{"id":7129,"date":"2018-02-15T21:34:10","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T05:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=7129"},"modified":"2018-02-15T21:34:10","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T05:34:10","slug":"spot-fake-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/spot-fake-news\/","title":{"rendered":"How to spot fake news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Tracy Scharn | Library<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Originally published in the Hamersly Library winter 2018 newsletter.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Imagine, you\u2019re scanning social media and this news item pops up:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Critically Ill Infant Stopped at Overseas Airport by Travel Ban<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You click over and read about an Iranian infant who was on her way to the United States for life-saving heart surgery, but was stopped at the airport because of recently implemented travel restrictions. Your cursor hovers over the \u201cshare\u201d button \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Social media has made it easier than ever to share information with others far and wide. It has arguably played a significant role in social change movements, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to potentially have their voice heard on a large scale. This very quality has also made it very easy for misinformation to proliferate and be shared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While the term \u201cfake news\u201d is in the headlines a lot lately, most people don\u2019t purposely create or share information that they know is false. Instead, a lot of \u201cfake news\u201d is created when people don\u2019t take the time to verify the accuracy of information before clicking that \u201cshare\u201d button. If you want to avoid being that person who shares information that isn\u2019t quite accurate, read on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The News Literacy Project suggests the following approach:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernjournal\/files\/2018\/02\/Screen-Shot-2018-02-15-at-9.32.04-PM-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-7130\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first thing you should always do is check to see if multiple, reputable news outlets are reporting the same information independent of each other. Go to your favorite search engine and search for information related to the news item you saw. Can you find multiple news outlets reporting the same thing? Are the news outlets you\u2019ve found reputable? If you\u2019ve never heard of them, go to the about us page and see what they say about themselves. Then do a search online and see what other people are saying about them. Finally, are the news outlets reporting information independent of each other? If you see multiple news outlets saying something like, \u201c\u2019The Washington Post\u2019 is reporting today \u2026 \u201d that means that the information hasn\u2019t been verified by other news outlets yet. You still only have one news outlet as your source.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You will also want to monitor your own reactions to the news item you\u2019re seeing. Does it seem like the news item is tugging at your emotions \u2014making you feel sad, angry, outraged, vindicated? Those reactions to news are normal, but it\u2019s a clue that you need to take a step back and evaluate the news with a critical eye. What proof is being presented to back-up claims made in the news item? Also ask yourself: Do you believe what you\u2019re reading because it conforms with what you already think? Challenge yourself to be as objective as you can.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Also keep an eye out for red flags, which can vary widely. Some examples include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Broken links, or only linking to other articles within that same publication. Remember, you want multiple, reputable, independent sources.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Does the news item use neutral language or does it seem to have a bias? Look for language choices that convey particular attitudes or biases. Also be aware of your own biases. Just because we don\u2019t agree with something doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s biased.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is the language over-the-top? (\u201cUnbelievable Action from Congress Makes Your Taxes Go Up!!!\u201d). It may be playing on your emotions and existing beliefs, or it may be satire.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What sources are cited in the article? Are they anonymous or named? Do they have specialized knowledge or training related to the topics being discussed, or just opinions?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With time and practice, these techniques will become second nature to you and you\u2019ll approach information with a critical eye. You\u2019ll see a news item, quickly check to see what other sources are saying about the topic, check your own reactions and look for potential red flags. You\u2019ll also become more familiar with which news outlets are more reputable than others and skim past those that have proven to be unreliable in the past. Apply these tips and you can feel confident in sharing information that is important to you with your family and friends on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For more in-depth information about evaluating news sources, visit the library\u2019s research guide, where you\u2019ll also find links to reputable sources for news:<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/research.wou.edu\/news\/evaluation\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> http:\/\/research.wou.edu\/news\/evaluation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fact-checking Tools:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Politifact.com focuses on claims made by political figures<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Factcheck.org is a non-profit, non-partisan fact-checker focused on politics and political figures<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Snopes.com investigates a variety of claims, from politics to urban legends<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have questions or want more information? Get in touch with your librarian!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Call us at the Reference Desk: ext. 88899<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or find the contact info for the librarian in your subject area here: <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/research.wou.edu\/librarians\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">http:\/\/research.wou.edu\/librarians<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Contact the editor at journaleditor@wou.edu to publish a response.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Photo by:\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">thenewslitteracyproject.org<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tracy Scharn | Library Originally published in the Hamersly Library winter 2018 newsletter. Imagine, you\u2019re scanning social media and this news item pops up: Critically Ill Infant Stopped at Overseas Airport by Travel Ban You click over and read about an Iranian infant who was on her way to the United States for life-saving heart [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1030,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7129\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}