SPOKANE, Washington — The Spokesman-Review is excited to announce a new partnership with NorthEast Washington Education Services District 101 (NEWESD 101) to provide digital access to the daily electronic edition for all 104,000+ students within their service area through the Spokesman’s Newspapers-In-Education (NIE) literacy program. NEWSED 101’s area includes seven counties (Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Orielle, Spokane, Stevens and Whitman), 59 public school districts, 45 state approved private schools, and three charter schools.
This partnership helps bridge the gap of media literacy, especially in rural areas of Washington State by allowing all students and educators access to every electronic edition of The Spokesman-Review throughout the school year.
Darren Nelson, NEWSED 101’s Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning & Support Services said, “NEWESD101 is excited for the opportunity to collaborate with The Spokesman-Review. This partnership will ensure that educators and students throughout our region will have access to materials that will support and accentuate learning.”
“As with the rest of the news media industry we constantly strive to connect with our youngest audience(s) and provide them with media literacy tools that are more important today than ever before,” said Tyler Pisani, senior director of audience at The Spokesman-Review. “This partnership helps us connect with young readers the way we used to connect through our parents' and grandparents' subscriptions as young readers.”
The Spokesman-Review’s NIE & Literacy department, led by Jennifer Irving, has been working to grow the program over the last few years including an initiative they started last year to enhance the value of the digital NIE program for educators. This initiative provides grade level specific learning prompts each week based on content in the previous week’s newspapers, as well as an orientation for educators and students who may be unfamiliar with The Spokesman product.
The new partnership provides another classroom resource for educators who want to use current, historical or community events as a learning tool. “We’ve seen firsthand that teachers want to bring local news into their classrooms, and the biggest challenge has often been making access simple,” said Jennifer Irving, customer experience and NIE manager at The Spokesman-Review. “This partnership takes that barrier away. Now educators and students throughout the NEWESD101 region can easily connect with trusted local journalism, learn more about the community around them, and build the skills to navigate an increasingly crowded information landscape.”
Connecting with younger audiences is at the forefront of The Spokesman-Review’s mission and a partnership of this magnitude outlines The Spokesman’s commitment to providing engaging content used to educate and instruct in the classroom. “This partnership represents exactly the kind of impact we want The Spokesman-Review to have across our region,” said Aaron Kotarek, general manager and chief operating officer of The Spokesman-Review. “Providing more than 104,000 students, educators and administrators with access to trusted local journalism gives us an extraordinary opportunity to help enlighten, educate and inform the next generation of young leaders. At a time when young people are navigating more information (and misinformation) than ever before, we have a responsibility to help them become conversant, curious and engaged citizens. I could not be more excited about our partnership with NEWESD 101 and the lasting impact it will have on students and communities throughout Eastern Washington.”
About NEWESD101:
NEWESD101 is one of nine regional education services districts in Washington state. NEWESD101 serves dozens of school districts in Eastern Washington and acts as an intermediary between outside services, including the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
About The Spokesman-Review:
The Spokesman-Review is the largest news and information provider in the Inland Northwest. The publishing company traces its origin to the founding of the Spokane Falls Review in 1883. In 1893, The Review merged with its rival, The Spokesman, under the leadership of Publisher William H. Cowles. The Spokesman-Review is still owned and operated by the Cowles family, whose members continue to reside in Spokane and are actively involved in civic betterment efforts in addition to other Cowles Company enterprises. Today, Publisher William Stacey Cowles represents the fourth generation of his family to oversee the publishing company.
For media inquiries, contact:
Aaron J. Kotarek, General Manager & Chief Operating Officer
aaronk@spokesman.com – 509-459-5011
