How to spot fake news starts with the first step of slowing down. Check the source. Ask yourself if the evidence actually backs up the claim. You can find out if a story is worth trusting by going beyond the headline, seeing where the claim came from, checking other sources for similar stories, and verifying images before you post. Mastering How to spot fake news is about developing a media literacy skill, not learning one simple rule. It applies to a school project, a message in a group chat, a news feed on your phone, or a meme sent by a friend.
Pause Before Sharing Or Clicking
One giveaway is often the emotion the story provokes. Does it make you angry, afraid, or feel like you are above others? Hurry? These emotions are designed to bypass your rationality. Be wary of urgency language, like “share before this is taken down” or “the mainstream media won’t tell you this,” or even a “breaking” label on an old photo.
However, a social media share is never a guarantee. A carefully crafted social media post, a carefully selected headline, or a fabricated news graphic can appear authoritative, yet you have no idea of its source. Ask yourself: would I believe this if someone I didn’t know told me this face to face?
How To Spot Fake News Using A Quick Checklist
Apply this fake news checklist to a post, article, video or screenshot.
Check the author: Does it have a name and relevant credentials beyond just a pseudonym? Is this person known to write on this topic? Check the date: When was it first published, posted or updated? Give additional consideration to posts that appear during an emergency. Check the source: Who made this claim? Who published it, which organization published it, or what document, speech or data does it reference? Check the evidence: Who talked about it? What did they say? Can you locate the documents, photos or videos that it references? Check yourself: Does it feel like it’s engineered to cause a fast re-share? Stop and verify the story before forwarding.
Check The Headline Against The Full Story
Headlines summarize complicated reports into one statement, and some employ sensationalized words or leave out essential disclaimers. One easy way to spot fake news is to look at the post itself and see if the headline matches the actual proof shown. If the text says “could” and the headline says “does,” the headline is incorrect.
Look For The Date And Original Context
Old stories may be recycled during today’s events, and appear fresh if there is no time stamp. A photo from a prior protest, flood or car wreck could be reposted with a new caption. This would result in disinformation even though the image is authentic. Look at when it was posted, examine the location of the image based on the original caption, and search to see if that exact picture was previously posted.
Trace The Claim Back To The Original Source
A repost is just the beginning. “A new report confirms…” and you should find the report. “A leading expert says…” and you should find the interview, article, court document, press release, or statement.
That’s why disinformation thrives. It’s the quote of the quote, the screenshot of the headline. It may not be the whole story. It may have been corrected. It may have been missing key details. It may have been written behind a paywall no one in the thread read. The goal is to go to the original source and decide for yourself.
Compare The Story Across Multiple Reliable Outlets
A large-scale event should be covered by multiple reputable outlets, including local news, wire services, and national coverage. If a single obscure website is the only source of an explosive story, it hasn’t been verified. Local news is especially helpful for school closures, crime reports, weather damage, or municipal decisions.
This doesn’t mean all coverage has to be identical. But the facts shouldn’t hinge on a single partisan source or a piece written for the purpose of propaganda.
Verify Suspicious Stories With Fact-Checking Tools
You may find yourself dealing with something that has already gone viral. In these cases, there may already be fact-checks available online. For instance, Snopes is a site that verifies quotes, photos, and many other claims circulating on the Internet. Since Snopes generally lists the information they looked at and explains why they rated a story in a certain way, it’s worth understanding the process behind the conclusion. Other checklists, such as the CSI Library Checklist, are another useful tool. This one considers the author, evidence, date, and publisher, so it’s useful for research projects for school.
I’d like to pause for a second here. Cornell’s fake news infographic and the IFLA guide should not be treated as a one-stop shop. The European Parliament has put together a guide to help the general public spot fake news.
Know What Fact-Checkers Can And Cannot Prove
Just keep in mind that fact-checking works best with individual pieces of information, like quotes, images, data, dates, and events. Good fact-checkers should list a source and explain the reasoning behind the rating, so read the explanation rather than just looking at the final verdict. If the story is still unfolding, it might be more challenging to verify the facts. A good fact-checker might say a story is “unresolved” or “lacks context” if they can’t fully verify it.
Understand Misinformation, Disinformation, And Propaganda
Not all misinformation is done on purpose. One person could send an incorrect hurricane alert to their family and friends because they believe they are helping. Another person might generate a fake quote to try and hurt a public figure’s reputation. Even some forms of propaganda don’t rely on inventing falsehoods, rather they can select the correct facts, utilize emotive imagery and slogans, to sway people’s beliefs or actions.
What is the takeaway here? Motive matters, but the process remains the same: Examine the claim. Establish the claim. Establish the supporting evidence. Establish who would stand to gain if others believed the claim. Establish the absent information.
Watch For Propaganda Techniques
Manipulative framing can try to cause you to feel something before you’ve had enough information to make a good judgment.
- Loaded language: Words like “traitor,” “evil,” “destroying,” or “heroic” can be considered loaded language because they can push you to come to a conclusion without the evidence to back it up.
