn the contaminants into a naturally occurring chloride, which harmlessly goes back into the soil.

Freeman: A very large tree can actually remove up to 50 gallons of water per day.

Arielle: All these trees are absorbing and cleaning up toxins, but the real proof is in the water. Wells farther from the trees were compared to a well right next to them.

Freeman: What we found was that the upgradient well had around 300 parts per billion TCE,whereas the downgradient well had less than 5.

Arielle: It is the hand of naturehelping to heal itself from human contamination. Arielle Hixson, Channel One News.

Keith: Really interesting — gotto love science.And it is possible the same remedy could help get rid of toxic chemicals at other polluted sites as well.

All right, that is it for us today. Have an awesome day, and we will see you back here tomorrow.

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