😰 Are you dreading the moment when a family member will surely bring up a viral falsehood this holiday season? ✨ We can't guarantee success, but here are six tips for holding productive, fact-based conversations: zurl.co/QEAbD

If you think that professors exist as repositories of knowledge that students ask for answers, you’re missing the entire point of a college education. We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.

Yes! And I'll add that professors also exist to motivate and inspire students. Articles like this assume that all college students are 100% self-motivated to do all the hard work required to learn. A professor's genuine passion for a subject is contagious in a way that a computer never can be.

It’s rare for networks to drop a show in response to political pressure, but with the suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” critics warn that networks are letting the pressure shape what reaches the air, despite protected speech. www.poynter.org/commentary/2...

Looking forward to the day I don't have to tap this sign

Some helpful tips for following the awful news out of Minnesota today.

(At least) two school shootings today. Both tragic and inexcusable. Be careful what you believe and share. #medialiteracy

I wrote about my friend Erin Cox, who died suddenly a few weeks ago. She was the kind of person who jumped into action when you needed help, who filled our workplace with joy and laughter. Her funeral showed me how many lives she touched through simple acts of kindness. bit.ly/3JK3w0W #Friendship

The main strategy was checking multiple sources... ... They call it "lateral reading," checking what others say about an organization or influencer. And also notice their sponsors and your emotions. Does the message make you angry or wishful? Are YOUR best interests THEIR priority? #medialiteracy

This is 💯 the impact of ref-working by anti-vaxxers, who have cowed platforms into believing that their policies — which were developed after measles outbreaks + child deaths — were “bad”. One of the ppl mentioned here - Dressen - is suing me for “censoring” her. 🙄 www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...

ah, there goes our pro-worker president

Jason Y Lee, founder of Jubilee, pitches his YouTube channel as a space for nuance and "radical empathy." On this week's show @taylorlorenz.bsky.social argues Jubilee is actually an engine fueled by rage bait. Feat @mehdirhasan.bsky.social: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

Check out some of the presenters yesterday evening at the ComSHER poster session!

A government-sanctioned "truth arbiter" will soon arrive at CBS. Their role will be to ensure that journalists do not criticize this Administration or express views that conflict with its agenda. This is a betrayal—not just of journalistic independence, but of the public trust. 🧵

A new study by Murrow College researchers Opeyemi Victoria Johnson & Stacey J.T. Hust reveals key gaps in children's books about consent education. While many titles promote bodily autonomy and boundary-setting, they often miss crucial elements like trusted adults and clear anatomical language.

New Pub: An online infographic helped make U.S. 18-29 yr olds more skeptical of social media misinfo about substance use. Also, 27-29 yr-olds often were more skeptical than their younger cohorts. That brief exposure to an intervention shows a significant effect is promising. doi.org/10.1080/1082...

One of the many benefits of media, specifically from entertainment education, is that can build up the self-efficacy of their audience. Weather that is reading, writing, math, or health oriented goals. Sesame Street does more than just entertain.

S.I.F.T.-ing Through the C.R.A.A.P.: Teaching Lateral Reading to Address Social Media Misinformation This activity uses @mikecaulfield.bsky.social SIFT method to teach students about lateral reading & dives deep into students media environment. higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AEJMC/cb51e0...

New #medialiteracy pub! An online infographic helped make U.S. 18-29 yr olds more skeptical of social media misinfo about substance use. Also, 27-29 yr-olds often were more skeptical than their younger cohorts. (Study N=1201) 🧪 doi.org/10.1080/1082...

Important bc young people depend on social media for “info” that often is misinfo. They often share it & make decisions based on it. Congrats to coauthors Shawn Domgaard, @profsuds.bsky.social and Hae Yeon Seo www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

On Capitol Hill, I joined Sen. Bill Nelson @gretchentg.bsky.social @adamconner.bsky.social @cdelawalla.bsky.social to sound the alarm about the systematic dismantling of the US research infrastructure. The question isn't whether we can afford to invest in research. It's whether we can afford not to.

Thank you, brave journalists. Let's hope this ruling has some effect. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/u...

While a common response when it comes to media literacy is reading beyond the headlines & read multiple sources, but the issue is that many people don’t read beyond the headlines because they feel informed “enough.” It is important to be active media users & encourage others to do so as well.

The right wing keeps talking about free speech. An attack on tenure is an attack on free speech. @AAUP.org @AFTHigherEd.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/26/m...

