Library Guides: Journalism: Evaluating News Stories

Verify Information and Fact Check

Fact-checking websites can help you investigate claims to help you determine whether what you hear or read is true. These resources can help you determine the legitimacy of a claim. They can also help you determine if a site is legitimate.
You can practice lateral reading, like a fact checker. Google the site, open up multiple tabs, read several different sources about the information or site in question.
However, even fact-checking websites should be examined critically.

FactCheck.org
FactCheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They 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.
FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels.
The News Literacy Project
The News Literacy Project (NLP) is an innovative national education program that equips middle school and high school students with the tools to be smart, active consumers of news and information and engaged, informed citizens. They create original educational resources and work with teachers and seasoned journalists to deliver them through classroom, after-school and e-learning programs.

News literacy teaches that all information is not created equal. It uses the standards of quality journalism as an aspirational yardstick to determine what information to believe, share and act on. It also fosters an understanding of the role of a free press in a democracy.
PolitiFact
PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics. PolitiFact is run by editors and reporters from the Tampa Bay Times, an independent newspaper in Florida, as is PunditFact, a site devoted to fact-checking pundits. The PolitiFact state sites are run by news organizations that have partnered with the Times. The state sites and PunditFact follow the same principles as the national site.

PolitiFact staffers research statements and rate their accuracy on the Truth-O-Meter, from True to False. The most ridiculous falsehoods get the lowest rating, Pants on Fire.
Snopes.com
The snopes.com website was founded by David Mikkelson, who lives and works in the Los Angeles area. What he began in 1995 as an expression of his interest in researching urban legends has since grown into what is widely regarded by folklorists, journalists, and laypersons alike as one of the World Wide Web's essential resources.Snopes specializes in debunking urban myths that pop up regularly on the Internet, making it one of the original fact-checking websites.
Sourcewatch
We Track Corporations and PR Spin
The Center for Media and Democracy publishes SourceWatch to track corporations
The Poynter Institute / Fact-Checking Resources
The Poynter Institute serves as the world’s leading resource for journalists to engage and inform the public in democratic societies.
Washington Post Fact Checker
The purpose of this website, and an accompanying column in the Sunday print edition of The Washington Post, is to “truth squad” the statements of political figures regarding issues of great importance, be they national, international or local. Read the "About" section on the website to understand how the news sources are rated.
Media Bias/ Fact Check
Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC), founded in 2015, is an independent online media outlet. MBFC is dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices. MBFC’s aim is to inspire action and a rejection of overtly biased media. We want to return to an era of straight forward news reporting. MBFC follows a strict methodology for determining the biases of sources. Dave Van Zandt is the primary editor for sources. He is assisted by a collective of volunteers who assist in research for many sources listed on these pages. MBFC also provides occasional fact checks, original articles on media bias, and breaking/important news stories, especially as it relates to USA politics. Funding for Media Bias Fact Check comes from donations and third-party advertising. We use third-party advertising to prevent influence and bias as we do not select the ads you see displayed. Ads are generated based on your search history, cookies, and the content of the current web page you are viewing. This sometimes leads to politically biased ads as well as the promotion of pseudoscience products that we do not endorse

Media Bias/Fact Check

Media Bias/Fact Check News
All media sources have a degree of bias in reporting, some more than others. The purpose of this website is to be a resource for those who care about media bias. Media bias on this website is determined through research and consumer opinions
AllSides
Unlike regular news services, AllSides exposes bias and provides multiple angles on the same story so you can quickly get the full picture, not just one slant.
Media Research Center
Media Research Center is a conservative media watchdog group dedicated to bringing political balance to the news and entertainment media.
SciCheck
FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy. It was launched in January 2015 with a grant from the Stanton Foundation. The foundation was founded by the late Frank Stanton, president of CBS for 25 years, from 1946 to 1971.

Point of View: Detecting Bias

Point of View

Magazines, newspapers, broadcasters and organizations may have a reputation for being politically left or right. The mental model is a horizontal line with starting on the left with progressive, liberal, moderate or centerist, continuing right with conservative, ultra-conservative sources. They may be associated with a particular political party, religious movement, denomination, or be secular, or they may have a one-issue cause (environmentalists). Some media outlets readily acknowledge a bias while others have unacknowledged bias and still others strive to present a variety of viewpoints. Knowing the source’s reputation alerts the reader to bias in the information it provides. Attitude should not be confused with factual accuracy.

Credit is given to Lakeland Community College Library for the creation of this document.

How to Detect Bias in the News Media (FAIR)

Other Fact Checking Sites

This is Fake
Browser plugin for Chrome, created by Slate. This tool both identifies articles in your Facebook feed that intentionally spread misinformation and allows you to tell your friends when they're sharing a fake story. When you connect This Is Fake to your Facebook account, you can also flag fabricated stories for our moderators. Be a good citizen of the internet and help the truth rise to the top of your Facebook news feed.
Hoaxy
Not a fact-checking site, Hoaxy is a visualization tool that shows the path of fake news as it spreads
LinkedIn
This professional networking site can be used to check the qualifications and expertise of authors
B.S. Detector
Browser plugin available for Chrome and Firefox A browser extension for both Chrome and Mozilla-based browsers, B.S. Detector searches all links on a given webpage for references to unreliable sources, checking against a manually compiled list of domains. It then provides visual warnings about the presence of questionable links or the browsing of questionable websites.

How to Spot Fake News from factcheck.org (3.23 minute video)

How to Spot Fake News (IFLA)

IFLA has made this infographic with eight simple steps (based on FactCheck.org’s 2016 article How to Spot Fake News ) to discover the verifiability of a given news-piece in front of you

Identifying Fake News

EasyBib recently posted, “10 Ways to Spot a Fake News Article,” which highlighted key items to look for on a website when determining its credibility. The infographic found below summarizes the content from the blog post and students can use it as a guide when using news sources in research. Post, print, or share it with your students or others!

The News Literacy Project’s Ten Questions for Fake News Detection
This checklist can help determine if a news article is fake or not. Red flags are used throughout the checklist. Too many red flags circled? This means that website most likely contains false information!