When big news breaks, it can be hard to cut through the noise and find accurate information. Misinformation thrives during times of war, natural disasters and upheaval — and bad actors often spread falsehoods for cheap engagement on social media.

This infographic offers six best practices to help you navigate fast-moving stories:

1. Mind the gap: Keep in mind that there’s often a gap between what the public wants to know and the verified information available. Unconfirmed or completely bogus content often rushes in to fill that gap.
2. Beware bad actors: Remember that bad actors often capitalize on breaking news situations to spread falsehoods for easy likes and shares.
3. Do a quick search: This is often your best defense against misinformation.
4. Look for evidence: Claims that make bold assertions but provide no links or other evidence should always be approached with caution.
5. Seek credible sources: Be intentional about looking for credible news and not relying on social media algorithms to bring you updates.
6. Practice patience: Quality journalism and verification take time. Be ready to follow news developments over time.

Remember: Early details in news reports may turn out to be incorrect, and it might take days or even weeks to untangle initial accounts in a major story. The last thing you want to do is add to the fog of confusion by sharing an unverified post or visual. Slowing down and following these tips can help keep you anchored as the story continues to unfold.

Listening guides are designed to support educators in using NLP’s Is that a fact? podcast in the classroom by providing discussion questions, time-stamped episode outlines and classroom activities. Is that a fact? informs listeners about news literacy issues that affect their lives through informative conversations with experts working to combat misinformation. To listen to episodes, read episode descriptions, explore related links or view transcripts, please visit newslit.org/podcast/.

In Season 3 Episode 5 “Opinion creep: How facts lost ground in the battle for our attention” we discuss how the blurring of fact-based news and opinion has left the public more confused than informed. Our guest is Tom Rosenstiel, professor at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism and co-author of The Elements of Journalism.

Sources play a key role in reporters’ efforts to gather and publish information of public importance. Documents, images, video and people can all serve as sources in news coverage. When it comes to choosing sources, reporters work to interview the people or entities in a position to know the information they’re looking for. That might include experts, elected officials, everyday people or all of the above.

This week, we talk to Los Angeles Times reporter Libor Jany about his role covering the Los Angeles Police Department. Jany discusses his approach to reporting on public safety and how he develops sources on his beat. We consider some of the ways that sources share information with reporters — including what it means to be on the record, on background and off the record. Jany also sheds light on the steps journalists take to verify information and explains why it’s important to seek out diverse viewpoints and perspectives. Grab your news goggles!

Note: Look for this newsletter feature the first Monday of the month. You can explore previous News Goggles videos, annotations and activities in NLP’s Resource Library under “Classroom Activities.”

Resource: “Practicing Quality Journalism” (NLP’s Checkology^® virtual classroom).

Idea: Contact a local journalist using NLP’s Newsroom to Classroom program and ask them to discuss how they decide which sources to include in news coverage. 

Dig Deeper: Use this viewing guide for the featured News Goggles video to help students take notes on how journalists develop and use sources in news reports.

News Goggles annotations and activities provide news literacy takeaways on timely topics. These resources feature examples of actual news coverage, including full news reports, headlines, breaking news alerts or excerpts.

This video originally appeared in the Feb. 6, 2023, issue of The Sift^® newsletter for educators, which explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses journalism and press freedom topics and examines social media trends and issues. Read archives of the newsletter and subscribe here. Stock music in this video was provided by SoundKit from Pond5.

Have feedback about this resource? Or an idea for a future News Goggles? Please share it with us at [email protected].

Sports are an important part of many people’s lives. For journalists covering the world of sports, reporting involves more than just publishing highlights, player statistics and scores. So, what’s it like being a sports reporter?

This week, we talk to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post about her role as a sports columnist. Buckner sheds light on the differences between straight news beat reporting and opinion writing — and underscores how certain journalism practices and standards remain the same. Using her recent piece on Kyrie Irving as an example, Buckner explains her approach to column writing. We also discuss how sports intersect with culture and society and what sports reporting can teach us about the wider world. Grab your news goggles!

Note: Look for this newsletter feature the first Monday of the month. You can explore previous News Goggles videos, annotations and activities in NLP’s Resource Library under “Classroom Activities.”

Resources: “Practicing Quality Journalism” and “InfoZones” (NLP’s Checkology^® virtual classroom).

Idea: Have students hone their ability to separate news from opinion using NLP’s mobile app, Informable, which includes dozens of real-world examples in its “News or opinion?” mode.

Dig Deeper: Use this viewing guide for the featured News Goggles video to help students consider what it’s like being a sports reporter.