- Scapegoating: A complicated situation is pinned on one individual, group, or organization without solid evidence.
- False dilemma: An argument is presented with only two alternatives to choose from when more are available.
- Repeated, unverified statements: A message or accusation is repeated until it seems familiar, even when it is not supported by significant evidence.
Inspect Images, Videos, And Visual Evidence
Images are persuasive because they look like evidence. However, images can also be deceptive. A picture might be legitimate, but the caption could be incorrect. A video could be cut to exclude important information. A screenshot might lack a date, username, comments, or edit history.
This is the great news: You don’t need any special equipment to check an image. You can use Google Reverse Image Search or TinEye to search for other places the image has been used. Compare the background, signage, weather, uniforms, and landmarks to the supposed location. If a post says a photo is of an event that took place today, but the photo was used to represent an event from weeks ago, then the caption is at fault.
Use Student-Friendly Checks In Class Or Homework
For homework, you want the process to be simple and quick enough to do over and over again. Start with the prompt, and evaluate the author, date, evidence, and purpose of each source. You are evaluating sources, not taking a wild guess at one right before you turn in a paragraph.
National Geographic Kids suggests students slow down and check if what they are reading comes from a trustworthy source. It also cites a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showing that adults believed fake news 20% of the time. Even the smartest readers can be tricked. The safest bet for students is to always save the source, explain why it is reliable, and consult a teacher or librarian if you aren’t sure.
Correct Yourself If You Shared Something False
In the event that you’ve shared a false statement, you must correct it in the same place you shared it. You can delete your post, but that won’t help anyone who’s already seen it. In these scenarios, consider editing your post with a correction at the top, or replying with the correction.
However, you need to be careful. It’s not enough to simply write “oops, sorry about that.” You need to specify what the error is and not restate the false claim. It’s also wise to link to the correct information or give some guidance. If you shared the false information in a group chat, correct it there.
Build A Repeatable Habit For Spotting Fake News
You don’t need to do a full investigation every time you pick up your phone, but you do need to take a moment. When you read a headline, did you pause to ask yourself questions like: Who wrote this? When and why was it posted? What evidence is presented? Where did this information come from? Most importantly, is this person convincing me to believe something because they have a hidden agenda?
These are just a few of the most common. But try to incorporate them into your daily routine. Do you wait a moment before you share a post? Do you bookmark sources you might want to look at again later for your schoolwork? Do you hunt down the original picture if someone posted an emotive image? Do you cross-reference big claims against a reputable news source? It takes a bit more time than just hitting “share”, but it helps protect your integrity and helps others avoid the same trap.
Key takeaways
- When you come across a shocking or time-sensitive story, take a moment before you click, react, or share it. – Always check the original source, the author, the date, and the evidence before accepting a story at face value. – Check for fact-checking resources like Snopes, IFLA, Cornell, and libraries’ checking lists. – Watch out for propaganda, which includes loaded words, scapegoating, and leaving out critical context. – If you shared misinformation, acknowledge it and share a link to an authoritative correction.
Frequently asked questions
What are 5 ways to spot fake news?
The five checks are: 1. Read beyond the headline 2. Find the original source 3. Check the date 4. Look for reliable news source coverage 5. Examine photos or videos for missing context. These five checks can help identify a number of issues, such as an old story shared as if it’s new, or an image that doesn’t show a correction.
How can you tell if news is real or fake?
You can tell by finding out if the story has a named source, current date, supporting evidence, reliable news source coverage, and confirmation from other reliable news outlets. To start quickly spotting how can you spot fake, look at the claim. What’s being claimed? Who can back up the claim?
How reliable is snopes?
Yes, this is a good site to check viral rumors. It provides a summary of the claim, evidence, and rationale for the rating. You should read the full explanation, not just the rating. For deep research, look at the rationale carefully and cross-check with primary sources and other reliable fact checking sites.
What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?
The first may be false or misleading but the person sharing it may not know or intend to mislead. The second is intentionally created or spread to mislead. In most cases you won’t know the intent of the source, so the best you can do is focus on finding evidence and fixing the record.
Which websites can help check whether a story is false?
There are a number of useful resources for finding out how to spot fake news, such as rumor-checking sites, library checklists, reverse image search tools, and public education from trusted organizations. Use a combination of these tools: a claim checker for viral stories, Google Reverse Image Search or TinEye for images, and library guides for research best practices.
Conclusion
Because fake news often appears as urgent, emotional, or familiar, the easiest way to deal with it is to slow down and go back to the primary source. Check other credible sources and also utilize fact-checking websites. You don’t need to be a journalist to do this well. It’s about building a habit.
The trick to learning how to spot fake news? Follow these few simple steps: look at the headline, look at the date, look at the evidence, examine the images for their context and consider what the motive might be. Look up anything that has changed since the time of posting, such as the death toll, ongoing legal proceedings, disaster updates or ongoing police investigation. Take the time to verify things before you share them. Not only will you enhance your own credibility, but others will also receive more accurate information. How to spot fake news
