The Sift: Election rumors | X content moderation

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{{Salutation or 'Educators'}}, here are the latest news literacy topics and tips to integrate them into your classroom.

1. Newspapers shift away from endorsements

Newspapers choose not to endorse a presidential candidate for a variety of reasons, and for some it’s nothing new. Papers that have discontinued the practice have chalked it up to tight budgets, staff shortages, not wanting to tell readers what to think, a preference for focusing exclusively on local candidates, or a desire to end the confusion many people have over the distinction between editorial boards and newsrooms, according to media analyst Rick Edmonds. The Wall Street Journal, for example, hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate in nearly a century. And the country’s largest newspaper chain, Gannett, decided last year that its 200 publications wouldn’t endorse a presidential candidate this year, instead focusing on local races.

While some news outlets make principled decisions against political endorsements, recent decisions at The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times not to endorse a presidential candidate sparked widespread outrage. The papers’ owners both blocked endorsements less than two weeks ahead of the election — leading to resignations and allegations that editorial independence had been compromised. In a column defending the decision, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos argued that presidential endorsements “create a perception of bias.” Washington Post reporters, independent from the paper’s editorial board and owner, have rigorously covered the blocked endorsement in news articles and even a TikTok video.

Idea:

Share this NLP Instagram post (and if time allows, this 7-minute NBC News video) with your students about the role of an editorial board and how they operate independently from the newsroom at standards-based publications. Then discuss the impact of newspaper endorsements using the questions below.

• Another idea: For a quicker activity, use the “News or opinion?” slides in Week 8 of the Daily Do Now resource.

Discuss:

Why are some readers frustrated with The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times decisions? Why have some newspapers quit issuing political endorsements? Do you agree that endorsements “create a perception of bias” at a news organization? Do you think publishing the opinions of editorial boards (a group of veteran journalists who no longer work as reporters) helps the public make up their own minds, or does it amount to telling the public what they should think?

Related:

• “Newspaper non-endorsements at Washington Post, LA Times fit a trend, but their readers aren’t happy” (David Bauder, The Associated Press). 
• “LA Times union begs readers not to cancel the subscriptions that pay their salaries after blasting owner” (Alexander Hall, Fox News).

★ NLP Resources:

2. Viral election misinfo boosted on X

Content moderation on X isn’t effectively weeding out election misinformation through Community Notes, its crowd-sourcing feature, according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. About 74% of accurate Community Notes for misleading posts weren’t being shown to X users, or 209 out of 283 posts sampled in the report.

The social media platform has also introduced incentives to post sensational false claims and conspiracies: X now pays Premium X users based on engagement. In a recent investigation, BBC interviewed X users who are doing this — including one who makes thousands a month sharing AI-generated political memes and images.

X owner Elon Musk has also shared election misinformation on the platform to more than 200 million followers, creating what one election official called a “huge problem” in battleground states that are outmatched by X’s algorithm.

Discuss:

If you were in charge of a tech company, what rules would you have in place to moderate content? What role do algorithms play in determining the information we see on social media? What is the impact of election misinformation on American democracy?

Related:

• “An Elon Musk-backed political group is posting fake Kamala Harris ads on Facebook” (Bobby Allyn, NPR).
• “Georgia official demands Elon Musk take down fake migrant voting video” (Justin Glawe and Andrew Perez, Rolling Stone).

★ NLP Resource:

3. Should the crime beat be abolished?

During the racial justice movement of 2020, two Pennsylvania journalists predicted that the crime beat would — or should — be abolished. The emphasis on crime in news, they wrote, was classist and racist, made people feel less safe, and didn’t serve the public. Four years later, the crime beat is still around in most newsrooms but there have been gradual changes, such as limiting the use of mug shots and redeveloping the beat to focus on public safety. However, some say their local news outlets need to be accountable for past or current harm in crime news coverage — and transform it so it better serves communities.

Idea:

Have students examine examples of local news coverage of crime or public safety. (If your school is in a news desert, try pulling up national crime news such as the AP crime hub.) Consider the news value of these crime stories: Are they legitimately newsworthy or are they sensational clickbait? Do they provide people with information they need to know, or do they merely appeal to people’s fears and curiosity? Have you ever seen mug shots published by a local news outlet? Do you think these photos add anything to crime coverage? Can publishing mug shots of people arrested but not yet convicted cause harm? How?

• Another idea: Use NLP’s Newsroom to Classroom program to ask a crime or public safety reporter to talk to students about how they decide what news to cover.

Related:

• “The Star usually does not publish mugshots. But there are exceptions — and this is one” (Mará Rose Williams, The Kansas City Star). 
• “Local news covers a lot of crime, yet people can’t find the crime news they need” (Kelly McBride, Poynter). 
• “Black Americans’ mistrust of the U.S. news media” (Kiana Cox, Pew Research Center).

★ NLP Resources:

Viral video falsely claims to show Trump votes being destroyed

❌ NO: This video does not show someone destroying genuine ballots for the 2024 presidential election with votes for former President Donald Trump in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

✅ YES: The Bucks County Board of Elections and the Bucks County Republican Committee both released statements confirming the video is fake and the ballots are not authentic.

★ NewsLit takeaway

The News Literacy Project’s Misinformation Dashboard: Election 2024 is seeing a sharp uptick in false claims related to election integrity. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Approach online claims about politics with skepticism.
• Practice patience while scrolling on social media, as misinformation travels faster than facts.
• Consider if the source of a claim is trustworthy.

A media forensics expert told the global news agency AFP that the video was likely created by a Russian propaganda group aiming to undermine confidence in elections in the United States. Social media users can expect to see similarly deceptive claims in the days ahead. When in doubt, check claims against standards-based news outlets and local election officials.

No, states aren’t cheating if they don’t have results on election night

✅ YES: Election officials in Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania say they don’t expect to be finished tallying and certifying votes by election night on Nov. 5.

❌ NO: A delay in certifying the results is not evidence of election fraud.

✅ YES: Some key swing states prohibit processing mail and absentee ballots until Election Day and others expect to report results in the days after due to high turnout or other reasons.

★ NewsLit takeaway

Misinformation about the election process spreads online to create doubts about the credibility of the results. Keep these points in mind:

1. A winner may not be confirmed on election night, especially if the race is close. This is common and not evidence of voter fraud.
2. Learning about the election process can safeguard against election misinformation.
3. Pause and think critically about the source of a viral claim before sharing it.

False claims often target gaps in our knowledge. This viral claim, for example, is built on a common misconception about the vote counting process, suggesting that a normal delay is something more sinister.

Thanks for reading!

Your weekly issue of The Sift is created by Susan Minichiello (@susanmini), Dan Evon (@danieljevon), Peter Adams (@PeterD_Adams), Hannah Covington (@HannahCov) and Pamela Brunskill (@PamelaBrunskill). It is edited by Mary Kane (@marykkane) and Lourdes Venard (@lourdesvenard).

You’ll find teachable moments from our previous issues in the archives. Send your suggestions and success stories to [email protected].

Check out NLP's Checkology virtual classroom, where students learn how to navigate today’s information landscape by developing news literacy skills.