How to Spot Fake News - FactCheck.org

http://www.flackcheck.org - Read more at: https://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/

Fake news is nothing new.

But bogus stories can reach more people

more quickly via social media
than would good

old-fashioned viral emails could
accomplish in years past.

A lot of those viral claims aren't "news"
at all,

but fiction, satire and efforts to fool readers into thinking they're for real.

Here are some strategies to shield yourself from fake news.

Are you familiar with the source? Is it legitimate?

Has it been reliable in the past?

If not, you may not want to trust it.

If a provocative headline drew your attention,

read a little further before you decide

to pass along the shocking information.

Even in legitimate news stories,

the headline doesn't always tell the whole story.

But fake news, particularly efforts to be satirical,

can include several revealing signs in the text.

One fake story even attributed a quote to a dolphin.

If that had been real,

you could argue they buried the lede.

Another telltale sign of a fake story

is often the byline - if there even is one.

And in some cases, the authors are not even real.

One story was credited to a "doctor" who

won "fourteen Peabody awards and a handful of Pulitzer Prizes."

Which would be very impressive if it wasn't also totally made up.

Many times these bogus stories will cite official —

or official-sounding — sources,

but once you look into it, the source doesn't back up the claim.

Some false stories aren't completely fake,

but rather distortions of real events.

These mendacious claims can take
a legitimate news story and twist what it says

or even claim that something that happened long ago is related to current events.

Once deceptive website took a story that

was over a year old from CNN and slapped on a new,

misleading headline and publication date.

So on top of deception,

there is copyright infringement.

Remember, there is such a thing as satire.

Normally, it's clearly labeled as such,
and sometimes it's even funny.

But it isn't the news.

And then there's the more
debatable forms of satire,

designed to pull one over on the reader.

These posts are also designed
to encourage clicks,

and generate money for the creator
through ad revenue.

But they aren't news.

We know this is difficult.

Confirmation bias leads people

to put more stock in information
that confirms their beliefs

and discount information that doesn't.

But the next time
you're automatically appalled

at some social media posts
concerning, say, a politician you oppose,

take a moment to check it out.

Try this simple test:

What other stories have been posted
to the "news" website

that is the source of the story
that just popped up

in your social media feed?

You may be predisposed to believe
a story about a politician you don't like,

but if the alleged "news" site
also features a story

about "guardians from Antarctica
retaliating against America

by hitting New Zealand
with an earthquake",

maybe you should think twice
before sharing.

And yes, that earthquake story

is a real example
of a fake story that popped up.

We know you're busy,

and some of this debunking takes time.

But fact checkers get paid
to do this kind of work.

Between FactCheck.org,

Snopes.com,

the Washington Post Fact Checker,

and PolitiFact.com,

it's likely at least one
has already fact-checked

the latest viral claim
to pop up in your social media news feed.

And remember:

News readers themselves

remain the first line of defense
against fake news.

To see more, go to: FactCheck.org

Subtitles by Maurício Kakuei Tanaka