News Goggles annotations and activities provide news literacy takeaways on timely topics. These resources feature examples of actual news coverage, including full news reports, headlines, breaking news alerts or excerpts.

This video originally appeared in the Dec. 5, 2022, issue of The Sift^® newsletter for educators, which explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses journalism and press freedom topics and examines social media trends and issues. Read archives of the newsletter and subscribe here. Stock music in this video was provided by SoundKit from Pond5.

Have feedback about this resource? Or an idea for a future News Goggles? Please share it with us at [email protected].

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by news coverage during an election season. With so many sources competing for attention, how can we know what to trust? Professional journalism standards are one important sign of credibility. Reputable news organizations aspire to ethical guidelines and standards, including fairness, accuracy and independence.

This week, we talk to data reporter Emilie Munson of the Times Union, a local news organization based in Albany, New York, with a coverage area that includes the state’s Capital Region and Hudson Valley. Munson sheds light on the Times Union’s decision to publish a guide explaining how the news organization covers elections and politics — and the role of journalism standards in its news decisions. We also discuss the Times Union’s strict policies on the use of anonymous or unnamed sources. Grab your news goggles!

Note: Look for this newsletter feature the first Monday of the month. You can explore previous News Goggles videos, annotations and activities in NLP’s Resource Library under “Classroom Activities.”

Resources: 

• “Practicing Quality Journalism” and “Understanding Bias” (NLP’s Checkology^® virtual classroom).
• Infographic: “Is it legit? Five steps for vetting a news source” (NLP’s Resource Library).

Dig deeper: Use this viewing guide for the featured News Goggles video as students consider the role of journalism standards in covering elections and politics.

News Goggles annotations and activities provide news literacy takeaways on timely topics. These resources feature examples of actual news coverage, including full news reports, headlines, breaking news alerts or excerpts.

This video originally appeared in the Nov. 7, 2022, issue of The Sift^® newsletter for educators, which explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses journalism and press freedom topics and examines social media trends and issues. Read archives of the newsletter and subscribe here. Stock music in this video was provided by SoundKit from Pond5.

Have feedback about this resource? Or an idea for a future News Goggles? Please share it with us at [email protected].

PitchIt! Student essay contests happening in Colorado, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas 

Grades: 6-8, 9-12

About

Student voices are catalysts for positive change in schools and communities. You can empower them to be well-informed and civically engaged when you participate in the News Literacy Project’s PitchIt! contest.  

This is an authentic way to get middle and high school students to learn about and express their thoughts about current events from a news literacy perspective. In addition to exploring an issue important to them, they can help combat misinformation or work to protect freedom of the press.   

To have your students participate in PitchIt! and get the most out of it, use NLP’s free resources and curriculum guides. You choose the top essays from your class to submit for judging and prizes.

Click here for a printable, one-page guide to participating in PitchIt!

It is the ideal time to start using Checkology^® and other free resources to prep your students. You can also email your questions to [email protected] for more information.

• Pennsylvania deadline, March 1, 2024: Click here for details.
• Colorado deadline, April 15, 2024: Click here for details.
• Florida deadline, May 6, 2024. Click here for details.
• New York deadline, April 19, 2024: Click here for details.
• Texas deadline, April 26, 2024: Click here for details.

Not in one of these regions? NLP encourages you to contact your local news literacy ambassador or our staff ([email protected]) and adapt our contest rules to create a contest for your learning community.

 Curious to what participating teachers had to say? 

“PitchIt! utilizes news literacy curriculum to broaden the understanding of how media influences all of us every day. Students then analyze and learn for themselves the power of using information with and without bias. I highly recommend facilitating part or all of the curriculum in classrooms across the board in Social Studies, English, Science, and more. It shows students that language, facts, and biases impact us comprehensively.” 

— Renee A. Cantave, iWrite magnet educator, Arthur and Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts, Miami, Florida 

“PitchIt! was a great experience for my students. Not only did it raise awareness among them regarding the importance of good writing and of an important current issue in our community, the culminating event gave contest winners a chance to verbally express their positions, while receiving important feedback.”

— Rolando Alvarez, Coral Way K-8 Center, Miami, Florida  

 Tired of feeling like you’re working in a vacuum? Sign up for NewsLitNation and our private NewsLitNation Facebook Group to connect and share with other educators across the country passionate about news and media literacy. As a member of NewsLitNation® you’ll receive special perks and the NewsLitNation Insider, our monthly newsletter that keeps you up to date about all things news literacy! 

News Goggles is back with fresh insights for the new school year. This regular newsletter feature offers a behind-the-scenes look at journalism and shines a light on key news literacy concepts. How do journalists see news? Put on a pair of “news goggles” to find out!

