It’s endorsement season, when newspaper editorial boards across the country weigh in on political candidates ahead of elections — but what does that mean? Poynter’s Tom Jones examines this question in his recent column following The New York Times editorial board’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. Jones points to the traditional firewall between a newsroom’s opinion and news departments, noting that editorial boards do not influence news coverage. A note at the top of the Times endorsement further explains: “The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.”
Discuss: What’s the difference between an editorial board and a newsroom, or an opinion journalist and a news reporter? Why is it important for people to be able to distinguish news from opinion? Should news outlets endorse political candidates in local or national elections? Why or why not? What can newsrooms do to make it easier to tell the difference between straight news coverage and opinion journalism?
Idea: Use the “Opinion zone” slide in Week 5 of the Daily Do Now resource for students to think more about this issue.
Revisions made to a recent NPR story after publication have prompted questions about practices around issuing corrections and clarifications. The story aimed to capture a viral moment involving claims that National Review Editor-in-Chief Rich Lowry used a racial slur in a radio show — but he hadn’t. The story and headline were later revised to acknowledge that Lowry denied using a slur and had made a verbal fumble. Weeks later, a note of clarification was added.
NPR Public Editor Kelly McBride wrote that the original article was inaccurate, and that NPR should have immediately acknowledged the modifications to the story with a note. She wrote that it was a “sign of integrity” that NPR improved the story but questioned the newsworthiness of the article and pointed to NPR’s editorial guidelines, which state: “We have a simple standard: Errors of fact do not stand uncorrected. If we get it wrong, we’ll admit it.”
Discuss: Do you agree with McBride’s assessment of this NPR story? Why or why not? How are corrections to a news story a sign of credibility? Why do newsrooms issue corrections? If you were a news editor, would you have run this story? Why or why not?
Idea: Ask students to think like a news editor. Share examples of scenarios like a car accident or a local event and ask them if they think it’s news that’s worth publishing. What makes an issue or event newsworthy?
Another idea: Contact a journalist using NLP’s Newsroom to Classroom directory and have a conversation about errors and corrections. Discuss the steps the journalist takes to prevent and correct factual inaccuracies.
It isn’t always easy to talk about misinformation with friends or family. Experts say a good place to start is “from a place of connection, not correction.” Taking the time to understand and learn more about a loved one’s life experiences and their engagement with news can build up to gradual conversations about present-day issues. Other tips include using less polarizing language (“rumor” instead of “misinformation”), discussing how to know what sources to trust, narrowing your focus to address one piece of misinformation and not core beliefs, and providing detailed fact checks instead of simply saying something is false.
Discuss: Why might starting with connection, rather than correction, be an effective approach to fact-checking? How do you feel when someone tells you you’re wrong? What can you learn by asking someone about what sources they trust?
Idea: Have students role play and practice each of the six tips in a conversation about a rumor someone believes to be true. Then ask them to reflect on the experience: What was hard? What worked well? How can they take what they learned and apply it when friends and family share misinformation?
Share this week's rumor examples with students using these classroom-ready slides. We've expanded these slides to include a comprehensive walk-through on how to debunk false rumors — including a short video to show students how to use a reverse image search.
NO: This video compilation does not show footage from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region and caused damage across the southeastern United States in September 2024.
YES: The clips featured in this post show the impact of previous storms in a variety of locations, including one from a September 2022 storm in Puerto Rico and another from February 2021 in Massachusetts.
★ NewsLit takeaway:
When a natural disaster hits, social media quickly fills up with photographs and videos. While many images are genuine, some accounts will try and take advantage of the rising interest and emotional vulnerability of the topic by sharing out-of-context content. This sort of engagement bait can garner millions of views and mislead people.
False context clips can be difficult to identify because they feature genuine photographs and videos. If an unfamiliar account shows footage from a disaster, it’s always a good idea to question the source. Was it from a news organization? A firsthand witness? A reverse image search engine is a good tool to determine the actual origin of a video or image.
YES: Biden did travel to his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the weekend of the storm, but he was in contact with local officials, declared a state of emergency and traveled to hurricane-hit states in the days following Hurricane Helene.
★ NewsLit takeaway:
Breaking national news events are frequently targeted by partisan opportunists aiming to score quick political points. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, for example, an AI-generated image and an out-of-context photograph misrepresenting the actions of Trump and Biden spread widely online. These falsehoods can slip by undetected for many viewers since they circulate during a time of information overload and appear to confirm preconceived political biases. Learning to pause and critically examine these claims allows people time to uncover additional context. The image of Trump, for example, was not credited to a photographer (it is AI-generated) and the Biden photograph was taken about a month before the storm.
A year after the Israel-Hamas war began, PolitiFact has recapped misinformation trends and traced how false narratives about the conflict have evolved, including through out-of-context images and rumors about the campus protest movement.
Don’t be fooled by a recent viral video that appears to show actress Jennifer Aniston sharing “secrets” about how to stay slim — it’s actually a deepfake video aiming to sell supplements.
AI-generated misinformation is getting harder to detect. Look no further than this video clip of an AI version of CNN’s Jake Tapper. Can you tell the real version from the fake?
Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, unveiled new AI tools that instantly generate videos and add audio. Although a company spokesperson said AI videos would have a watermark on them, the tags can be easily removed — sparking concerns among some experts of these tools being used to spread disinformation.
Months after AI-generated audio [link warning: profanity] of a Maryland high school principal went viral for appearing to make racist and antisemitic comments, the local community is still dealing with the fallout of the impostor clip.
Being exposed to conspiracy theories on social media doesn’t mean users will believe them — but they’re more likely to if it’s coming from a friend, according to a new study.
Assaults on journalists in the U.S. have increased 50% since last year, according to a new report from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The report noted that press freedom conditions in the U.S. have ramifications for the media environment around the world.
The days of local newspapers sending correspondents abroad or even across the country are long gone — but not for the University of Oklahoma’s student newspaper, which has added a Washington, D.C., correspondent.
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