10 Ways to Spot a Fake News Article from EasyBib
5 Ways to Spot Fake News from Commonsense.org:
Media Literacy includes the ability to analyze and evaluate information -- this is very important particularly in this time period where "Fake News" is a widely used term.
Fake News is not a new term; however, it is a term that has recently gained popularity. Fake news refers to news and information items that purposely intend to mislead the reader(s) and to spread false information that has not been fact-checked or supported with research or evidence. Evaluating the quality of the content you find is crucial to understanding whether what you are reading or viewing is factual or evidence-based.
You must be a critical consumer of the information that you find!
Here’s an update to the classic “5 Ws” to help you (From MediaSmarts, http://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/how-recognize-false-content-online-new-5-ws)
There are many different kinds of false information being spread around. Before you buy into something (or share it), make sure it isn’t one of these:
Legitimate satire and parody content from sites like The Onion and The Beaverton are fun and entertaining, but should not be confused with actual news!
Is it trying to scare you? To make you laugh? To make you angry? Does it use emotionally-loaded words or images to get a rise out of you?
Be especially wary of stories you want to believe. Some fake news sources target you with stories they think you’ll hope are true to get you to click and spread them.
Adults are more likely to trust the content of a story if it was shared by someone they trust, so always track it back to the original poster. If the person who shared it with you didn’t give a source, do a search for it. But don’t assume that a newspaper, TV network or online news site is the original source.
Once you’ve established the source, find out who they are and why they might be a valid source for what they’re spreading:
You can also look at the source’s network. Are they connected mostly to:
If the answer to any of these is “Yes”, be cautious!
A lot of things get spread more than once, like some of the photos of flooding that go around every time there’s a big storm. You can do a reverse image search to see if a photo has been posted before, or search a description of the photo like subway station shark.
How long has the original poster’s account been active? If an account appears new or recently started posting with no prior history, be cautious.
And don’t forget to be extra-careful about anything that’s posted on April 1st!
Access to the latest issues of newspapers listed below are available through Lakehead University Library. Access is available to current students, staff and faculty of Lakehead University. Login with your LU email username and password to connect from off-campus.
You can search through these Library newspaper databases to find current and reliable newspaper articles on the topic in question:
Canadian Major Dailies (formerly Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies Included in this searchable database are national and leading regional papers such as National Post, Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Regina Leader Post, Vancouver Sun and the Victoria Times-Colonist.
LexisNexis Academic Besides including cases, statutes, law reviews and other legal information, LexisNexis Academic also provides access to: *Full text of articles from more than 2,500 newspapers, including top-tier news publications such as The New York Times® and The Washington Post® and local, national, and international sources;*News from more than 300 local and regional newspapers, blogs and other web sources via WebNews. WebNews aggregates relevant information from the websites of newspapers that are not formally included in LexisNexis Academic subscription such as The Times-Picayune, the Seattle Times, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Orlando Sentinel. Full text of articles from more than 1,000 magazines and journals and more than 1,000 newsletters, such as American Journalism Review, Business and Finance Week, Newsweek®, Library Journal®, New Republic, and Variety