TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A greeting and a fist bump.
That's how Kevin Record starts his 5th period class every day at Leon High School.
"You look them in the eye – shake their hand or give them a fist bump – that establishes some trust right away and some credibility," said Record, a journalism teacher and tennis coach at Leon High School.
The importance of trust and credibility in journalism; it is the first lesson Record teaches his young students.
"I think it's incredibly important," said Hailee Spires, a junior and Editor-and-Chief of The Leon High Life student newspaper at the high school. "One of the foundations of journalism is being accurate and making sure your information and resources are good and solid."
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, faith in the media is falling across the globe, and particularly in the United States.
Only 39% of American adults said they trust the media in 2022, down six points from 2021. At the same time, concern about false and misleading information is at an all-time high.
Amidst the surge of misinformation in media - Record - who has taught at Leon High for 19 years, says he is teaching his students to be credible journalists.
"We talk a lot about credibility. We don't want them to print what they think. We only want them to print what they know. And when they print something that they think that's not accurate – then they lose that credibility and it's tough to build that back," Record said.
He says it's about teaching them to discern credible information from non-credible.
"Getting information from multiple sources is really important," said Juniper Hopkins, who is a freshman.
"You want to be skeptical always because you don't want to get burned – so if you're not sure you want to get it from a second source – and if it's a really big story, let's go and get it from a third source because if it's the truth, we're good, but if it's not we are standing on shaky ground," Record said.
A new generation of storytellers, born in the era of social media, committed to truth amid a never-ending onslaught of news and information.
"I think trust is everything because if you aren't a reliable source, then none of your information is valuable. It's just hearsay and rumors," sophomore Ethan Sands said.
Something Record's students know is not fit to print.
"I want to give people accurate news that they can trust instead of hearsay," Spires said.
