The Sift: Special issue: Information ecosystem

An educator's guide
to news literacy

March 2, 2026

Hi there,

Today’s newsletter is a special one!

It’s a takeover issue of The Sift by Hannah Covington, NLP’s Senior Director of Education Content. You’re likely already familiar with her work if you’ve used Daily Do Now slides with your students or infographics like the “Breaking News Checklist.”

Hannah recently led the development of an important and engaging new resource: an “ecosystem” map exploring the news-related information landscape. Read on to learn more — and don’t miss out on the new classroom activity that accompanies it.

Also, The Sift is taking a break next week due to a staff retreat, but we will be back in your inbox on March 16.

— The Sift team

In this issue

Classroom activity: Is it news? 

Understanding the information ecosystem — what role does news play?

Hannah Covington

When I was a reporter at a daily newspaper, people sometimes asked me to explain my work. What separated what I did as a journalist from other types of content about the same topic? What made some sources of news more trustworthy than others?

I’ve found that people often use “news” as a catchall term to describe lots of different kinds of information. Updates from neighborhood groups on social media, a podcaster offering hot takes on current events, an influencer commenting on the day’s headlines — all of these and more might help people learn about what’s happening in the world. But not everything online aspires to the same standards of credibility. Much of what people casually call “news” isn’t actually news — it’s content about news. And the distinction matters.

That’s why we created a new poster, “The Information Ecosystem Depends on News,” to help students think more clearly about the role of news in today’s online environment. The information landscape is complex, interconnected and constantly changing — like an ecosystem. In this ecosystem, news reporting plays a foundational role.

This week’s classroom activity helps students practice separating news from content about news. The examples feature posts from content creators and influencers on social media, where an increasing number of people say they get news.

I often point out two key elements that separate high-quality news coverage from other types of information: original reporting and journalism standards.

These two elements are especially useful in an online environment where social media content can look and feel the same as standards-based news. How can students know what to trust? Keeping these questions in mind is a good place to start:

• Original reporting: Did this content creator or person do interviews and talk to people in a position to know about this topic? Did they cite sound evidence and credible sources? Did they see something firsthand and work to verify it?
• Journalism standards: Are there signs that this person is aspiring to standards like verification, accuracy, independence, transparency, accountability and fairness? Is there a demonstrated concern for getting the facts right? How does this person know what they know? Are their reporting methods explained? Do they publicly correct mistakes?

In an age when viral rumors, AI slop and news impostors can crowd out high-quality sources, viewing the news-driven environment as an ecosystem is uniquely empowering for students. Everyone can make more mindful choices about the information they consume, share and act on. We all play a role in keeping this ecosystem healthy.

⭐ NLP Resources:

• Poster: “The Information Ecosystem Depends on News”
• edWebinar recording: “Influencers, AI, and Credibility: Teach Students About the Information Ecosystem”

🔗 Related:

• Podcast: “Information is an ecosystem. Without journalism, it collapses” (In Reality)
  • Note: This podcast episode features journalist and scholar Courtney C. Radsch, Ph.D., whose work on information ecosystems played a key role in helping inform NLP’s new classroom poster.
• “What information from independent creators can you trust? This checklist will help” (Trusting News)

Classroom activity:

Is it news?

The “Is it news?” slide deck is designed to accompany the information ecosystem poster. There are educator instructions and explanations in the “speaker notes” section at the bottom of the slides.

Learning objectives:

• Define news and describe its primary purpose.
• Analyze examples of information to decide if they are news or content about news.
• Explain why it’s important to understand what separates news from other types of content online.

Different kinds of content about news may include news influencers, satirical “news,” infotainment, news pundits and individual users. This activity also includes examples of content creators below.