The Sift: Fake polls test journalists

An educator's guide
to news literacy

Aug. 24, 2026

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We’re excited to return to your inbox with classroom-ready resources, summaries of the latest news literacy headlines and timely teaching ideas.

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In this issue

Fake polls test journalists | RumorGuard slides

Daily Do Now slides

A week’s worth of do-nows, just for you.

Top picks

Here are the latest news literacy topics and tips on how to integrate them into your classroom.

A journalist verifying facts exposed fake polling information.

1. Fake polls were a test for media outlets

A 21-year-old college graduate was behind viral fake election polls that duped political campaigns, social media users and at least one news outlet.

• Fake polls: Through an AI-generated website called Median Strategies, Rahil Prakash recently released fake polling information about elections in Wisconsin, Nevada and California. At least one publication, the California Post, published a poll without verifying it.
• Critical thinking: Noah Goldberg, a Los Angeles Times reporter, said that he found one of the polls suspect because Median Strategies was new, had few followers and listed no human pollsters on its website.
• Exposed by journalists: After inquiries from the Los Angeles Times, Prakash admitted the polls were a “social experiment” to test how false polling information could spread through the information ecosystem.
• Fact-checking: Standards-based newsrooms should always verify polling information by checking the legitimacy of a polling firm, confirming it is independent and making sure it has sound methods, says media ethics expert Kelly McBride.
• Polls can be wrong: Even genuine polls aren’t predictions; they’re estimates, according to the Poynter Institute.

💬 Discuss:

• Why is it important for journalists to verify information, including election poll results?
• How can you tell if a source of information — from traditional news organizations to influencers or content creators — cares about getting the facts right? What are some clues that indicate information has been verified?
• What are some steps everyday people can take to confirm something is true before posting or sharing it?

⭐ NLP Resources:

• Infographic: “Three types of election rumors to avoid”
• Infographic: “Is it legit? Five steps for vetting a news source”

🔗 Related:

• “Why Polling Chaos Could Create Big Problems for American Politics” (The New York Times)

2. Despite AI use, teens value critical thinking

Many American teenagers (70%) use AI for schoolwork, according to a new Common Sense Media report.

• Homework help: The report surveyed 1,017 teens ages 13 to 17 during the spring of 2026. Despite high AI usage among teens, nearly two-thirds (65%) said they first tried to work on homework themselves or ask an adult for help before turning to AI.
• Top skills: The top three skills teens identified as important for their future included working well with others (55%), fact-checking and critical thinking (50%) and reading and understanding complex information (48%). Only 21% said knowing how to use AI tools mattered most.
• Mixed feelings: Two-thirds of teens (66%) said AI helps them understand schoolwork better — not just finish it faster. But 38% also said AI leads them to create fewer ideas of their own.

💬 Discuss:

• Should AI tools be used to complete schoolwork? Why or why not?
• If you were creating an AI policy for your school, what uses of AI — if any — would you allow? What uses would you ban? Explain your reasoning.
• How do you know if you can trust AI-generated information? 
• What skills do you think will matter the most in your future?

💡 Idea: Use the “Reflect” slide from Week 1 of the Daily Do Now resource to explore this topic with students in five to 10 minutes.

🗒️ Note: For family tips on AI, see the latest issue of Scroll Smarter, NLP’s newsletter for families.

⭐ NLP Resources:

• Infographic: “6 things to know about AI”
• Lesson plan: “AI or not?”

🔗 Related:

• “OpenAI launches a safer ChatGPT for teens — years after teens started using it” (TechCrunch)
• “Schools are starting to teach AI literacy. For many, that means helping kids see chatbots’ flaws” (The Associated Press)

3. Sports creators take the field

Sports journalism is reaching new audiences through collaborations with online content creators.

• Sports creators: About a year ago, The Athletic, a sports outlet owned by The New York Times, began working with sports creators to produce short-form videos on social media. Since then, videos from the pilot partnership program have amassed 50 million views and The Athletic has added 100,000 followers across platforms.
• Younger audience: While most of The Athletic’s videos are made by journalists, the sports outlet told Nieman Lab that it sees the creator partnerships as a way to reach new audiences — particularly young people who prefer getting news through video.
• Growing trend: More creators are emerging in the sports media landscape. Over the summer, for example, creators played a role in covering the FIFA World Cup by documenting soccer fan culture and posting game analyses.

