Fake or Fact?
The information we find online may or may not be reliable. When working with websites, social media, and other online resources, use SIFT to evaluate them:
STOP.
When you find a page or a post, stop and ask yourself if you know the source of the information or anything about the reputation of the claim, especially if you have a strong reaction to the content. Take a moment to reset, remembering the purpose of your research and what you plan to do with the information you find.
Example
You may have a strong response to the tweet below. Before you take it at face value or share it, stop
to assess your reaction and consider whether you know anything about the source or the claim.
INVESTIGATE the source.
Take sixty seconds to figure out where the media is from before reading it. If you're reading a piece on economics by a Nobel prize-winning economist, you should know that before you read it. Conversely, if you’re watching a video on the many benefits of milk consumption that was put out by the dairy industry, you'll want to know that as well.
Example
Consider the above tweet. Who is Ron Hogan? What do we know about him? Is he reliable? We know Twitter does not
fact check. A google search tells us that Hogan is an author and editor, but we can't trust that this tweet is true.
FIND trusted coverage.
Sometimes it's less important to know about the source and more importance to assess their claim. Look for credible sources that comment on the claim and compare information to determine whether there appears to be a consensus.
Example
Continuing with our example, we have to find trusted coverage for two claims: First, that Senator Schumer's great-grandmother and most of her children were murdered by Nazis, and second, that President Trump's father was arrested at a KKK rally. Searching the first claim returns a Vox article, which substantiates the claim: "[Schumer's] great-grandmother died in the Holocaust, as did seven of her nine children." Additionally, Politifact confirms that Fred Trump was arrested at a KKK rally. That said, Politifact notes that it is unclear if Trump was participating as a KKK member or simply a bystander, and we should not infer that he was involved with the KKK, as the tweet would have us believe.
TRACE claims, quotes, and media back to the original context.
Sometimes online information has been removed from its original context (for example, a news story is reported on in another online publication or an image is shared on Twitter). Trace the information back to the original source to find out more about the original intent.
Example
Many websites today do a lot of "reporting on reporting." The below screenshot is from the New York Post, but as you can see in the text, there is no original reporting; instead, all quotes are taken from a talk show called "Loose Women". To back up these claims, you'd want to review the original source, assess the credibility of the virologist, and look for trusted coverage that substantiates the claims.
Modified from Mike Caulfield's SIFT (Four Moves) and Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers, which are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Learn More
Want to be an expert fact checker? Read Mike Caufield's book, Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers.
When fact checking claims-- especially in the news or social media-- the following websites may come of use:
- FactCheck.orgWe are a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
- PolitifactPolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics. The PolitiFact state sites are run by news organizations that have partnered with the Times.
- Snopes. (1995-2017). Snopes.comSnopes was originally created in 1994 to research urban legends. Since then, the scope of Snopes fact checking has evolved to include common fallacies, misinformation, old wives’ tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and more.