Educators: Can your students separate news from content about news? It's a distinction that matters, as NLP's @hannahcov.bsky.social explains in today's special edition of The Sift!
Check out the newsletter for classroom slides on this topic + our new infographic 👇🏽
If you'd like to support local journalists in Minnesota, Poynter put together a great starting list of newsrooms with links to donate. www.poynter.org/local-news/2...
An excerpt from an AP story quoting public safety reporter, Liz Sawyer: As a reporter, Sawyer says the public response to the outlet’s work, sharing stories and images, has lifted her spirits. Readers see it as public service journalism. Still, she could use a break. She and her husband, Star Tribune photographer Aaron Lavinsky, have a baby daughter and make sure to stagger their coverage. They can’t both be tear-gassed or arrested at the same time; who makes the daycare pickup? “I think both residents and journalists in this town are running on fumes,” she said. “We’re tired of being in the international spotlight and it’s never for something positive. People are trying their best to get through this moment with grace.”
Liz was one of my first friends at the Star Tribune. She's passionate, kind and — like many in the Twin Cities — exhausted. Liz talked to the AP about juggling daycare concerns while she and her husband cover a story with no end in sight.
This is local journalism. apnews.com/article/immi...
Webinar ad with a tree and digital icons, text: 'Influencers, AI, and Credibility.' Scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 3, 4-5 PM ET. Presented by News Literacy Project.
From influencers to podcasters, much of our info ecosystem is focused on discussing current events. But not all content about news is equally credible — or, in the age of AI, legit.
👀 NLP's @hannahcov.bsky.social breaks it all down during a FREE #NewsLiteracyWeek event: go.newslit.org/Feb3NLP2026
📢 Educators: During National #NewsLiteracyWeek, join us for a FREE webinar on influencers, AI & credibility.
🗓️ Tuesday, Feb. 3, 4-5pm ET
ℹ️ @hannahcov.bsky.social will explore teaching strategies & resources to help students identify different kinds of content online.
🔗 go.newslit.org/Feb3NLP2026
Graphic with the words 'Biased,' 'Boring,' and 'Bad' in quotes, highlighting U.S. teens' perceptions of media. Includes scales and emoji icons. Button reads 'Get the Report.' News Literacy Project logo present.
1/ 🚨Our NEW study paints a shockingly bleak picture of how teens view the press. It also illustrates that there is a chasm between what teens think is going on in newsrooms versus what happens every day at credible outlets.
🔗 Summary + full report: go.newslit.org/TeensNewsMedia
Great internship opportunity to work with my awesome colleague @susanmini.bsky.social & her team on taking NLP's impactful newsletters to the next level!
#Interns
#EduSky
In case you're wondering, I'm still not done talking about this movie. Recently I chatted with Laura Yuen at @startribune.com about confusion over AI fakes and how the rise of these tools are deepening distrust and making people question what's real. www.startribune.com/kpop-demon-h...
Love this quote from a student in Brooklyn: “ Journalism isn't only hunching over a desk and writing. Journalism is interviewing, understanding the community, and so much more."
New study by @brendannyhan.bsky.social, @jasonreifler.bsky.social & colleagues demonstrates that prebunking election fraud rumors — by warning about anticipated false claims & filling conceptual gaps that those claims exploit — helps to reduce belief in falsehoods: www.science.org/content/arti...
Oklahoma educator Riley Barnes leads a lesson on social media algorithms. The words "search engines," "YouTube," and "TikTok" are visible on the white board behind her.
📝New from me, on AI and young people and the educators who are making a difference.
Big thanks to the librarians, teachers and students in Oklahoma who spoke with me for this piece.
www.oklahoman.com/story/opinio...
Worried about teens and AI? Teach them news literacy | Opinion
News literacy helps young people understand that not all information generated by AI tools is accurate and gives them the skills to fact-check.
www.oklahoman.com/story/opinio...
Listen, our social media team was ON IT yesterday. Some engagement news, with a side of media literacy.
Wherein I take any and every opportunity to talk about this movie👇🎤
P.S. Even if the original tweet was just trolling for engagement, the challenge remains of how we engage with and view original artistry in the age of AI.