💬 Discuss:

• How are sports journalists and sports creators different? How are they alike?
• The Athletic said it was important to find content creators that matched the outlet’s “journalistic DNA, our storytelling, and our deep analysis” — rather than creators who mostly posted hot takes and opinions. How can you tell if a creator or influencer’s content is mostly based on facts and reporting, personal opinions or a mix of both?
• Can a creator be both entertaining and careful with facts? What might that look like?

💡 Idea: Write the names of several sports teams or major sports events on separate pieces of paper and place them in a cup. Divide students into small groups and have each group pick a piece of paper. Ask students to imagine they are news editors at a major sports publication responsible for covering the team or event they selected. Using these journalism standards as a guide, have them discuss: How would they make sure news coverage is accurate? If they chose to work with content creators, how would they decide which ones to work with? How would they hold news coverage by creators and journalists accountable if an error occurs? Have each group share its approach and discuss how the groups balanced working with creators and upholding journalism standards.

⭐ NLP Resources:

• Poster: “The Information Ecosystem Depends on News” 
• “Dig Deeper: What do we lose when we lose sports reporters?” 
• Video: “News Goggles: Candace Buckner, The Washington Post” (Note: Buckner is now a columnist for The Athletic.)

🔗 Related:

• “ESPN Lines Up a Slate of Football Creators Ahead of Its First Super Bowl” (The Hollywood Reporter)
• “Creator Q+A: Simone Scott” (The Washington Post)

These interactive slide decks help students think carefully and critically about viral claims in the digital age.

Old video circulates in wake of Indonesia earthquake

✅ YES: A deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia on Aug. 15.

❌ NO: This video does not show the aftermath of that earthquake.

✅ YES: This video shows the aftermath of an April 2024 earthquake in Taiwan.

⭐ NewsLit takeaway:

Removing a video from its original context and sharing it as if it were connected to a more recent breaking news event is a common tactic used to get cheap engagement online. But these falsehoods also spread confusion. Check out these Google Slides for tips on spotting these tricks of context.

No evidence Spokane fires were deliberately caused by smart meters

❌ NO: There is no evidence that the fires near Spokane, Washington, in August were deliberately set by the government and electric companies through smart meters.

✅ YES: One of the largest fires in Washington state appears to have been ignited by an arsonist, and the National Weather Service noted that high winds and dry weather created “extremely critical fire weather conditions” in the area before the fires.

✅ YES: Unfounded claims alleging a conspiratorial plot to destroy property and seize land are frequently circulated after natural disasters.

⭐ NewsLit takeaway:

Conspiratorial claims are frequently based on an attempt to link two unrelated items, but remember, correlation does not imply causation. Check out these Google Slides for some tips to spot and debunk these conspiratorial claims.

➕ In a major trial against Meta, 29 states claim that the parent company of Facebook and Instagram deliberately designed addictive products that targeted kids. It’s the latest case in a number of lawsuits aimed at what is considered the social media giant’s addictive platform design.

➕ A network of 200 AI-generated “local news” sites that operated for months across the U.S. recently shut down. The startup behind the websites positioned it as a solution to news deserts but never produced original reporting.

➕ For the first time since actor Robin Williams died in 2014, his verified Instagram account has a new post. His kids revived the actor’s page to help push back against the AI slop targeting their late father’s voice and likeness.

➕ Since ChatGPT was released nearly four years ago, 35% of webpages published include AI-generated content, according to Pew Research Center.

➕ 404 Media hid an Airtag in a bulk order of rare books and tracked it to an Amazon facility. Amazon didn’t confirm that the books were being used to train AI models, but booksellers have reported similar bulk orders over the past year.

➕ Volcano misinformation is erupting online. One common tactic: Circulating old footage of volcanoes out of context and falsely claiming they show current volcanic activity.

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Your weekly issue of The Sift is created by Susan Minichiello, Dan Evon, Peter Adams, Hannah Covington and Pamela Brunskill. It is edited by Lourdes Venard and Mary Kane.

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