BRAVE MAG

NEW YORK (AP) — Cat Murphy, a college student, has wanted to be a journalist since she was 11. Many of her friends don't understand why.

When they engage with the news — if they do — they hear a cacophony of voices. They don't know who to believe. Reporters are biased. They make mistakes. Besides, why would you hitch your future to adying industry?

"There is a lot of commentary — 'Oh, good for you. Look what you're walking into. You're going to be screaming into the void. You're going to be useless,'" said Murphy, a 21-year-old graduate student at the University of Maryland's journalism school.

She is undeterred. And it's also why she's not surprised by the findings of astudy this fallthat documented negative attitudes toward the news media among 13- to 18-year-old Americans. The pressrarely fares wellin surveys of adults, but it's sobering to see the same disdain among people whose opinions about the world are still forming.

Words to describe the news media today

Asked by theNews Literacy Projectfor one word to describe today's news media, 84% of teens responded with something negative — "biased," "crazy," "boring," "fake, "bad," "depressing," "confusing," "scary."

More than half of the teens surveyed believe journalists regularly engage in unethical behaviors like making up details or quotes in stories, paying sources, taking visual images out of context or doing favors for advertisers. Less than a third believe reporters correct their errors, confirm facts before reporting them, gather information from multiple sources or cover stories in the public interest — practices ingrained in the DNA of reputable journalists.

To some degree, teens reflect the attitudes they're exposed to, particularly when the most prominent politician of their age has made "fake news"a mantra. Experts say few teens follow news regularly or learn in school about the purpose of journalism.

Journalists don't help themselves with mistakes orethical lapsesthat make headlines. Opinionated reporters or commentators in an era of political division make readers wonder what to believe.

"Some of this (attitude) is earned, but much of it is based on misperception," said Peter Adams, senior vice president of research and design for the Washington-based News Literacy Project.

Never picking up the news habit

There are ways to turn things around, but it will take work.

Many of Lily Ogburn's classmates get their information from social media. Their parents didn't watch or read news reports as they grew up, so they didn't pick up the habit, said Ogburn, a senior at Northwestern University's journalism school.

Ogburn is the former editor-in-chief at the well-regarded Daily Northwestern student newspaper. The newspaper's 2023 reports on alleged hazing and racism within the school's football program led to theousterof its coach. Still, she found some students don't understand the newspaper's role; they believe it exists to protect people in power rather than hold them accountable.

She frequently had to explain what she did to classmates. "There's a lot of mistrust toward journalists," she said. But it has firmed her resolve to stick with the profession.

"I want to be a journalist that people trust," Ogburn said, "and I want to report news that makes people believe and trust in the media."

The news industry's financial troubles over the past two decades have hollowed out newsrooms and left fewer journalists on duty. Along with not seeing much legitimate journalism, young people frequently don't experience it through popular culture — unlike a previous generation, which learned in detail how Washington Post reporters Robert Woodward and Carl Bernsteinexposed the Watergate scandalin the Academy Award-winning movie "All the President's Men."

When the News Literacy Project asked, two-thirds of teens couldn't think of anything when asked what movies or TV shows come to mind when they think about journalism. Those who had answers most frequently cited the "Spider-Man" franchise or the movie "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy." Neither portrayal was particularly flattering.

Upon retiring as editor of Newsday, Howard Schneider helped develop the State University of New York system's first School of Journalism. But instead of teaching future writers, editors or producers, he became drawn to teaching non-journalists about being news consumers.

Now the executive director of SUNY Stony Brook'sCenter for News Literacy, Schneider wasn't surprised about any of the recent survey's findings, either.

"The negativity, the feeling that news is biased, is just a reflection of how their parents feel," Schneider said. "The more exposed to news, legitimate news, the more their attitudes turn positive."

He has developed news literacy programs for school districts. "Students will say, 'I get my news from YouTube,'" he said. "I say, 'No, you don't,'" and explains where the news originates and how to be discerning about what they see.

Lessons from a news literacy class

That's one of the lessons that 16-year-old Brianne Boyack has taken from her course in news literacy at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. She had little trust in news going in, but has learned the importance of double-checking sources when she sees something interesting and seeking outlets she's found reliable.

Her classmate, Rhett MacFarlane, applied what he learned in class to investigate when a friend told him the Louvre was robbed in Paris.

"I've learned that there is definitely fact-checking (in journalism)," MacFarlane, also 16, told The Associated Press. "You guys are professionals and you have to tell the truth or you'd be fired. I thought you guys just did whatever you wanted and chose what to say about a topic."

Still, news literacy programs in schools are relatively rare. Schools already have a lot of subjects to cover to prepare students for the future. And, remember, journalists don't have the best reputations. It can be hard for educators to stick their necks out for them.

"There's an inertia here," Schneider said, "and this is an urgent issue."

At the University of Maryland, Murphy said she didn't think there was an inherent hatred toward journalists among her fellow students. "They don't have any experience reading journalism," she said.

