The process by which educators teach their students in
developing skills to determine fact from fiction must always begin with
verification. What is verification? It is the steps by which we gather, assess,
confirm and weigh evidence in search of truth.
New School & Old School Strategies
How Do We Recognize A Fake News Story?
1)
Who is the author
2)
Check what news
outlet published it
3)
Look at what
links and sources were used
4)
Check the publish
date and time
5)
Look out for
suspicious quotes and photos
6)
Beware of
confirmation bias
Old School?
Take a trip down the rabbit hole when researching authors and their
publications. Always begin by researching primary sources of information, such
as public documentation cited by author. Research all footnotes and links.
Locate what else might have been published by the author with regard to topic,
either through abstracts or journals. If in a book format, look to see who
might have contributed to the foreword and research their publications.
Resources
for Spotting Fake News
Snopes.com
Factcheck.org
Tin Eye Reverse Image & Search
Washington Post Fact Checker
On The Media Fake News Handbook
Below is a
glossary of “The Language of News
Literacy” from the School of Journalism; Stony Brook University, LI, NY
1) Accountability – Taking direct responsibility, by name, for the
truthfulness and the reliability of the report. Examples include bylines in
print and digital journalism and signoffs in audio and video reports.
2) Actionable Information – Information that empowers a news consumer to make
active choices about matters of both public and personal importance. Examples
include which candidate to vote for or making career or personal health
choices.
3) Balance – Equality between the totals of the two (or more) sides
of the account. Balance is a more technical term than fairness. It’s a
quantitative measurement that can be used as a tool to achieve fairness,
especially in cases where the facts are in dispute or the truth is still
developing.
4) Bias – A predisposition that distorts your ability to fairly weigh the
evidence and prevents you from reaching a fair or accurate judgment. Here’s how
to spot bias: Look for evidence of unfairness over time; compare a variety of
news outlets, especially to search for bias by omission; take note of the
self-interest of those alleging bias.
5) Cognitive Dissonance – A psychological theory that people who are so
powerfully motivated to reduce their discomfort that they will dismiss, block
or warp incoming information that does not conform with their beliefs,
viewpoint or understanding of the truth.
6) Context – Background or ancillary information that is
necessary to understand the scope, impact, magnitude or meaning of new facts
reported as news.
7) Direct Evidence – Anything that was captured firsthand or on the
scene (i.e. video, recordings, photographs, documents, records, eyewitness
accounts).
8) Entertainment – Something affording pleasure, diversion or
amusement.
9) Fair Comment – Protects your right to criticize and comment on
matters of public interest without being liable for defamation, provided that
the comment is an honest expression of opinion and free of malice.
10) Fourth Estate – An old European phrase used to describe the press
and its role as a watchdog. In America, the four estates of power are the three
branches of government and the citizens to counterbalance them.
11) Independence – Freedom from the control, influence or support of interested parties.
Journalists are expected to avoid reporting on matters in which they may have a
financial stake, personal/familial ties, or intellectual prejudice by virtue of
declarations of allegiance.
12) Information Neighborhoods – News Literacy students are taught a taxonomy that
allows them to quickly navigate information neighborhood: News, Entertainment,
Advertising, Promotion, Propaganda and Raw Information.
13) Journalist – A journalist’s primary mission is to inform the
public while employing journalistic methods such as verification to uphold
journalistic values in order to maintain independence and accountability.
14) Scientific Truth – A statement of probability proportional to the
evidence, which will change over time, as further research changes our
understanding daily (covid19).
15) Propaganda – Information, ideas or rumors deliberately spread
widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution or nation. It is
often biased and misleading, in order to promote an ideology or point of view.
16) No Prior Restraint – The government and courts cannot stop something
from being published, broadcast or posted on the Internet, except in rare
instances.
17) Privilege – Protects your right to publish court testimony,
police reports or other public documents, even if they contain falsehoods. This
is because the public has the privilege to review the contents of government
files as a means of ensuring police, courts and other agencies are conducting
themselves correctly.
18) News Literacy – The ability to use critical thinking skills to
judge the reliability and credibility of news reports, whether the come via
print, television or the Internet.
19) Truth – Events as they actually happened, phenomena as they actually exist.
20) Verification – The investigative process by which a news
organization gathers, assesses, confirms and weighs evidence in search for
truth.
Disciplines of Verification
Gather,
assess and weigh evidence
Place
facts in the big picture (context)
Be fair
when appropriate, adjust balance
Maintain
transparency
21) VIA – Acronym used in the course to stand for Verification, Independence,
and Accountability. Reliable information has all three of these
characteristics.
Find more info on checking
for facts, bias, and fake news here: https://tacomacc.libguides.com/c.php?g=599051&p=4147190
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