Young people are ‘hungry to find facts,’ says Matea Gold, NLP board member

Matea Gold has spent her journalism career telling stories with big impact.

 As a reporter, she shed light on the influence of wealthy political donors. As an editor, she is known for spearheading revealing news coverage and award-winning investigations.

Gold is the Washington editor of The New York Times, which she joined in 2025 after serving in numerous leadership roles at the Washington Post.

She has also been a supporter of the News Literacy Project since its start, helping to kick off the organization’s classroom programming at an event almost 20 years ago in Brooklyn. Now, she is supporting NLP in a new way. Gold joined the board in April. 

We asked her about verifying information in the age of AI, how the press looks out for the public good and why a free press matters. Here are her answers, lightly edited for length and clarity. 

It’s harder than ever to know whether information is authentic or AI-generated. How can people tell whether what they’re seeing is trustworthy?

It’s a dynamic that creates thorny challenges for journalists as we work to corroborate a story, particularly during fast-moving situations in which viral images race ahead of verified facts.

Journalists must do the painstaking work of tracking down knowledgeable sources and witnesses so we can strength-test what is being shared online. We also use visual forensic tools, although AI is getting so sophisticated that it is sometimes difficult to make that assessment. 

Of course, most news consumers don’t have that kind of time or resources. But you can build your own screening tools to help weed out manipulated information.

The News Literacy Project’s RumorGuard site provides a helpful rundown of some key questions to ask when trying to assess whether to believe what you’re seeing. One of the most important: Has the information been posted or confirmed by a credible source? Before passing along that eye-popping video to friends and family, check to see if a news organization with strong editorial standards has been able to verify it. 

You’ve overseen award-winning investigations that have exposed government failures. In your view, what’s the role of the press?

Across history, investigative journalism has played a vital role in bringing to light essential information that might otherwise have remained hidden. We have an obligation to represent the public’s interests and ask tough questions that help people understand why decisions are being made and how it impacts them, their families and their communities. 

The stakes are high: A free and vibrant press is essential for a functioning civic society. If you don’t have factual and credible information, how can you make informed decisions? That means journalists are always pushing to unearth new facts that give people insight into the motives of those in power and how government actions will affect the public.

It also means that we take very seriously our commitment to approaching every story with curiosity and open-mindedness. We go where our reporting takes us.

Research from the News Literacy Project shows that many young people have misperceptions about journalism that may contribute to deep distrust of the press. Why should young people care about freedom of the press? 

I see this as one of the most urgent challenges facing the news industry and our society. Growing distrust of the media has contributed to the deepening polarization across the country. No longer are Americans split just by their different views on issues — often, they cannot even agree on the facts at hand.

All of us who care about journalism and the role it plays in a healthy democracy have an obligation to earn back that trust. At The New York Times, we are putting a lot of creativity and energy into finding ways to take our audience inside our decision-making and help them understand what it takes to produce high-quality journalism. We want you to get to know our journalists as individuals and see how committed they are to seeking the truth.

It’s also essential that we continue to steadfastly protect the rights of journalists to do this work, which is at the core of our First Amendment freedoms.

What can young people do to help promote the value of news literacy in an environment of so much distrust and disinformation?

This generation is best positioned to drive home the value of journalism and credible information. As a parent of two teenagers, I’ve seen how young people approach this messy information landscape with inherent savviness and sophistication. Every time I speak to students about news literacy, I am struck by how quickly they clue into signs of manipulated or misleading content. They instinctively know there are bad actors out there who try to use technology to attempt to manipulate them, and they are hungry to find facts that they can share with confidence.

So, what can you do on a personal level? Start with your own feeds. Question what you see before you post. Are you promoting content that is not rooted in fact? Could it affect someone’s understanding of a news event or policy issue? If your friends share manipulated content with you, speak up and flag the signs that it is fake. Then take the time to proactively seek out credible news organizations.

Sharing journalism produced with rigorous standards is the best way to inject facts into the democratic bloodstream.