News Literacy: Sorting Fact from Fiction Online
A lesson helping secondary students evaluate online news sources, identify misinformation, and develop critical media literacy skills.
Overview
Most young people get their news from social media rather than traditional outlets, making it harder to distinguish reliable journalism from opinion, satire, and deliberate misinformation. This lesson equips students with practical tools for evaluating online news, understanding how misinformation spreads, and becoming more discerning consumers of information.
Learning Objectives
- •Distinguish between news, opinion, satire, and misinformation
- •Apply a practical fact-checking process to online claims
- •Understand how algorithms create personalised information environments
- •Evaluate the credibility of online news sources
Activities
Sort the source
10 minutesStudents receive a mix of headlines from established news outlets, opinion blogs, satire sites, and fabricated 'news' pages. Working in pairs, they sort them into categories and discuss what clues helped them decide.
The SIFT method
15 minutesTeach the SIFT fact-checking method: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, Trace the original claim. Students practise applying SIFT to three viral social media claims and present their findings.
Echo chamber experiment
15 minutesDemonstrate how two people with different interests would see completely different news feeds on the same platform. Discuss how this creates echo chambers and why it matters for understanding the world accurately.
Create a media diet plan
15 minutesStudents evaluate their own news consumption habits and create a personal 'media diet' plan that includes a variety of reliable sources. They identify one source they will add and one habit they will change.
Discussion Points
- •Why is misinformation often more engaging than factual reporting?
- •How do you decide whether to share a news story with your friends?
- •Should social media platforms be responsible for fact-checking content on their site?
- •How does only seeing news you agree with affect your understanding of the world?
Key Takeaways
- •Not everything that looks like news is news — learn to spot the difference between reporting, opinion, and fabrication
- •Use the SIFT method before believing or sharing any online claim
- •Diversify your news sources to avoid living in an echo chamber
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Last reviewed: 2026-03-29