Downloadable Lesson Documents

• Student Handout
• Extension Activity
• Teacher Tips

Key Vocabulary

1. Pink Slime Journalism—(new) The term “Pink Slime” is used to describe news websites that try to appear legitimate but are funded by biased or partisan groups to provide a skewed perspective of news favorable to that organization’s agenda.
2. Lateral reading—This is one way to evaluate the credibility of a source. First, leave the site you're on, do a keyword search, open up a bunch of tabs, and find out what other sources say about it. (Stanford History Education Group)
3. Reading upstream—Follow a link within a news story or claim directly to the original source of information or the primary sources referenced. This can help you answer, “What’s the evidence?” Heading directly to the primary sources linked in an article is a good way to get the unfiltered facts.

Before You Watch

Answer the following questions about the term “pink slime journalism”:

• What do I KNOW about it?
• How might pink slime journalism spread misinformation?

While You Watch

Preview the questions. Then watch the MediaWise Teen-Fact Checking Network (TFCN) video and answer the following questions about using Wikipedia to find credible information. According to the video…

1. What red flags signaled the West Cook News is a “pink slime journalism” website and not credible?
2. What fact-checking strategy did the Teen Fact-Checking Network use when they clicked on a link in the news story to read the school district’s statement about the policy itself? (circle one)
   Lateral Reading — Reading Upstream  —  Keyword Search
3. Websites like the West Cook News are called “Pink Slime Journalism” because they “appear to be ________________ , but in reality they're funded by oustide ________________ that receive financing from a ________________ source”.
4. What was the phrase “Pink Slime” first used to describe?
5. The West Cook News “About” page revealed that some of its funding comes from (circle one)
   • advocacy groups who share our belief in limited government
   • donors worried about press freedom
   • liberal political action groups

After You Watch

1. Why is the phrase “pink slime journalism” used to describe biased or partisan websites that pose as legitimate news outlets?
2. What might be the West Cook News’s bias or politically-motivated reason for posting this story?
3. What have you learned about the term "Pink Slime"?

Extension Activity

Visit the website of one of the pink slime news organizations in your state from this map. Choose a news story from the site and use the techniques to check if it is a “pink slime” article or legitimate news. Fill out the table in the extension activity document and prepare to present your findings to the class.

Background Reading

• “ABC News Called it Pink Slime. Now USDA Says it Can Be Labeled Ground Beef”
• Hundreds of ‘pink slime’ local news outlets are distributing algorithmic stories and conservative talking points

About the Next Lesson

Be MediaWise Lesson 10: How to recognize satirical news posts — Students will learn what satire is and how to recognize satirical posts online before resharing them as misinformation. This lesson focuses on a post from a satirical Disney news site.

Subjects

media literacy, social studies, language arts, journalism

Standards

Common Core ELA
CC.8.5.6-8; CC.8.5.9-10.A; CC.8.5.11-12.A - Citing informational text

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3)
D3.1.6-8. Gather relevant information from multiple sources while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

D3.1.6-12. Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

ISTE
6-12.1.4.a Students: know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.

Additional resources

• MediaWise “Is This Legit?” Series
• How To Combat Political Misinformation from PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs
• Fact-Checking Lesson for Student Journalists
• Misinformation Overload Interviews from PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs
• StoryMaker Media Literacy Learning
• Reuters Media Literacy Contest
• Journalism in Action , a history of journalism in the U.S., from PBS NewsHour Classroom

These lessons were developed by PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs in partnership with MediaWise and the Teen Fact-Checking Network, which are part of the Poynter Institute. This partnership has been made possible with support from Google.