That's where she sees the journalism industry needing to make more of an effort. One of the things she finds most frustrating about her chosen field is a resistance to change, particularly an unwillingness or inability to make meaningful use of social media.

"There's very little movement in the direction of going to where people are, as opposed to expecting them to come to where you are," Murphy said. "The only way to turn it around is going to be to switch to doing things that captivate people today, as opposed to captivating people 20 years ago."

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him athttp://x.com/dbauderandhttps://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tomas Hertl scored twice, Carl Lindbom made 18 saves for his first NHL victory and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Saturday night to end a three-game losing streak.

Hertl, who spent the first 11 years of his career with the Sharks, scored the first and last goals for the Knights. He has three goals and three assists against the Sharks since arriving in Vegas.

Colton SissonsandMitch Marneralso scored for Vegas.

Lindbomimproved to 1-4-2, coming up big during a game-ending 6-on-4 power play for the Sharks by making two saves.

The 22-year-old Swede pumped his left fist as the final horn sounded and was immediately embraced by captain Mark Stone.

With netminderCarter Harteligible to join the Knights on Dec. 1, and starterAdin Hillstill out of the lineup, it remains to be seen if Lindbom will stay with the team or head to its AHL squad in nearby Henderson.

The Golden Knights have won nine in a row against San Jose and improved to 29-2-5 overall against the Sharks, who had won eight of their previous 12.

Will Smithhad two goals andWilliam Eklundalso scored for San Jose. Alex Nedeljkovic made 20 saves.

The Sharks struck first, with Smith getting his first goal early in the opening period. Hertl responded later in the period.

Vegas scored three straight goals in the first 12:38 of the second period to take a 4-1 lead before the Sharks closed the period with goals from Smith and Eklund.

San Jose: Hosts Utah on Monday night.

Vegas: Hosts Chicago on Tuesday night.

AP NHL:https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

The Afghan man accused ofgunning down two National Guardmembers blocks from the White House last week had been unraveling for years, unable to hold a job and flipping between long, lightless stretches of isolation and taking sudden weeks-long cross-country drives. His behavior deteriorated so sharply that a community advocate reached out to a refugee organization for help, fearing he was becoming suicidal.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press reveal mounting warnings about the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an asylum seeker whose erratic conduct raised alarms long before the attack that jolted the nation's capital on the eve of Thanksgiving. The previously unreported concerns offer the clearest picture yet of how he was struggling in his new life in the United States.

Even so, when the community member who works with Afghan families in Washington state saw on the news that Lakanwal was named as the suspect in the National Guard shooting, they said they were stunned, unable to square the violence with the memory of seeing Lakanwal play with his young sons. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to share undisclosed details while cooperating with the FBI in its investigation.

West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were critically wounded in what officials described as an ambush attack onWednesday afternoon, and Beckstrom died from her injuries the next day. Investigators are still working to establish a motive for the attack.

Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder.

In Afghanistan, Lakanwal worked in a special Afghan Army unit known as a Zero Unit. The units were backed by the CIA. He entered the U.S. in 2021 throughOperation Allies Welcome,a program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats.

He resettled with his wife and their five sons, all under the age of 12, in Bellingham, Washington — but struggled, according to the community member, who shared emails that had been sent to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit group that provides services to refugees.

"Rahmanullah has not been functional as a person, father and provider since March of last year, 03/2023. He quit his job that month, and his behavior has changed greatly," the person wrote in a January 2024 email.

The emails described a man who was struggling to assimilate, unable to hold a steady job or commit to his English courses while he alternated between "periods of dark isolation and reckless travel." Sometimes, he spent weeks in his "darkened room, not speaking to anyone, not even his wife or older kids." At one point in 2023, the family faced eviction after months of not paying rent.

The community member said in an interview that they became worried that Lakanwal was so depressed that he would end up harming himself, but they did not see any indication that he would commit violence against another person.

Lakanwal's family members often resorted to sending his toddler sons into his room to bring him the phone or messages because he would not respond to anyone else, one email stated. A couple of times, when his wife left him with the kids for a week to travel to visit relatives, the children would not be bathed, their clothes would not be changed, and they would not eat well. Their school raised concerns about the situation.

But then, there were "interim" weeks where Lakanwal would try to make amends and "do the right things," according to the email, re-engaging with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services as was mandated by the terms of his entry into the U.S.

"But that has quickly evolved into 'manic' episodes for one or two weeks at a time, where he will take off in the family car, and drive nonstop," the email outlined. Once, he went to Chicago, and another time, to Arizona.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., said this past week that Lakanwal drove across the country from Bellingham, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Seattle, to the nation's capital to execute his attack.

In response to the two emails, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants or USCRI, visited Bellingham a few weeks later in March 2024 and attempted to make contact with Lakanwal and his family, according to the community member, who, after not receiving any updates, was left with the impression that he refused their assistance.

A request for comment and clarification from USCRI was not immediately returned.