The Sift: Student press freedoms | Royal rumors | ‘Prebunking’ works

Young Americans “are more engaged in more ways than people give them credit for,” but are reportedly worn out by the news and enjoying it less, according to a new survey by Media Insight Project. About 79% of young Americans ages 16 to 40 — which includes millennials and members of Generation Z — say they get the news daily, but the sources they turn to vary. While about 45% of respondents say they use traditional news sources daily, nearly 80% get news each day from social media platforms, including Facebook (40%), YouTube (37%), Instagram (34%) and TikTok (29%). Additionally, a whopping nine out of 10 people in this age group say misinformation is a problem. Discuss: Where do you get news? How do social media platforms affect your news consumption? Do you seek out specific sources of news online or do they “find” you through algorithmic suggestions? Does today’s digital landscape contribute to news fatigue? What do you like and dislike about consuming the news? Who is most responsible for the spread of misinformation online? Idea: Ask students to keep a news log for a week. How often did they consume news? What sources did they turn to? How did they feel following the news? Resource: “What is News?” (NLP’s Checkology® virtual classroom). Dig Deeper: Use this think sheet to further explore how millennials and members of Gen Z engage with the news. Related: “Google examines how different generations handle misinformation” (Abby Ohlheiser, MIT Technology Review). “Doomscrolling linked to poor physical and mental health, study finds” (Caitlin Cassidy, The Guardian).

There’s a battle over censorship at a journalism and communications magnet school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Students noticed their librarian left after a vaccine mandate was implemented — effectively closing their school library — and reported it in their school newspaper. When school administrators and the librarian demanded her name be removed from the story online, the students refused. The school district penalized the students’ newspaper advisor with a three-day unpaid suspension, even though legal counsel through the Student Press Law Center found that the students’ reporting was within their First Amendment rights. The students subsequently published an article about the suspension of their teacher, Adriana Chavira, and an editorial, “They don’t respect us as student journalists.” The students wrote: “In California, student journalists are granted much of the same rights as professional journalists, per California Ed Code 48907. These rights mean that the district has no authority to retaliate against our adviser or to censor the content we cover.” Note: Journalism teacher Adriana Chavira has been highly engaged with the News Literacy Project for several years and currently serves as a NewsLit Nation news literacy ambassador. Discuss: Do the press protections in the First Amendment apply to student journalists? How should journalists balance the right to know and the right to privacy when reporting the news? Do you agree with the students’ decision to name the librarian who declined to follow the vaccine mandate? Is this a newsworthy story for students at this school? What challenges do student journalists face when covering their school communities? Related: “Slain Journalist Daniel Pearl’s Family Criticizes School Named After Son” (Matt Young, The Daily Beast). Opinion: “My high school paper published a ‘pride’ issue. Then we got canceled.” (Marcus Pennell, The Washington Post). Opinion: “Student Journalists Reveal a Changing World. Let Them.” (Margaret Renkl, The New York Times).

When students are taught media literacy or critical thinking skills, they’re 26% less likely to believe in a conspiracy theory. That’s one of many takeaways in a new report by the Reboot Foundation, which examines the link between low science and media literacy and conspiracy beliefs. Science knowledge also proved to be a boon, as survey respondents who scored high on the foundation’s science quiz were nearly 40% less likely to believe a conspiracy theory. Support for media literacy in schools was overwhelmingly high, with 84% of respondents saying they felt it should be required. Resources: “Evaluating Science-Based Claims” (Checkology virtual classroom). “Conspiratorial Thinking” (Checkology virtual classroom).

No, the BBC didn’t change its website banner to black before Queen Elizabeth II’s death

NO: The BBC did not change the banner on its homepage from red to black in preparation for Queen Elizabeth II's passing. YES: The standard banner on the BBC homepage has long been black, while the standard banner on the BBC News homepage is red.

NewsLit takeaway: Major breaking news events result in a flood of information. As everyone rushes online to share updates, speculate about recent developments and post jokes, criticism and hot takes, it creates a confusing landscape to navigate. When this claim was shared on social media, many people (including a couple members of the News Literacy Project) accepted this rumor as fact because it seemed intuitively true. Remember to pause and critically examine the claims on your feed before amplifying posts that could potentially spread false information.

• Related: 
  • “Queen Elizabeth’s life and death on front pages around the world” (Kristen Hare, Poynter).
  • “How Wikipedia’s ‘Deaditors’ Sprang Into Action on Queen Elizabeth II’s Page After Her Death” (Jody Serrano, Gizmodo).

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was not an ‘American Idol’ contestant

NO: This is not a video of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene auditioning for the first season of “American Idol.” YES: This video features singer Stefanie Sugarman and her unsuccessful audition during the show’s first season.

NewsLit takeaway: Confirmation bias often causes people to uncritically embrace falsehoods that support their existing views. In this case, some critics of Greene may have accepted this false claim without pausing to raise questions about its authenticity simply because they wanted it to be true, since it provided an opportunity to mock the Georgia congresswoman. If they would have examined this message a bit more closely, they may have noticed a few red flags:

• The claim was made without evidence. Anyone can add a caption to a video and claim it shows something that it does not. No links were provided to any sources that could support the claims in this tweet.
• This video was posted by a politically partisan account. While that does not by itself mean the claims are false, content from clearly biased sources should cause readers to pause. Was this message posted to score political points or was it posted to relay factual information?

Beyond these red flags, there’s also the fact that Greene would have been 27 years old in 2001 — three years older than the age limit to audition for “American Idol” at that time. Greene’s spokesperson told Lead Stories that the woman in the video “doesn’t look like [Greene] and obviously isn’t her.”

Photo of ‘devastated’ King Charles III was taken days before Queen Elizabeth II’s death

NO: This photograph does not show King Charles III’s reaction to news that his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has passed away. YES: This is a genuine photograph of Charles that was taken on Sept. 4 as he left a church service.

NewsLit takeaway: It is easy to get caught up in the moment during a breaking news event. As we try to keep up with the flood of information in our social media feeds, it’s tempting to take things at face value so we can keep scrolling. When a photograph of a devastated-looking Charles started circulating after news of Elizabeth’s death, many accepted it as genuine because it was poignant and because it just felt true. When an image is paired with a claim, especially during a major event, it’s natural to perceive a connection.

You can find this week's rumor examples to use with students in these slides.