Research Help: Fake News and Fact Checking

Fake news is misleading information about recent events of general interest, especially as reported by the print and broadcast media. The fake news seeks to misinform the audience and sway the audience into believing something that is not true.

While fake news can take many forms, there are several broad types.

Deliberate Misinformation - There is fake news written for profit and then shared on social media for targeted groups of people who want to believe that it is true. The intention is for the fake news to spread without readers taking the time to properly verify it. This type of fake news is untrue news.

False Headlines - A news headline may read one way or state something as fact, but then the article says something different. The Internet term for this type of misleading fake news is “clickbait” - headlines that catch a reader’s attention to make them click on the fake news. This type of fake news is misleading at best and untrue at worst.

Social Media Sharing - Social media’s ability to show a large number of news items in a short time means that users might not take the time to research and verify each one. These sites often rely on shares, likes, or followers who then turn news items into a popularity contest - and just because something is popular and widely-shared does not mean it is true.

Satire - Satire news or comedy news often begins with an aspect of truth then purposefully twists it to comment on society. Satire news has the potential to be spread as though it is real news by those who do not understand its humorous nature. 

Credit: Spotting Fake News 

Information - Knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction; a quantitative measure of the content of information.

Disinformation - False information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth. A specific type of misinformation that is intended to deceive.

Echo chamber - An environment in which the same opinions are repeatedly voiced or promoted so as to shut out opposing points of view.

Hoax - An act intended to trick or dupe; something accepted or established by fraud or fabrication; to trick into believing or accepting as genuine something false and often preposterous.

Misinformation - Incorrect, incomplete or misleading information. May or may not be deliberately disseminated. Sometimes can result from the rush to publish a story.

Negativity bias - The tendency for people to react to negative stimuli (information) to a greater extent than they do to positive or neutral stimuli.

Propaganda - The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. Its purpose is to distort.

• Fact – something that is known to have happened or to exist; a verifiable statement that can be proven through experimentation or observation, not based on beliefs and not attempting to convince the reader of a particular point of view.

• Opinion – a thought, belief, or judgment about someone or something; a statement that cannot be proven and is presented in way that is intended to persuade and can be based on an author's interpretation or analysis of facts.

Reputable publications generally separate their news and opinion sections. Opinion will often appear on an editorial or op-ed page.

A biased publication or website might blur the lines between fact and opinion; therefore, you should always watch for opinion pieces masquerading as news items and look for both sides of any story.

In order to determine the quality and accuracy of a news story, you should perform the following steps in what is known as the deconstruction process:

• Summarize the main points of the story.
• Assess the evidence supporting the main points.
• Assess the transparency level of the reporter or news organization. Does a news organization publish its code of ethics?
• Evaluate the reporter's sources. If a source is claimed to be anonymous, judge whether the reporter has a valid reason for not disclosing the source's identity.
• Assess whether or not the story has been placed in the proper context.
• Look for missing key information. Does the story answer all the key questions (Who, What, When, Where, Why, How)?
• Does the story seem to be fair? If balance is needed (it is not always), is it present?
• Assess your own bias in the way that you are reacting to the story.

Some things to look for when evaluating whether an image is fake or doctored:

• Determine who is responsible for the image. Images without attribution may be suspect.
• Check to see whether the contents of the image make sense. Understand the context of the image. Does anything seem out of place?
• Trace an image to its original source and find out where images appear online using Google Reverse Image Search or TinEye Reverse Image Search.