Keeping It Real: How to Spot Fake News
For students, it’s often a struggle to find legitimate sources for research projects and papers. Recently, this has become even more challenging as the plague of fake news has spread and continues to be prevalent all over the internet, often leaking into our daily lives, our perceptions, our conversations, and, worst of all, students’ papers and understanding of current events. So how can students and teacher combat the deluge of unreliable articles and keep them from tainting students’ work? Below, we offer some tips on how to be sure what you’re reading and referencing is reality:
Attention to Detail: If critical thinking is “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment,” then nowhere is it more necessary than in digging through the webs of information we find ourselves caught in today. Critical thinking, however, does not have to be a deep and complicated process; in fact, it is often as simple as paying attention to all the details, no matter how insignificant. It can involve something as seemingly simple as taking note of an article’s URL. For instance, a website whose URL includes “/opinion/” indicates that you are reading a writer’s personal stance on an issue, not necessarily the unbiased facts. With so many tech-savvy kids out there, this type of attention to detail shouldn’t be too difficult a task to undertake. Paying attention and not being afraid to be evaluative of what you are seeing can help you to distinguish the real from the fake.
Use the Enemy: If our enemy in the fake news battle is the internet, ironically, it is that very same internet than can help us sort through the confusion. Websites like snopes.com and politifact.com can be helpful tools. The latter site provides a “truth-o-meter” which classifies politician’s statements and news articles as “true,” “mostly true,” or the dreaded “pants on fire.” This creative database can be not only appealing to students, but also vital in keeping their research accurate. At the same time, you must be vigilant when dealing with the enemy. Here is a prime example of a fake news site: DHMO.org. You’ve got to admit, it looks pretty legitimate, a further reminder of how while you can use the enemy to your advantage, you can’t fully trust it.
Crap Detection: A clever term coined by Harold Rheingold*, “crap detection” refers to the skill of media literacy. From Rheingold’s idea and crusade against falsehood in news have come resources such as Media Education Lab, which can help teach educators and students alike the vital skills of detection. Back in 2009, Rheingold said, “Unless a great many people learn the basics of online crap detection and begin applying their critical faculties en masse and very soon, I fear for the future of the internet as a useful source of credible news, medical advice, financial information, educational resources, [and] scholarly and scientific research.” This year more than ever before, we see how prescient this quote was as the spike in fake news continues to plague social media sites and other internet outlets. Crude as it may sound, “crap detection” truly needs to become a necessary skill for students.
Practice your Skills of Detection: Like anything else, becoming good at differentiating between real news and fake comes with practice. Luckily, as awareness of this issue grows, so too do the available resources. Stanford University’s study, “Evaluating Information”, includes worksheets and guidelines for students to practice their detection skills, essential resources for teachers to incorporate into research projects and papers, and evaluations of information offered on popular sites like Twitter and Facebook. You don’t need a worksheet or a university study to practice, however. Remember to be attentive, critical, evaluative, and analytical and you can become an expert crap detector, ensuring that your papers and projects are always based on reliable, truthful sources.
Written by Phil Lane
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