Fact-Checking: Step-by-Step Guide for Students, Journalist, and Everyday Citizens
Photo Credit: Agence Olloweb
Like, reshare, scroll, and repeat. On average, people spend hours repeating these actions without considering the accuracy of the content. But there’s a crucial step in the cycle that people often forget. It’s Fact-checking. This article will equip you with 10 quick and easy tricks to fact-check misinformation to stop it from spreading!
Think before you share: Before sharing something remember to be skeptical. Information moves fast but misinformation travels six times faster.
Scrutinize the writing: Did the author use ‘affect’ instead of ‘effect’? Maybe the author is using too many prepositions and weak verbs. Clear and concise writing is a good sign that the author cares about their message and wants their audience to understand. Grammatical errors are red flags that the information is either hastily being presented or fabricated to look real.
Conduct the ‘sniff test’: It’s helpful to ask yourself “Does this sound real or does something seem ridiculous?” Either way, verify it!
Verify the author: The next question to ask is “Does the author have validity.” Information from the New York Times or Washington Post will carry more validity to their claim than @SayCheeseTV or @SpiritualWorld on Instagram.
Analyze the citations: Review what citations the author is using. Go to the original source and read what they have said. Some authors may cherry-pick data or misinterpret quotes to make their stories more persuasive.
Photo Credit: AllSides
Assess your biases: Humans gravitate toward information that reinforces their beliefs, creating an echo chamber. We often search, interpret, and favor information that aligns with our convictions. This phenomenon is confirmation bias. FacingHistory.org is a free resource that will equip you with the knowledge to identify and combat explicit, implicit, and confirmation bias.
Photo credit: Simply Psychology
Corroborate sources: Don’t just look at one source for information, get a variety of perspectives and sources to get a full scoop! Exposing yourself to diverse perspectives is a great way to challenge your confirmation bias and get information that was excluded from your usual sources.
Reverse Image Search: On social media platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook, older photos and videos are circulated as evidence of current events. There is also the risk of the photo or video being manipulated using Photoshop or AI. Reverse image searching will be your best friend in these situations. If you’re on your phone take a quick screenshot of the image or video and upload it to Google Reverse Image Search or TinyEye.
Search Fact-checking websites: If you are really thrown for a loop and can’t discern if the information is false, you can check out these fact-checking websites like PolitiFact and Factchecking.org. Fact-checkers are highly effective at stopping misinformation with a rigorous set of standards and members of the International Fact-Checking Network. UC Berkeley has a list of other trustworthy websites you can use to fact-check!