This week, we talk to Washington Post reporter María Luisa Paúl about her recent story on 7-year-old Tariq, whose love of corn made him a viral sensation. Paúl explains what makes a topic newsworthy in her role as a reporter for the Post’s Morning Mix team, which “covers stories from all over the nation and world.” She also highlights what a story like Tariq’s — who was dubbed “Corn Kid” by the internet — reveals about social media, internet culture and our world. Grab your news goggles!

Note: Look for this newsletter feature the first Monday of the month. You can explore previous News Goggles videos, annotations and activities in NLP’s Resource Library under “Classroom Activities.”

Resources: 

• “Practicing Quality Journalism” (NLP’s Checkology^® virtual classroom).
• “What is News?” (Checkology virtual classroom).

Dig deeper: Use this viewing guide for the featured News Goggles video as students consider what makes a topic newsworthy and how journalists organize their reporting.

News Goggles annotations and activities provide news literacy takeaways on timely topics. These resources feature examples of actual news coverage, including full news reports, headlines, breaking news alerts or excerpts.

This video originally appeared in the Oct. 3, 2022, issue of The Sift^® newsletter for educators, which explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses journalism and press freedom topics and examines social media trends and issues. Read archives of the newsletter and subscribe here. Stock music in this video was provided by SoundKit from Pond5.

Have feedback about this resource? Or an idea for a future News Goggles? Please share it with us at [email protected].

This guide serves as a companion for adult learners and community members viewing the PBS documentary Storm Lake, a film about the struggles of sustaining local journalism and shows what these newsrooms mean to communities and American democracy overall. The guide has three main components: pre-viewing, during viewing and post-viewing activities.

The pre-viewing activities use one or more essential questions to focus on viewers’ engagement with news and their opinions about its relationship to their community and to American democracy. The essential questions are:

• What is news?
• What role does news play in your family members’ lives? In your community?
• Is news important in a democracy? Why or why not?

The during viewing portion includes discussion questions that can be completed whole or in-part, individually, or in small groups. These questions include:

• Is profit a motivation for the [Cullen] family? Why or why not?
• Art Cullen: “A pretty good rule is that an Iowa town will be about as strong as its newspaper and its banks. And without strong local journalism to tell a community’s story, the fabric of the place becomes frayed.”
  • a. In your own words, what point is being made in this quote?
  • b. Do you agree? Why or why not?
  • c. How does this quote fit into your definition of news and its role in the community?

The post-viewing activities return to the essential questions raised prior to viewing and seek to extend engagement with local journalism. These options include keeping a news log for a week and evaluating a source (log included in the guide), interviewing family or friends about their news habits, engaging directly with local news organizations on social media or writing a letter or email to an editor with a suggestion for a story.

News Goggles annotations and activities provide news literacy takeaways on timely topics. These resources feature examples of actual news coverage, including full news reports, headlines, breaking news alerts or excerpts.

This video originally appeared in the Feb. 7, 2022, issue of The Sift^® newsletter for educators, which explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses journalism and press freedom topics and examines social media trends and issues. Read archives of the newsletter and subscribe here. Stock music in this video was provided by SoundKit from Pond5.

Breaking news involves coverage of an event that has just happened or is still happening. Details can change quickly as more information emerges. This week, we talk to journalist Candice Norwood about her role as a breaking news reporter at The 19th*, a nonprofit newsroom that reports on gender, politics and policy.

Norwood sheds light on her recent coverage of President Joe Biden reaffirming his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, following Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement announcement. We discuss how The 19th* approaches breaking news with its mission in mind and examine how news organizations demonstrate credibility and transparency in their newsgathering for developing stories.

Norwood also offers tips on navigating breaking news, including approaching coverage with a critical eye, evaluating the sources cited in a news report and remembering to slow down.

“There’s no rush to post something,” she said.

Grab your news goggles!

Resources: “Practicing Quality Journalism” (NLP’s Checkology^® virtual classroom) and “Tracking developing stories” (NLP’s News Goggles activity with classroom-ready slides).

Dig deeper: Use this viewing guide for the featured News Goggles video as students consider how a news organization such as The 19th* approaches breaking news coverage.

Have feedback about this resource? Or an idea for a future News Goggles? Please share it with us at [email protected].

News Goggles annotations and activities provide news literacy takeaways on timely topics. These resources feature examples of actual news coverage, including full news reports, headlines, breaking news alerts or excerpts. 

This video originally appeared in the Dec. 6, 2021, issue of The Sift^® newsletter for educators, which explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses journalism and press freedom topics and examines social media trends and issues. Read archives of the newsletter and subscribe here. Stock music in this video was provided by SoundKit from Pond5.

