GSAN: Fake moon rising | Crypto misinfo | AI election fears

Top reads

A roundup of the latest topics in news literacy and misinformation.

“Most Americans favor restrictions on false information, violent content online” (Pew Research Center).
“Google Tests A.I. Tool That Is Able to Write News Articles” (Benjamin Mullin and Nico Grant, The New York Times).
Opinion: “Why media literacy is key to tackling AI-powered misinformation” (Baybars Orsek, The Hill).
Video: “Meet the Man Who Sues the Government for Information” (Bloomberg).
“Disinformation reimagined: how AI could erode democracy in the 2024 US elections” (Nick Robins-Early, The Guardian).
Opinion: “If we let journalism die, our democracy won’t be too far behind” (Marcus Harrison Green, The Seattle Times).
“University Departures Put Student Journalists in Spotlight” (Katie Robertson, The New York Times).
“Lateral reading: The best media literacy tip to vet credible sources” (Skylar Hughes, Poynter).
“Misinformation, Disinformation: A guide to sorting fiction from reality” (Phoebe Petrovic, Wisconsin Watch).

How to fact-check in the AI age. Spot deepfakes, avoid clickbait. Free webinar by the News Literacy Project. Tuesday, August 8 at 7pm ET/4pm PT.

Featured video

When the moon hits the sky and it looks CGI that’s ... misinformation. Check out this NLP TikTok video:

An image of an oversized moon created by a digital artist is labeled “A fake moon” by the News Literacy Project.

Information, not affirmation
Do some social media posts make you feel extreme emotions? It’s good to slow down, confirm the facts and check for logic when content seeks to exploit our emotions. Remember, we’re all vulnerable to the influence of our biases — and social media algorithms often learn to cater to them, favoring outrageous content that keeps users engaged.

Share this NewsLit tip:

Former Vice President Mike Pence wasn’t pelted with a water balloon during a parade, and President Joe Biden isn’t converting U.S. currency to crypto. Check out more of the latest debunked rumors on NLP’s RumorGuard!

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Your weekly issue of Get Smart About News 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).

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