Around the World with Nellie Bly

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to a young lady named Nellie Bly. Nellie is an intrepid reporter who travels the word in search of the day's most important and interesting news stories. No matter how complex or convoluted those stories might be, how serpentine their history, Nellie is devoted to condensing them into short, easily-understandable stories which are designed to educate and inform her readers, who range from middle-school aged to - well, to me. And she does a truly remarkable job of it.

Nellie is the brainchild of Mike Peterson, a professional newspaperman who is involved in the Newspapers in Education Program. NIE is aimed at introducing schoolchildren to newspapers with the goal of ensuring future generations of informed, smart kids. Mike created Nellie in cooperation with a talented cartoonist and named her for the pioneering female reporter Nellie Bly, a remarkable journalistic role model for young people.

Mike is also responsible for "Drawing Conclusions" (also available at nelliebly.org), a feature which weekly chooses a hot topic and explores how two different editorial cartoonists address it. Like "Around the World with Nellie Bly", "Drawing Conclusions" encourages young people to think critically about the news coverage they see, and teaches them to understand that news often comes with perspectives attached.

You'll love "Around the World with Nellie Bly" and "Drawing Conclusions" if you have kids or if you have the opportunity to teach or guide kids. You'll like them a lot even if you don't.

ronnie