Newsworthiness is a key concept in news literacy. With so many stories competing for attention, journalists must determine which events and issues to cover, and how prominently. This week, we talk to Miguel Otárola of Colorado Public Radio about how he decides which story ideas to pursue in his role covering climate and the environment.

“When you talk about newsworthiness, I feel like you can’t get any more newsworthy right now than climate change,” Otárola said.

Climate change, he added, “impacts everything,” from where and how people live to the jobs they have and how they get their food.

Otárola offers insights for his story on restoring forests after wildfires, which recently aired on the NPR and WBUR show Here & Now.

“We are in a place where a lot of different states in the West are going to have to deal with this,” he said. “What will a healthy forest look like after a wildfire tears it down?”

Otárola also sheds light on how journalists select quotes for news reports and the importance of presenting information in context. Grab your news goggles!

Note: News Goggles will be back Feb. 7. You can find previous News Goggles annotations and activities in this guide, or in NLP’s Resource Library under “Classroom Activities.”

Resources: “Practicing Quality Journalism” (NLP’s Checkology^® virtual classroom) and “Quotes in news reports” (NLP’s News Goggles activity with classroom-ready slides).

Dig deeper: Use this viewing guide for the featured News Goggles video as students consider what makes a topic newsworthy and why information should be presented in context.

Have feedback about this resource? Or an idea for a future News Goggles? Please share it with us at [email protected].

Many sources compete for attention online, including partisan blogs and bogus sites posing as legitimate news organizations. It can be tough to know what information to trust. So what does “credibility” look like, and how can you recognize it?

We partnered with SmartNews, a news app for mobile devices, to bring you five steps for vetting news sources. The steps outlined in this infographic can help you cut through the noise and learn how to evaluate sources for signs of credibility – as well as for red flags that signal a source should be avoided:

1. Do a quick search: Conducting a simple search for information about a news source is a key first step in evaluating its credibility.
2. Look for standards: Reputable news organizations aspire to ethical guidelines and standards, including fairness, accuracy and independence.
3. Check for transparency: Quality news sources should be transparent, not only about their reporting practices (see above), but also about their ownership and funding.
4. Examine how errors are handled: Credible news sources are accountable for mistakes and correct them. Do you see evidence that this source corrects or clarifies errors?
5. Assess news coverage: An important step in vetting sources is taking time to read and assess several news articles.

In addition to these five steps, this infographic includes a list of “trust busters” that indicate you should immediately look elsewhere for credible news. They include:

• False or untrue content
• Clickbait tactics
• Lack of balance
• Manipulated images or videos
• State-run or state-sponsored propaganda
• Dangerous, offensive and malicious content

Remember: Credible sources aren’t perfect, but information from them is much more likely to be accurate.

With so much information circulating online, it may feel overwhelming to sort credible sources from bogus sites. But being able to recognize some general signs of credibility — and steering clear of sources with red flags — can go a long way toward helping you find more accurate information.

Be sure also to check out this quiz to put your source-vetting skills to the test!

News Goggles annotations and activities provide news literacy takeaways on timely topics. These resources feature examples of actual news coverage, including full news reports, headlines, breaking news alerts or excerpts.

This video originally appeared in the Nov. 1, 2021, issue of The Sift^® newsletter for educators, which explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses journalism and press freedom topics and examines social media trends and issues. Read archives of the newsletter and subscribe here. Stock music in this video was provided by SoundKit from Pond5.

Watchdog journalism holds the powerful to account and plays an important role in democracy. This week, we talk to Emily Hoerner of the Chicago Tribune about her recent story on public restroom access and how “Chicago’s government has failed to provide the public with easy, consistent access to free toilets.” So, why is the watchdog role of the press important, and what can that role look like?

Sometimes, Hoerner said, watchdog journalism calls attention to issues that people are already aware of, but that “nothing has happened around” — such as the public restroom story.

It can also reveal and expose problems “that are happening behind the scenes,” she said, adding that watchdog reporting means taking “a look at how systems are working, whether systems are broken and who those systems may be harming.”

We also consider the role of public records in investigations as we discuss how this story came together. Grab your news goggles!

Note: News Goggles appears in the first issue of this newsletter each month. You can find previous News Goggles annotations and activities in this guide, or in NLP’s Resource Library under “Classroom Activities.”

Resource: “Democracy’s Watchdog” (NLP’s Checkology^® virtual classroom).

Dig deeper: Use this viewing guide for the featured News Goggles video and article as students consider how watchdog journalism can shine a light on issues of public importance.

Have feedback about this resource? Or an idea for a future News Goggles? Please share it with us at [email protected].