Scholars game out how media competition amps up misinfo flow & conclude consumers must deal with the consequences, i.e. let’s teach #medialiteracy! Approach is consistent with the Media Literacy Theory of Change (link in comment), but c’mon media can compete w responsibility too.

I have some thoughts about Vance’s (likely intentional) misnaming of Alex Padilla — and it starts back in September 2024, when Trump alleged that immigrants were “eating pets”, a false and xenophobic claim that Vance had boosted on social media early that day.

"When these papers close, publishers & press association leaders say, they hardly ever reopen. Without a common touchstone that informs people about what their neighbors are doing, a town’s sense of identity & history is often at stake." @niemanlab.org story on the importance of #LocalNews ⤵️

"If you have the courage to speak, we are saved. If you fall silent, the country is doomed." Scott Pelley had some strong words to share on tonight's CNN special after the telecast of "Good Night, and Good Luck." I wrote up the highlights here >>> www.cnn.com/2025/06/07/m...

This is such a good example of "turn every page" journalism - nothing less fun/glam than clicking through every footnote. And it's roughly 10,000x more newsy than the thumbsucker RFK profiles reported with big travel budgets.

This is what happens when you put internet conspiracy theorists in charge of major government departments.

New research finds that resistance to misinformation can depend more on memory than motivation. People must retain the warning signs of misinformation, otherwise, they’re likely to fall for falsehoods again over time. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/misg...

"... when our country is in peril, don’t ask the meaning of life. Life is asking, 'What’s the meaning of you?' ” commencement.news.wfu.edu/2020s/c2025/...

The Trump regime’s Executive Order about “Gold Standard Science” distorts & weaponizes the principles of open science to intimidate scientists and reshape scientific production to support the political goals of Trumpism. Stand Up for Science is asking scientists to sign an open letter pushing back.

Don't look away, don't normalize: this is the virtually unconstrained leader of the world's most powerful country ambushing the president of South Africa with conspiracy-fueled racist propaganda promoted by his unelected billionaire maybe-appointee who has caused the deaths of children through DOGE.

"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging." Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council. I wrote about my decision in TIME. time.com/7285045/resi...

Profoundly disturbing story about a California town taken over by far-right misinformation. Gives a real sense of how powerful the propaganda system they've built can be. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/t...

This one might have broken me. What’s the solution to any of this? Hope that it burns itself out and deal with consequences? Or?

It’s said that we live in a post-fact society. We disagree. Now, more than ever, facts matter, and ProPublica is going to continue to track how and when patently false statements are injected into conversations about the country’s future. (Published Feb.)

This is definitely true, and a great point. 😢 Though I've also recently been reminded (thanks, Facebook comments on a local news segment) that many ordinary Americans are positively gleeful about the idea of universities collapsing and all those "woke" professors having to get real jobs.

CPB is not a government agency. This is as legal a Trump ordering a defense contractor to stop making airplanes.

If you're protesting this May Day, know your rights.

From #measles misinformation to today's national election in #Canada to Russian propaganda spreading in the U.S., this week's newsletter covers the biggest stories - all from a news literacy standpoint. Do you know someone who could use The Sift? Share our free resource with a friend:

🎙 What does the First Amendment protect and what doesn't it cover? Dive into our Checkology lesson and 1A poster as part of Spring Sprints teaching! 🔗 Get started today: newslit.org/spring-sprin... #FirstAmendment #NewsLiteracy

For the last 3 yrs, I was the director for the Science of Science program at the NSF. We funded projects on science communication - science communication to the public, communication of public priorities to scientists, citizens engagement & participation in science. 🧵

The argument that misinformation research is a “violation of free speech” in turns censors those researchers who seek out and promote accurate information. Misinformation was already spoken and spread. Researchers have a right to speak the truth and use their speech to push back against inaccuracies

Not surprising that an administration that rose to power on the spread of bullshit and propaganda is terminating the funding of researchers studying these phenomena. We are just receiving word about funding cancellations re: existing grants to members of our team and our colleagues.

This statement from the NSF is insane. Science is, in essence, designed to separate the true from the false. Understanding how falsehoods spread is key to the scientific endeavor. It is not a violation of free speech to be proven wrong.

Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale

More important than ever to watch out for your neighbors, your community in a crisis... And help translate if you can. BTW, lack of translation is a long-standing problem adding to the spread of misinformation.

We're tracking the number of international students whose visas have been revoked by the State Department. We've confirmed over 300 so far and there are likely many more. Get in touch if you've got information you'd like to share with us www.insidehighered.com/news/global/...