April 30: Student reporters covering protests

This is a shortened version of Get Smart About News , a free weekly newsletter that explores trends and issues in misinformation, social media, artificial intelligence and journalism. Subscribe HERE .

Top Story of the week

Student journalists at Columbia University are drawing national attention for their news coverage of historic Israel-Hamas war protests on their campus . The university’s independent student newspaper, the?Columbia Daily Spectator , has steadily covered everything from the Gaza solidarity encampment on campus and mass arrests of protesters to?antisemitic incidents. Student reporters’ on-the-ground access has made their reporting especially important as the university has restricted press access, according to the Daily Spectator’s managing editor.

The Daily Spectator’s editorial board also published a critical editorial about Columbia’s decision to allow police on campus to empty the Gaza solidarity encampment and arrest more than 100 student protesters — raising concerns about free speech. Several other student newspapers?published similar editorials in support of free speech on campus.

Other student publications are grappling with different free speech issues. Student reporters at Michigan State University have had a busy school year filing hundreds of records requests through the school’s Freedom of Information Act office. State News reporters compiled a roundup of the record requests — some humorous — that came back heavily redacted.

And at Arizona State University, the student paper retracted 24 stories after it was discovered they had been at least partially generated by artificial intelligence. In its retraction statement, the paper wrote that it has a “zero-tolerance policy for using generative AI for any published content.”

Resources:

• Quiz: “So what’s the First Amendment?” (NLP’s Resource Library).
• Infographics: “Breaking news checklist” and “6?things?to?know?about?AI” (NLP’s Resource Library).
• Quiz: “AI-generated news or not?” (The Sift).

Related:?

• “As pro-Palestinian protests sweep campus, student journalists are rushing to the big story and exams” (Hadas Gold and Liam Reilly, CNN).
• “Spectator at the center” (Betsy Morais, Columbia Journalism Review).?
• “Trying to Keep Up With the Protests Happening at Columbia University? Check Out the Student Newspaper.” (Parker Molloy, The Present Age).?
• “Chaotic and thrilling: Columbia’s radio station is live from the student protests” (Victoria Borlando and Hannah J Davies, The Guardian).

RumorGuard post of the week

NLP created RumorGuard to fact-check viral rumors and help you build news literacy skills. Sign up to push back against misinformation HERE .

No, Minnesota Vikings’ new stadium menu isn’t ‘completely vegan’

? NO: U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, where the Minnesota Vikings football team plays, is not getting rid of meat and dairy products at concession stands and going totally vegan next season.

?? YES: This rumor originated with a social media account known for publishing satirical, exaggerated and outright false content about the National Football League.

?? YES: A spokesperson for the Vikings said that there was “no validity to the claim.”

?? YES: The stadium offers vegan options at two concession locations alongside other menu items.

NewsLit takeaway: A simple but effective practice to root out online falsehoods is examining the source of a claim. Satirists, trolls and purveyors of disinformation frequently disguise falsehoods by making them appear as if they originated with a credible source. A closer look often reveals misspellings — note that the X handle in this example from the @NFCNorthNewss social media account contains an extra “s” at the end of “news.” The account also has a history of similarly sensational and false claims and openly acknowledges it publishes content for satirical or entertainment purposes.

This rumor plays into a conspiratorial trope that people are being forced to stop eating meat to help combat climate change. Satirical social media posts about dietary recommendations and guidelines regularly appear and spread out of context, exploiting concerns about government overreach and infringement on personal food choices.

Kickers of the week

? An audio clip that seemed to capture a high school principal in Baltimore making racist and antisemitic comments sparked an investigation and his temporary suspension in January — but it turns out the (link warning: offensive language) audio was AI-generated and “leaked” online by the school’s former athletic director.

? An offhand remark by a male sports reporter at a recent news conference with basketball star Caitlin Clark prompted this Poynter column about systemic sexism in sports journalism and concrete steps that could reduce it.

One last thing...

This is a short version of our Get Smart About News email. To get more top stories, more RumorGuard posts and more Kickers, subscribe to our Tuesday email HERE .

Are you an educator? See how you can integrate these examples into your teaching by subscribing to The Sift? HERE .

Thanks for reading!