The Sift: ICE shooting coverage

January 12, 2026

Artificial intelligence Journalism Misinformation

An educator's guide
to news literacy

Jan. 12, 2026

Note: There will be no issue of The Sift next Monday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). We'll return to your inbox on Monday, Jan. 26.

In this issue

ICE shooting coverage | RumorGuard slides

Daily Do Now slides

Don’t miss this week’s classroom-ready resource.

Top picks

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

Caution tape surrounding red and blue emergency vehicle lights.

The fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis was caught on camera.

1. How journalists used videos of the ICE shooting

When raw footage of a violent incident is everywhere online, what role do journalists play?

Raw footage: Witnesses captured graphic videos of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shooting a 37-year-old woman driving in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. The footage was seen by millions online.
Journalists’ role: The videos provided important documentation, and news organizations verified and analyzed them (link warning: gun violence and explicit language). The New York Times, for example, conducted a frame-by-frame analysis of three videos from different angles and reported that the woman’s car appeared to be turning away from the agent when the shooting began.
Watchdog reporting: In the shooting’s aftermath, politicians and other public officials offered conflicting accounts of the shooting. Journalists hold powerful people accountable (link warning: explicit language) by examining what the videos show, identifying the officer involved and covering protests.

💬 Discuss:

How do journalists verify raw information — like video clips from eyewitnesses?
Why might a video be interpreted in different ways by different people?
What ethics and standards do newsrooms abide by when reporting on breaking news events? How should journalists balance speed with accuracy?

⭐ NLP Resources:

Infographic: “Breaking news checklist”
“Practicing Quality Journalism” (Checkology® virtual classroom)

🔗 Related:

“‘I spent almost four months in a prison cell’: Journalist Mario Guevara on covering ICE” (France 24)
“Disinformation in Minneapolis Shooting Points at People Who Were Not Involved” (The New York Times)

2. Copycat student newspaper site churns AI slop

Student journalists at the University of Colorado Boulder are facing an unforeseen challenge amid the rise of AI: a copycat website posing as their newspaper.

Impostor website: The legitimate CU Independent publishes at cuindependent(dot)org, but an impostor site has taken over the publication’s old, expired domain, cuindependent(dot)com.
AI slop: The impostor site claims to be the CU Independent, but its content — including journalists’ photos and biographies — appears to be AI-generated. By contrast, the actual CU Independent site is produced by student journalists who follow professional ethics and standards.
Confusion for readers: The impostor site even has its own fake logo and social media accounts, further confusing readers. Student journalists have enlisted lawyers to help them fix this problem, but so far efforts have been unsuccessful.

💡 Idea: Have students evaluate cuindependent.org and cuindependent.com to determine which news site is legitimate and which is an impostor.

🗒️ Note: Some users may experience security pop-ups or blocked access with these sites. Here are alternative archival screenshot links for each site: cuindependent.org and cuindependent.com.

💬 Discuss:

How can you tell whether a news site is credible or not?
Why might a fake local news site be harmful to a community?

⭐ NLP Resources:

“Sift quiz: Pink slime”
Slides: “AI-generated news or not?”
Activity: “Which is Legit?” (Checkology)

🔗 Related:

“Could this mysterious California news site influence the 2026 election?” (CalMatters)

3. In Finland, preschoolers learn media literacy

Finland regularly ranks at the top of the European Media Literacy Index — and this Nordic country is now adding AI literacy to its curriculum.

Protection against propaganda: Finland shares a border with Russia, where disinformation campaigns spread widely. Educators say media literacy is important for Finland’s safety and democracy.
Media literacy starts young: For decades, Finland has made media literacy a key part of its school curriculum, and Finnish kids as young as 3 are learning these skills.
AI literacy: Finnish teachers say understanding artificial intelligence technology is a growing part of media literacy, with students learning to spot AI-generated content.

💬 Discuss:

When should students begin learning news literacy skills?
Why is the ability to separate fact from fiction important for a healthy democracy?

💡 Idea: Use the “Reflect” slide from Week 13 of the Daily Do Now resource to further explore this topic.

⭐ NLP Resources:

Lesson plan: “AI or not?”
Infographic: “Six zones of information”

🔗 Related:

Video: “What does generative AI video mean for media literacy?” (The Los Angeles Loyolan, student newspaper of Loyola Marymount University)
“Finland trains six-year-olds to spot fake news – and they might be better at it than you” (Helsinki Times)

These classroom-ready slide decks provide a comprehensive walk-through on how to debunk false rumors.

Misleading AI-generated image of unmasked ICE agent circulates after deadly shooting

A post reads, “Hey Folks! This is the ICE Nazi Agent who killed Renee Nicole Good in cold blood in Minneapolis! Has anyone seen this guy?” and features an image that appears to show an unmasked ICE agent. The News Literacy Project has added a label that says “AI-GENERATED.”

✅ YES: An ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a Minnesota resident and U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

❌ NO: This is not a genuine photograph of an ICE agent involved in the shooting.

✅ YES: This image was created by the AI chatbot Grok by digitally altering an authentic visual.

⭐ NewsLit takeaway:

After deadly or controversial incidents, internet users frequently embark on haphazard campaigns to identify the people involved. These amateur investigations often result in misidentifications and frequently involve false claims, doctored images or, as in the case above, AI-manipulated content. Check out these Google Slides for tips to avoid falling for these false narratives.

AI images circulate after Maduro’s capture

A social media post reads, “Silence on the abduction of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro sets a dangerous precedent. No international law allows the arrest of a sitting head of a sovereign nation. What’s ignored today could happen to others tomorrow.” The post includes two images that supposedly show Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro being escorted by members of the U.S. military. The News Literacy Project has added a label that says, “AI-GENERATED IMAGES.”

✅ YES: The U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro outside the capital city of Caracas in a U.S. military operation on Jan. 3, and brought him to the United States to face federal drug trafficking and weapons charges.

❌ NO: These are not authentic photographs of Maduro in U.S. custody.

✅ YES: These are AI-generated images.

⭐ NewsLit takeaway:

Major breaking news events prompt a flood of information, but not all of it is accurate. While reporters at standards-based news organizations work to verify facts with sources in a position to know, people openly speculate about what’s happened, and bad actors quickly exploit trending topics to advance ideological goals and spread confusion through false claims and clickbait content. Check out these Google Slides for tips on spotting these kinds of falsehoods and stay informed when big news breaks.

➕ “Whata Bod” and “Orangeotild” aren’t real places — they’re fake names found on an AI-generated map posted by the National Weather Service. The post was taken down after The Washington Post contacted them about it.

➕ Virginia teens are limited to one hour a day of scrolling on social media platforms after a state law went into effect this month, restricting screentime and data collection for minors.

➕ After a California teen consulted ChatGPT for drug advice, he died of an overdose. OpenAI says over 230 million people ask ChatGPT for health advice each week, and the company will soon be rolling out ChatGPT Health.

➕ AI chatbot Grok is “undressing” real people without their consent and recently began telling X users that it will only generate images for paying subscribers. Critics say the move to put image generation behind a paywall on X “represents the monetization of abuse.”

➕ Should you say “arrest” or “capture”? Use a large font for a banner headline, or a smaller font? These are among the many decisions New York Times editors made on deadline when creating the newspaper’s front page after U.S. forces ousted Venezuela’s leader on Jan. 3.

➕ Pittsburgh will soon become the largest American city without a daily newspaper, after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced its pending closure, with a final edition planned for May 3.