What the Experts Say I

How can you tackle fake news?

As I think that the biggest problem of fake news is that people have no idea how to spot it, I decided to share with you what I learned from an article by Eugene Kiely and Lori Robertson. The authors wrote down some of the most important steps to take before deciding if the news is fake or not. 

1. You should always consider the source. Is it a serious newspaper website or a page that you’ve never heard of? 
2. Don’t trust the headline and read the whole article before making conclusions. Headlines tend to be exaggerative to catch your attention.
3. Don’t forget to check the author. On the website, it might seem as the person is a professional but to be sure, double-check and google their name.
4.  If there’s a fact paraphrased from another source, read the source as well. It may be made up and the source might not support the claim at all.
5. You also shouldn’t forget that the information may not be relevant if it’s outdated. Check the date!
6. Pay attention to your biases. Reading something bad about a person you don’t like doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s true. Try to be objective.
7. Remember that satire exists. Even a serious newspaper might contain an article that is meant as a joke.
8. Last but not least, ask the experts. You might not have a friend that works in the news industry. However, many websites on the Internet make it much easier for you to check facts. Here are my recommendations for fact-checking websites that I find useful:

PolitiFact (https://www.politifact.com)

FactCheck.org (https://www.factcheck.org)

Washington Post Fact Checker (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/?noredirect=on)

To get to the original article click here: https://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/  

(Kiely, 2020)

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Image source: IFLA. (n.d.). How to spot fake news [Illustration]. CSI Library. https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/42628/images/how-to-spot-fake-news_440px.jpg

Reference List:

Kiely, E. (2020, May 12). How to Spot Fake News. FactCheck.Org. Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/