The creation and distribution of fake and misleading news has proliferated, and has had a profound impact on recent events. It is imperative that we recognize and repudiate such misinformation.
![The Yellow Press, by L.M. Glackens. Illustration shows William Randolph Hearst as a jester tossing newspapers with headlines such as "Appeals to Passion, Venom, Sensationalism, Attacks on Honest Officials, Strife, Distorted News, Personal Grievance, [and] Misrepresentation" to a crowd of eager readers, among them an anarchist assassinating a politician speaking from a platform draped with American flags; on the left, men labeled "Man who buys the comic supplement for the kids, Businessman, Gullible Reformer](/sites/default/files/2019-07/The_Yellow_Press.jpg)
Developed by librarians at Johns Hopkins University, this guide provides both practical advice on evaluating sources and a selection of case studies to help to distinguish accurate information from propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation.
This project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center is a reliable source of information when trying to determine if assertions in the news are factual or not. This source was mentioned frequently in connection with the 2016 US presidential election. You are able to send in news to be checked if you don’t see it on the site. They have a companion political literacy site, FlackCheck.org, to help determine the credibility of political and general ads.
Other useful sites for fact checking include: Politifact | Snopes
This National Public Radio podcast tells the story of a mogul of fake news in the suburbs of Los Angeles and why he does what he does. Follow the hunt for the creator of a news story entitled “FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide.” Listen to the interview and consider the goals he espouses. And what about the money he earns?
Fake information doesn’t just take the form of text. In this very short video, learn one way to check the accuracy of claims about images.
This news article from The Conversation provides an overview of issues involved in fake news. The piece argues that metaliterate individuals, who are aware of four critical domains of learning, are better equipped to determine when to question sources of information. Perhaps surprisingly, being aware of how you feel about a piece of news is particularly important. A second piece in The Conversation highlights why we fall for fake news.
This article from FactCheck.org suggests that fake news is better considered as part of a larger phenomenon, bad news. News stories might only be partially fabricated, or might be unresearched, deliberately misleading, or satire. Read this piece to learn the questions to ask and to find linked resources such as a list of known fake news websites.