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Evaluating Sources: Avoiding Fake News

This guide will help you determine the value of information you gather searching the internet (www) and offer suggestions for successful research gathering.

What's Wrong with Fake News?

Why should you care about whether or not your news is real or fake?

  1. You deserve the truth. You are smart enough to make up your own mind--as long as you have the real facts in front of you. You have every right to be insulted when you read fake news because you are, in essence, being treated like an idiot.
  2. Fake news destroys your credibility. If your arguments are built on bad information, it will be much more difficult for people to believe you in the future.
  3. Fake news can hurt you and a lot of other people. Purveyors of fake and misleading medical advice like Mercola.com and NaturalNews.com help perpetuate myths like HIV and AIDS aren't related or that vaccines cause autism. These sites are heavily visited, and their lies are dangerous.
  4. Real news can benefit you. If you want to buy stock in a company, you want to read accurate articles about that company so you can invest wisely. If you are planning on voting in an election, you want to read as much good information on a candidate so you can vote for the person who best represents your ideas and beliefs. Fake news will not help you make money or make the world a better place, but real news can.

How to Fact-Check Like a Pro

How to Fact-Check Like a Pro Sick and tired of seeing misinformation? Never know who or what to trust? Can't figure out if what you've heard is true? Feel duped? Want better tools to sort truth from fiction? Here's a quick guide to sorting out facts, weighing information and being knowledgeable online and off. Check Credentials. Is the author specialized in the field that the article is concerned with? Does s/he currently work in that field? Check LinkedIn or do a quick Google search to see if the author can speak about the subject with authority and accuracy. Check the Sources. When an article cites sources, it's good to check them out. Sometimes, official-sounding associations are really biased think tanks or represent only a fringe view of a large group of people. If you can't find sources, read as much about the topic as you can to get a feel for what's already out there and decide for yourself if the article is accurate or not. Look for Bias. Does the article seem to lean toward a particular point of view? Does it link to sites, files or images that seem to skew left or right? Biased articles may not be giving you the whole story. Check the Dates. Like eggs and milk, information can have an expiration date. In many cases, use the most up-to-date information you can find. Judge Hard. If what you're reading seems too good to be true, too weird, or too reactionary, it probably is.

How to Fact-Check Like a Pro

Sick and tired of seeing misinformation? Never know who or what to trust? Can't figure out if what you've heard is true? Feel duped? Want better tools to sort truth from fiction? Here's a quick guide to sorting out facts, weighing information and being knowledgeable online and off.

  • Check Credentials. Is the author specialized in the field that the article is concerned with? Does s/he currently work in that field? Check LinkedIn or do a quick Google search to see if the author can speak about the subject with authority and accuracy.
  • Check the Sources. When an article cites sources, it's good to check them out. Sometimes, official-sounding associations are really biased think tanks or represent only a fringe view of a large group of people. If you can't find sources, read as much about the topic as you can to get a feel for what's already out there and decide for yourself if the article is accurate or not.
  • Look for Bias. Does the article seem to lean toward a particular point of view? Does it link to sites, files or images that seem to skew left or right? Biased articles may not be giving you the whole story.
  • Check the Dates. Like eggs and milk, information can have an expiration date. In many cases, use the most up-to-date information you can find.
  • Judge Hard. If what you're reading seems too good to be true, too weird, or too reactionary, it probably is.

Media Bias

Even typically reliable sources rely on particular media frames to select and report newsworthy stories. The best thing to do in our contemporary media environment is to read/watch/listen widely and to be critical of the sources we engage with on social media.

Here are some websites that can help you identify media bias:

Fact Checking Links

Other Resources

Niagara County Community College. Henrietta G. Lewis Library. 3111 Saunders Settlement Rd., Sanborn, NY 14132 | 716-614-6786