How to Determine What Is Fake News
By Brian Andrusyk February, 2020
Contents
Introduction |
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In recent years, the term "fake news" has been thrown around quite a bit. It is nothing new. False news has been around for a long time. With the Internet and social media sites, fake news spreads quicker and to more people like a wildfire during a drought.
I created this page to help people spot fake news using common sense. Here you'll learn what is and what is not fake news and how to evaluate the news to determine what is real and what is fake. I have also listed some tools to help evaluate news stories and resources to help you further. I have tried to keep my biases out of this as much as possible.
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I created this page to help people spot fake news using common sense. Here you'll learn what is and what is not fake news and how to evaluate the news to determine what is real and what is fake. I have also listed some tools to help evaluate news stories and resources to help you further. I have tried to keep my biases out of this as much as possible.
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What Is Fake News? |
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Before we can spot fake news, we need to know what fake news actually is. Fake news is a story that was written intentionally without any facts in order to sell, persuade, or fool. The author knew it was not true as they were writing it.
Fake News is NOT:
Fake News is NOT:
- Biased News. Biased news is news full of opinions. They are often one-sided completely omitting the other viewpoint. Facts can sometimes be exaggerated, however the intent is not to provide false information.
Television networks, such as CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC have frequently been labeled as fake news networks. The news they broadcast are often factual. However, how they cover the stories and the opinions expressed in their programming make these networks biased.
Biased news isn't just limited to television stations. Newspapers, news magazines, news websites can all show bias. Often the bias is reflected upon who the owner or editor is. Ads Fontes Media has an excellent Media Bias Chart that shows various news agency's bias and reliability. Media Bias/Fact Check is also a great source to find out a news source's bias and accuracy. Both sites explain their methodology. - Flawed News. Flawed news is a story that has full intentions of being newsworthy however it has an error in reporting. It could be an unconfirmed source, misinterpreted data, etc. Usually a news agency would retract the story. Newspapers often have a section in the paper that lists corrections. Major news websites will not updates and corrections at the bottom of the stories.
A good example of flawed news was the 1948 presidential election. The Chicago Daily Tribune printed their November 3, 1948 issue before the election returns were fully in. Their political analyst was certain based on polling that the Republican would take the White House, Senate, and the House. The paper ran the headline DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN. They would later change the headline once it was clear that Harry Truman won re-election as well as the Democrats taking both the Senate and the House but 150,000 copies were already out by that time.
So why would anyone choose to write a news story that they know is not true. There are four possible explanations:
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- Propaganda. These are politically motivated stories that are written to influence beliefs, vote for or donate to a particular party or politician. They can range from news stories from a imaginary news source, false quotes, memes, etc.
- Advertisements. In newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet, you'll see advertisements that are formatted to look like news articles with big catchy headlines.
- Entertainment. Comedians have been using the headlines to entertain for a long time. Mark Twain, James Thurber, and many other authors used satire in their writings. Satire can be found in books, magazines, newspapers, television, and on the Internet. Often you'll find disclaimers stating that the following is satire. Comedian Andy Borowitz often uses the phrase "Not the News" on this social media posts. Other examples of satire are: NBC's Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, The Onion.
- Fool. Some people think it is funny to spread misinformation. Take a look at this site: All About Explorers. It looks like a legitimate website. It has a copyright date, About page, neat graphics... Go to the page about Sir Francis Drake. Anything stand out as being strange? Drake was born in 1542 in Wayne, New Jersey? If you read the About Page, you'll read that this page was created by a group of teachers to teach about web evaluation to their students.
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Evaluating the News |
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Now that you know what fake news is, let's take a look at how to spot it. Just as you would evaluate sources, you use the same categories to evaluate news: Authority, Purpose, Currency, Content.
AUTHORITY
PURPOSE
Why was this material published or broadcasted:
CURRENCY
CONTENT
OTHER TIPS ON SPOTTING FAKE NEWS
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AUTHORITY
- Who wrote the material? Are they trustworthy? All legitimate news sources have information about the company/organization. If it is a website, take a look at the About page. Check how the news source rates in Media Bias/Fact Check. Check also the URL to make sure it is a legitimate news source. Some fake news sites will look like an actual news site using their logos formats, and fonts, but if you look at the URL, it will have a slight difference. www.cnn.com.co is not the URL for CNN News. It is for a site in Colombia!
- Does it have contact information? All major news agencies include the reporter's email address at the end of the stories published online. They want feedback especially if there are any errors in the article. Fake news sites will not have contact information since they know it is erroneous.
