Find more on health and wellness influencers here:

📰 A big part of news literacy is helping students understand what great journalism looks like. The Pulitzer Prizes offer an opportunity to do just that! In this week's edition of The Sift newsletter, we dive into this year's awardees + present lots of classroom activity ideas ⤵️ #Pulitzers

Can you spot the extreme sports AI-generated video? Here's a tip for this week's Two Truths and AI: When viral videos are legit, they usually come with some context. So ... how'd you do? Let us know in the replies! youtu.be/6gC45tgUSWc

Can you spot the extreme sports AI-generated video? Here's a tip for this week's Two Truths and AI: When viral videos are legit, they usually come with some context. So ... how'd you do? Let us know in the replies! youtu.be/6gC45tgUSWc

❌ NO: President Donald Trump did not suggest driving downhill to save on #gas because “gravity is FREE energy.” ✔️ This is a piece of impostor content. Here are 3 tips to spot such fakes: - Beware of screenshots - Check the source - Find supporting evidence 🔗 Read more: go.newslit.org/DownhillGas

📢 We're 5 months away from NLP's first National News Literacy Conference in Salt Lake City Oct. 8-10! Don't miss out on this opportunity to: - Learn from dozens of others teaching news & media literacy - Hear from big-name keynote speakers in education & journalism - Connect with other #educators!

1/ "Since my digital literacy course is fully online, Checkology fits seamlessly into our asynchronous learning format." - Bonnie Bastian, who teaches communications & digital literacy courses for deaf & hard-of-hearing college students in Rochester, NY Learn how Bonnie uses NLP resources! ⤵️

Geography is fun, y’all.

🚨

✔️ YES: This is an AI-generated image. ❌ NO: North Carolina, South Carolina & Tennessee don’t all share the same border. ✔️ YES: #AI fakes depicting supposed spots where other states meet are also circulating online. Read about this geography engagement bait: go.newslit.org/3StatesAI

#journalism #democracy

1/ “I really wanted them to know & understand that what they’re interacting with is not a person." - Cynthia Sandler, a library media specialist in North Salem, NY Read about how Sandler's 7th graders spent months creating & then performing a magic show to teach about #AI & its pitfalls ⤵️

This video has been falsely claimed to show Iranian missiles striking a US warship today in the Strait of Hormuz. The clip comes from a 2016 military exercise in which the United States and other countries sunk the decommissioned USS Thach near Hawaii. factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

👗 Is that dress real? The #MetGala is tonight & is sure to come with some Red Carpet misinfo & AI fakes in addition to the glitz & glamour. Before you share that viral image or video of (insert celebrity), take a beat &: 1 - Check the source 2 - Do a keyword search ✨ More tips: bit.ly/7tipsNLP

The U.S. is 64th in the @rsf.org World Press Freedom Index, the nation's worst ranking ever. More than half of the 180 countries included have poor levels of press freedom - & less than 1% of the world's population lives in a place with a "good" ranking. Why does this matter? Our explainer ⤵️

The wait is over. 🏆Congratulations to the 2026 #Pulitzer Prize winners – from scrappy local newsrooms to moving immigration coverage, we’ve put together a full list of the distinguished winners and finalists. Read it now: www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

📰 Global press freedom has declined to its lowest level since Reporters Without Borders (@rsf.org) began tracking it 25 years ago. Why does this matter & what are questions you can ask about #PressFreedom to spark discussion in the classroom? That + much more in The Sift newsletter ⤵️

Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer's passion project of capturing local newsrooms apnews.com/article/news...

#WorldPressFreedomDay ⤵️

🎉Happy 10th Birthday, #Checkology! While NLP has been around since 2008, our virtual classroom hits double digits tomorrow - & we might be biased (haha), but this feels worthy of celebration! 💡Checkology helps educators bring news literacy into the classroom with lessons, quizzes, posters & more!

As AI-generated artists and tracks flood music streaming platforms, Spotify is rolling out a new “Verified by Spotify” badge to help listeners more easily

Researchers found the internet is becoming aggressively positive as AI-generated text floods the web. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Read the story by @mjgault.bsky.social now: www.404media.co/study-finds-...

Can you spot the AI-generated abandoned building? #2TruthsAndAI is back - & with a fresh look to help viewers sharpen their critical thinking skills around artificial intelligence. Let us know how you did this week & also what you think about the redesign! www.youtube.com/shorts/zMFO1...

🎉Happy 10th Birthday, #Checkology! While NLP has been around since 2008, our virtual classroom hits double digits tomorrow - & we might be biased (haha), but this feels worthy of celebration! 💡Checkology helps educators bring news literacy into the classroom with lessons, quizzes, posters & more!

✔️ YES: This is a real photo of #KidRock speaking to military service members & officials in the Pentagon’s press briefing room. ❌ NO: He was not giving an official address with vital info about the Iran war & the Strait of Hormuz. 🔗 More on this false context misinfo: go.newslit.org/KidRockVisit

"For the 1st time in the Index’s 25-year history, more than half the world’s countries now fall into the 'difficult' or 'very serious' categories for press freedom." The U.S. fell 7 spots to 64th in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index. Read more: go.newslit.org/25YearLow

Can the government censor the internet? To dig into this #FirstAmendment issue, let's go back to 1996 & the passage of the Communications Decency Act that regulated "indecent" & "patently offensive" content online. The ACLU challenged it, & won in the #SupremeCourt. What do you think 30 years later?

