Conceptualizing a new approach of news literacy: Cultivation of positive and constructive citizenship

News Literacy training is an important segment of media education which aims at cultivating critical media consumers and informed citizens. This paper argues that the cultivation of critical news consumers does not necessarily lead to young people's positive personal growth and the development of constructive citizenship. The link is assumed rather than substantially built. It is proposed to integrate positive psychology with news literacy training in order to connect the theoretical link and bring media education practice one step further. People in the news industry always agree with the saying that “news is bad news.” It is because journalism puts too much emphasis on deviant behavior, conflict, social problems and disasters. It seems that news by nature is stressful. In the Web 2.0 age, news, information and values are being circulated on the Internet (e.g. YouTube, citizen journalism, blogs and facebook) without gatekeeping and evaluation. Nowadays, information which spreads negative belief or even promotes suicide is easily available. How can young people enjoy reading news without stress? In what way can they see hope in a catastrophe? How can they properly interpret news stories and make positive decisions (personal decision and social action)? How can they respond to news incidents as caring citizens? These are issues of concern in this paper. Positive Psychology is a young branch of Psychology. It has become an explicit perspective only since 1998. Yet, in very short time it has been integrated into research and practice in many fields such as management, economics, education, social work and medical profession. Positive psychology examines ways of encouraging positive thinking, positive behavior and positive feeling so that people can learn to lead a pleasant, engaged and meaningful life. This paper will integrate the theory and key concepts of positive psychology (such as optimism, thankfulness, purposive life) with those from news literacy studies. It suggests that a new approach of news literacy training which combines both critical thinking skill and positive thinking skill can better help young people develop positive values, positive world views and generate positive social actions. The formulation of the new approach will be based on the results of two surveys on young people's news consumption behavior in Hong Kong and the news journal writings of 55 college students who have received news literacy training. The definition of news literacy has been extended in this paper. Being news literate not only means that a person gets informed and is able to conduct critical news analysis, but also signifies that a person knows how to interpret news events in a positive way and take positive response. Therefore, the aim of this new approach is to educate young people about learning how to lead a good life and become a good citizen through engaging with news. The assumptions, aims, tasks, key concepts, curriculum, pedagogy and social implications of the new approach will be outlined and discussed.