- Are sources included? They most likely will not be listed at the end of the article like a Works Cited page, but included in the article or feature itself (according to Ima Coffen from the CDC,...) or even links in the article.
PURPOSE
Why was this material published or broadcasted:
- To inform? The article or story will be full of statistics and facts. All sides of a controversial issue will be covered equally. The reporter would not be using phrases such as "I think..." or "I believe...".
- To persuade? Like the informative, these articles and stories will be full of statistics and facts, however it will be one-sided. Pundit may use "I think" or "I believe" statements. Facts should be verified with other sources because they can be exaggerated.
- To sell? The focus is on whatever is for sale such as a book. Does the author being interviewed have something substantial to say or is he/she just trying to sell more books?
- To entertain? As mentioned above, to prevent defamation lawsuits, comedians and satirists will have some sort of disclaimer stating that their posts are not real news but for entertainment purposes.
- To fool? First glance, it looks legit, but a critical evaluation will show inaccuracies, no sources, and a lot of fiction.
CURRENCY
- When was it first published or broadcasted? Major news websites will have a date on their articles, even a note when the story was updated. Beware of recycled news! Fake news like to recycle old stories.
- When was the photograph taken? Fake news like to use old photos with their stories. There is a way to find out if the photo is what it says it is. Check out this article Poynter by Cristina Tardáguila published on January 7, 2020: How to Use Your Phone to Spot Fake Images Surrounding the U.S.-Iran Conflict
CONTENT
- Are words spelled correctly and proper grammar used? If you spent a lot of time researching, you're going to make sure that your words are spelled correctly and commas are where they are supposed to be. News articles are read by proofreaders. Occasionally, a typo may slip through. If you are seeing a number of misspellings and grammar errors, start questioning the material.
- Are the links all working? A site with numerous broken links is probably an old site which means the data might be old.
- Are there sources that support the data? Where did the author get the statistics mentioned? If there are graphs, look to see if there's a source listed at the bottom.
OTHER TIPS ON SPOTTING FAKE NEWS
- Don't rely on social media as your only source of news.
- Use multiple news sources. Be aware of biases and compare sources.
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Resources and Tools |
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MEDIA CHECKERS
These sites rate media's bias and accuracy in reporting.
FACT CHECKERS
There are a number of fact checkers out there. These sites evaluate the validity of social media posts, politician quotes, and more.
OTHER RESOURCES
Here are some additional resources to help you spot fake news.
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These sites rate media's bias and accuracy in reporting.
- AllSides Media Bias Chart Assesses the bias in various news media.
- Media Bias Chart Ad Fontes Media develops and updates this chart that shows not only new agency's bias but accuracy in reporting.
- Media Bias/Fact Check Evaluates news media (print, broadcast, online) for both bias and accuracy.
FACT CHECKERS
There are a number of fact checkers out there. These sites evaluate the validity of social media posts, politician quotes, and more.
- Fact Check.Org This project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center tries to sort out the deception and confusion from nonpartisan facts in American politics.
- Hoax-Slayer Exposes Internet scams, hoaxes, and falsehoods, especially on Facebook.
- Lead Stories Debunks political fake news, hoaxes, and rumors.
- Politifact Reporters and editors of the Tampa Bay Times fact the accuracy of statements made by members of Congress, White House officials, and other government officials.
- Snopes One of the first fact-checking websites. It was founded in 1994.
- Truth or Fiction? Investigates urban legends, Internet rumors, email forwards, and more.
OTHER RESOURCES
Here are some additional resources to help you spot fake news.
- Bias in the Media: Getting Started Columbus State University Library created this guide about media bias.
- 4 Tips for Spotting a Fake News Story From Harvard Division of Continuing Education, this article explains what to look for to spot fake news.
- Helping Students Identify Fake News with the Five C's of Critical Consuming College Professor John Spencer created this videos that explains the five C's of spotting fake news: Context, Credibility, Construction, Corroboration, Compare.
- How to Spot Fake News From Fact Check.Org, gives advice on how to spot fake news.
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Sources |
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- "Fact Check Resources" Media Bias/Fact Check. Webpage. 2016.
- "Is This Story Share-Worthy?" NewseumEd. Webpage. 2020.
- LaGarde, Jennifer and Darren Hudgins. Fact. vs. Fiction: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of Fake News. EdWeb. 08 Nov. 2019. Webinar.
- Lewandowski, Adam. Fighting Fake News: How to Outsmart Trolls and Troublemakers. EdWeb. 15 Nov. 2019. Webinar.
- Taraguila, Cristina. "How to Use Your Phone to Spot Fake Images Surrounding the U.S. - Iran Conflict." Poynter. Webpage. 2020.