🐿️ Squirrel content fans: We're sorry but this does not show a legit video of one spinning on top of a Waymo car’s Light Detection & Ranging (LiDAR) sensor, a system that creates a 360-degree map of the vehicle’s surroundings. ✔️ The video is AI-generated. 🔗 Read more: go.newslit.org/SquirrelWaymo

🐿️ Squirrel content fans: We're sorry but this does not show a legit video of one spinning on top of a Waymo car’s Light Detection & Ranging (LiDAR) sensor, a system that creates a 360-degree map of the vehicle’s surroundings. ✔️ The video is AI-generated. 🔗 Read more: go.newslit.org/SquirrelWaymo

📢 Educators: Join us TODAY at 4pm ET! It's not too late to sign up for this FREE webinar with NLP's @pamelabrunskill.bsky.social. 🔗 Learn more & register: go.newslit.org/April28NLP #EdTech #EduSky

The amount of Cole Allen AI slop that appeared on Facebook after he was identified as the suspected WHCA dinner gunman is staggering. The site's users are being led to believe he worked as a "staff member" for numerous sports teams and "former driver" for multiple celebrities.

💡 NLP intern & Gen Zer Katherine takes over this week's special edition of The Sift newsletter! Katherine: ✨ Details how her U.S. History teacher helped correct a false belief she held ✨ Gives tips for talking to those who share falsehoods ➕ Current HS students share their experiences ⤵️

🚨 A breaking news story like Saturday's shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner causes info chaos. 🚩 As reporters work to gather & verify facts, bad actors fill the info void. Conspiratorial thinking combined with confirmation bias takes over. Our checklist can help ⤵️

Fact-checking conspiracy theories and misinformation after the shooting in the hotel hosting the White House correspondents’ dinner that President Donald Trump attended. buff.ly/ISyWH1d

1/ "In a now-common phenomenon after such incidents, prominent influencers fill the information vacuum with speculation in a bid for attention & followers. "The result is an almost-instant online free-for-all over the truth..." #ConspiratorialThinking #MediaLiteracy

This viral image depicting Donald Trump asleep with his head tilted back during yesterday's Oval Office meeting is fake. It is a still taken from a doctored video created as parody by a graphic artist, the artist confirmed to me. The video was made using Adobe software and AI editing programs.

"Two factors are generating a perfect storm that could make this problem even harder to solve: 1. Media literacy isn’t always a required course. 2. Advances in artificial intelligence are happening at a rapid pace." @edweek.org Agreed! And we we have resources to help: newslit.org #MediaLiteracy

💡 Educators: Do you use the Daily Do Now slides in The Sift? They provide: ✨ Short quizzes ✨ Reflection questions + more! 👉🏾 Check them out in this week's newsletter: go.newslit.org/Sift20April2... #EduSky #EdTech

🚩 Confirmation bias: A tendency to notice & accept info that agrees with or reinforces your beliefs. 🚩 Motivated reasoning: Seeking out info you agree with. We're all guilty of these cognitive biases. The more we can recognize them when consuming info, the better. go.newslit.org/ConfBiasPoster

☀️ Are you going to the Las Vegas Science & Tech Festival? Join NLP's @thequickness.bsky.social next Thursday, April 30, at the West Charleston Library! ℹ️ What: A FREE crash course on news literacy, AI & more. Alee will share useful tools for smarter scrolling & safer sharing. Sign up ⤵️

❌ NO: This doesn't show a genuine video of an overturned dinghy in the English Channel. ✔️ It's AI-generated. ⚠️ The video was spread by an account that often uses #AI fakes to inflame tensions over #immigration. 🔗 Read more on RumorGuard: go.newslit.org/DinghyAI

1/ 🌎 The first #EarthDay in 1970 was incredibly effective at raising awareness & creating lasting change. In 2026, we're facing a daunting new kind of pollution - #misinformation. News & media literacy are crucial to navigating & cleaning up our online landscape ⤵️

🤔 The info kids scroll through daily is confusing. “The Earth is flat” & “Climate change doesn’t exist or isn’t a threat” are two conspiracy theories they see constantly. 🌎 Celebrate Earth Day by supporting NLP so more kids can learn to navigate any ecosystem they're a part of: newslit.org/donate

❌ NO: This is not from a legit video of a zookeeper narrowly escaping after a tiger breaks out of its cage. ✔️ It's AI-generated. Several similar AI videos supposedly showing dangerous situations involving animals have gone viral. 🔗 Read more about this trend on RumorGuard: go.newslit.org/TigerAI

✨ What does it mean to use news literacy skills as a responsible participant in a democracy? 💡 Join NLP's @pamelabrunskill.bsky.social on Tuesday, April 28, for a FREE webinar exploring this question + offering tangible solutions for educators. 👉🏾 Learn more & register: go.newslit.org/April28NLP

I am grateful to the New York Times and reporter @teddyrosenbluth.bsky.social for sharing the sad story of my father’s reliance on AI for medical guidance, and how it caused him so much pain, and likely hastened his death. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/w...

⚠️ Recent studies of leading AI chatbots found that they give misleading medical advice half of the time & misdiagnose over 80% of early medical cases. In one case, a man in Seattle died of cancer last year after delaying care based on faulty advice from Perplexity AI. Read more in The Sift ⤵️

1 - Legal protection 2 - Treatment of journalists 3 - Judicial protection 4 - Ownership of media ⤵️ See below to learn more about the factors that determine a country's level of press freedom, & get more teaching resources here: newslit.org/press-freedom/ #PressFreedom

When we get convincing-sounding answers instantly, it's easier to skip the habits that #MediaLiteracy is built on like remembering that the first result might not be the best result. Such is the case with Google's AI summaries, which are accurate a lot of the time but are also prone to errors ⤵️

I highly recommend Checkology resources for grades 6 and up. #newsliteracy #tlsky #edusky @newslit.org @weareteachers.bsky.social