P.P.S. The singalong this weekend was v fun and v joyful.
Rather than hunt for visual clues of authenticity, consider the source. My colleague Dan Evon has been saying this for two years now: Sure, you can see if the hands/fingers/text look weird, but even better is considering who shared the image/video in the first place. www.tiktok.com/@newslitproj...
As @shiraovide.bsky.social points out, we all tend to believe things that scare us, delight us or affirm what we already think is true. Just recognizing this vulnerability is a good first step.
We've got a whole infographic on these cognitive biases with some good tips newslit.org/educators/re...
"LOL, you can't" may seem cavalier, but it drives home an important point: AI tools are getting better all the time and can even fool professionals.
So, what can you do? A few thoughts with some resources 👇
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Devastated to report I fell for this. 🐰
“I feel like this is one way we can help our students — & help ourselves, to be frank — with figuring out what is real & what is not.” - Library media specialist Melinda Gallagher about #NewsLiteracy
@hannahcov.bsky.social 's piece for @the74.bsky.social ⤵️
zurl.co/cEKpr
NLP's @hannahcov.bsky.social spoke with 12 high school students about news habits & what it’s like trying to find credible info online.
Said Kelsey Perry, 18, of seeing conspiracy theories everywhere: “It gets to the point where it’s kind of hard not to believe some of them."
@the74.bsky.social
4/4 They want help making sense of it all. Our national survey found an overwhelming majority of teens (94%) want media literacy instruction, but most aren’t getting it.
Young people didn't ask for this online mess, and we owe it to them to show how to navigate it with thought and care. Full story⬇️
3/4 A lot of teenagers (8 in 10!) are encountering conspiracy theories. Students told me they find this content entertaining and silly. But what starts out as a joke can become something more.
“It gets to the point where it’s kind of hard not to believe some of them,” said Kelsey Perry, 18.
An excerpt of a news article where one student describes how their classmate's death and the online rumors that followed made them rethink their perception of influencers and how to know whether online information is credible.
2/4 At Owasso High School, the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict last year put this community at the center of viral rumors and hate. For some students, it also marked a turning point in how they think about verifying information online.
1/4 *taps mic*
My byline is back for the first time in many moons. I wrote about teenagers, conspiracy theories and what it was like when social media rumors became personal and painful at an Oklahoma high school.
🧵with the some takeaways:
www.the74million.org/article/i-ta...
Good morning, America!
Our Digital News Report 2025 is out
📊48 markets
🌏Almost 100K respondents
📰Key headline: Audiences lean into video news and influencers, raising misinformation concerns and new dilemmas for publishers
📱Explore now buff.ly/xLP67Tg
🧵Findings in thread #DNR25
The Wayback Machine is an indispensable tool for archiving web content. It's also a powerful search engine that can dig up deleted webpages and social media posts.
Here's the Indicator guide to getting the most out of the Wayback machine: indicator.media/p/ge...
Seven-in-ten Americans are at least somewhat concerned about potential restrictions on press freedom. This includes 43% who say they are extremely or very concerned. These numbers are almost identical to the findings of an April 2024 survey. www.pewresearch.org/...
Reminder: teaching #newsliteracy #medialiteracy effectively means spotlighting positive examples of quality journalism *at least as often* as focusing on coverage you think is problematic.
Excellent example of the impact of the watchdog role & the importance of a free press to democracy here 👇
A cutout shows a teen looking at their phone. Text bubble alongside read: - Teens are navigating the most complex information landscape in history. - News literacy can help them learn to identify credible information NATIONAL NEWS LITERACY WEEK Presented by News Literacy Project, the E.W. Scripps Company and USA Today Feb. 3-7, 2025 For a future founded on facts, visit NewsLiteracyWeek.org
📢 National #NewsLiteracyWeek in partnership with @ewscrippsco.bsky.social & @usatoday.com begins TODAY!
✨ Whether you're an educator or not, you can make a difference in young people's lives by empowering them to identify credible information.
🔗 Get involved & share: newsliteracyweek.org
A text reads “Dad? When are you coming back with the milk? It’s been 4 months…”
These text scams have really leveled up to Dickens-level pathos
