Fuller Middle School: Evaluating Information and Sources

• Snopes

  Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.
• Hoax Slayer

  Latest Email and Social Media Hoaxes
• Media Bias Fact Check

  Lists news websites and identifies bias.
• Factcheck.org

  Nonprofit website with a goal of reducing misinformation
• Politifact

  Reporters from the Tampa Bay Times fact check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups.

• Think carefully while reading and watching news.
• Check the source before sharing on social media.
• Fake news spans across all kinds of media - printed and online articles, podcasts, YouTube videos, radio shows, photos. Be prepared to double-check everything.
• When you open up a news article in your browser, open a second tab.  Ue that second window to fact check, check author credentials, etc.

Source: IFLA; https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/11174

Who, what, when, where, why - Identify this information about every source you look at. The most reliable sources make it pretty easy to find this information. If you're unable to come up with good answers to each of these questions, you may want to look for a more reliable source.

Who wrote the pages and are they an expert? Is a biography of the author included? How can I find out more about the author?

What does the author say is the purpose of the site? What information is included and does this information differ from other sites?

When was the site created? When was the site last updated?

Where does the information come from?

Why is this information useful for my purpose? Why should I use this information? Why is this page better than another?

Why should we care if news is real or fake?

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 vaccines cause autism.  These sites are heavily visited and their lies are dangerous.

• 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 valid and factual 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.