Learn news literacy this week Halloween candy myths | Katy Perry rumors | AP on TikTok
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The top editor at Oregon’s largest newspaper recently apologized for the paper’s historically racist and xenophobic coverage. The public apology introduces The Oregonian’s “Publishing Prejudice” series, a project prompted by the 2020 murder of George Floyd that examines the 161-year-old daily newspaper’s racist legacy. The Oregonian found that its own news coverage and editorials excused lynching, opposed equal rights, celebrated the Chinese Exclusion Act, supported the WWII imprisonment of people of Japanese descent and more. In her apology, editor Therese Bottomly described racist coverage from the paper’s archives as “Revolting. Painful. Indefensible.”
The perceived threat of fentanyl-laced Halloween candy has some elected officials and media outlets ringing alarm bells, but doctors and drug experts say the warnings are exaggerated. Joel Best, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, has tracked news reports of contaminated treats for decades and found no evidence of any child seriously injured or killed by treats received from trick-or-treating. While “rainbow fentanyl” is made to look like candy, no drug cartels are known to have targeted Halloween candy.
A communal digital Día de Muertos altar created by the Los Angeles Times last year was so popular — drawing more than 1,000 submissions — that the paper is bringing it back this year. Readers can make their own digital ofrenda with photos and messages to celebrate and mourn loved ones who have died.
NO: Ballot request applications sent to deceased people are not evidence that it is easy to cast votes on their behalf. YES: Every state has procedures in place to remove dead people from voter rolls on a regular basis, and applications sent in on behalf of a dead person are routinely rejected. YES: It is a crime to attempt to obtain a ballot in the name of a dead person. On rare occasions people do try to vote on behalf of dead people and are charged with voter fraud. YES: Every state has additional checks in place — including signature verification and another check against updated voter rolls — to prevent fraud.
NewsLit takeaway: Election misinformation narratives often cause people to misinterpret ordinary aspects of elections and can become self-sustaining as they spread. Third parties that send ballot applications are less diligent than state officials about keeping their records updated — and sometimes send applications to an ineligible voter, adding to a widespread but misguided perception that votes are commonly cast on behalf of dead people. When it comes to staying informed about election security, seek out credible, verified information and official sources rather than viral claims found on social media.
NO: The movement of Katy Perry’s eye in this video of her performing at a Las Vegas concert is not related to a COVID-19 vaccine side effect. YES: The incident sparked other conspiratorial speculation about robotic clones and even connections to antisemitic conspiracy theories. YES: Perry has addressed the incident and explained that it was a “party trick” for her act. NO: “Eye glitches” are not a known COVID-19 vaccine side effect.
NewsLit takeaway: Anti-vaccination trolls often try to find ways to attribute strange viral moments to the COVID-19 vaccines, but such claims lack evidence and have the potential to spread harm. This video of Perry’s eye “glitching” during an October 2022 concert was no exception. As the video racked up millions of views, many people dismissed the most likely explanations in favor of their preferred conspiratorial ideas. While wide-ranging, these conspiratorial claims all had one critical characteristic in common: a complete lack of evidence.
A new ProPublica investigation found that Google’s ad business funds disinformation across the globe by regularly placing ads on non-English-language websites that push falsehoods on topics such as elections, vaccines, COVID-19 and climate change.
When it comes to trust in news, the Pew Research Center found that adults under 30 now trust information on social media almost as much as national news organizations.
Check out three nonprofit newsrooms that are changing the playbook for election reporting by shifting the focus from a “horse race” approach to coverage that instead revolves around voters.
In a boon to local news, reporting from a new journalism collaborative in underserved communities along Florida’s Gulf Coast will be shared and published by 12 news outlets in the region.
The New York Times Learning Network rounded up eight films for students about digital media, which cover topics including online privacy for children and how conspiracy theories spread.
In The Associated Press’ first TikTok, the global news agency acknowledged its 176-year history in delivering the news from Telegraph➡️Teletype➡️TikTok.
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