Bias is one of the most controversial and important subjects in news literacy. People frequently perceive bias in news coverage, and accusations of bias are common in a wide variety of discussions and contexts. However, people generally perceive bias through the lens of their own perspectives, values and beliefs, especially if they have a strong opinion about the topic being reported on. This can cause people to engage in confirmation bias — the tendency to quickly embrace information that affirms their perspectives and beliefs and to unfairly dismiss or criticize information that complicates or contradicts them.

Because biases are baked into how we see and understand the world, people often fail to consider them when seeking or evaluating information. People also tend to only perceive bias in reporting that they consider to be against their beliefs or opinions. News coverage that is biased toward someone’s beliefs or opinions would likely just feel “right” to that person, which may help explain the popularity of openly partisan news sources.

Because everyone has innate biases (based on their life experiences, or what they are told by their family, their friends and their teachers, or other factors), determining what constitutes bias in news coverage is extremely challenging. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see a single news report attracting conflicting accusations of bias — about its headline or an accompanying photo; about its placement in a news broadcast, in a newspaper or on a website; or about how much (or how little) coverage is devoted to its topic.

Finally, many conversations about bias lack specificity and nuance — in part because such discussions can become emotional, and in part because many people lack the conceptual tool set to evaluate bias and underestimate its complexity. For example, not only do people frequently forget that their own biases influence their perceptions of news coverage, they also often believe that most bias in news is overt (rather than perceived and debatable) and intentional (rather than incidental). Further, it is easy to treat the perception of bias as the end, rather than the beginning, of the process of evaluating news coverage.

But asking the following critical questions can help students fully assess the degree of impartiality or bias in a given piece of news: Could this report have been fairer? Reported more dispassionately? How? What other images or sources were available when it was published or broadcast? Was it one report in a series about a particular subject, or does it stand alone? How does it compare with other reporting from the same outlet? From other outlets?

The poster linked below introduces students to the following five types of possible bias in straight news coverage:

• Partisan bias
• Demographic bias
• Corporate bias
• “Big story” bias
• Neutrality bias

This poster is adapted from the “Understanding Bias” lesson in our Checkology® virtual classroom. Use it with that lesson or on its own.

As the amount of information at our fingertips grows at an unprecedented rate, filtering information is an increasingly essential news literacy skill. The foundational concepts of InfoZones help guide students to the vital realization that not all information is created equal and that the credibility of different types of information is often correlated with their purpose. By helping students discover six primary purposes of information, you can help them develop the habit of questioning the purpose of all the information they encounter.

Of course, most pieces of information have more than one purpose — a television show that is produced to be entertaining can also be informative, for example, or an advertisement produced to sell a product or service can also entertain — but this lesson helps students understand that almost all the information they encounter has one primary purpose that has a significant effect on its credibility.

Primary purposes and zones:

• To entertain: entertainment.
• To sell: advertising.
• To persuade: opinion.
• To provoke: propaganda.
• To document: raw information.
• To inform: news.

Definitions for each purpose and zone are included in the poster linked below. This poster was adapted from the InfoZones lesson on our Checkology® virtual classroom. Use it with that lesson or with the classroom version of the InfoZones lesson.

In this classroom activity, students select an event or issue in the news that interests them, then split into research teams to collect and evaluate coverage of the subject from different news organizations.

Each group is responsible for gathering and analyzing the quality of the reporting from their assigned media outlet(s). They use a K-H-W-L chart that reflects what they know, what they’ve heard, what they want to know and what they learned in the course of their inquiry, research and reflection.

This activity is designed to help students better understand newsworthiness (what makes an issue or event worthy of news coverage) and learn how to analyze coverage by collecting and evaluating news reports.

It also makes the following essential questions available:

• Do news media sometimes cover a subject too much? Do they sometimes cover other subjects too little?
• What steps do credible news organizations take to try to ensure accuracy?
• Are some sources of information more credible than others? Why or why not?
• Whose interests should journalists represent? What is the best way for them to do this?

This news literacy classroom activity is suggested for grades 7-9 and 10-12+.

Key terms:

• Newsworthiness
• News judgment
• News value
• Verification

Connections with other NLP resources:

• “News Judges” lesson plan in NLP’s Resource Library
• “What Is News?” lesson on NLP’s Checkology® virtual classroom
• “Understanding Bias” lesson on NLP’s Checkology virtual classroom

About classroom activities:

NLP’s activity plans are designed to be “evergreen” news literacy resources that help educators introduce and reinforce specific news literacy skills and concepts. They are often best used as follow-up and extension activities from specific NLP lessons, either in the resource library or on Checkology.