That’s the end of the basic skills. There’s more advanced skills of course, but you will be best served at the moment making the basic skills habits. When working with students, we use the SIFT acronym to remind them what they need to do, and it is worth reviewing one more time: If a piece […]
Next: Check the date
Summary One of the most common and damaging disinformation techniques is false framing — linking a real article but summarizing it in a way that is deceptive The solution? Click through to the article and do a quick web page search for relevant terms. If you find the relevant terms, and the surrounding text supports […]
Summary Even when a source looks good, you have to click through and see the full context. Part of that context is the date published. Old articles might have outdated information, or might give a false impression if read as breaking news. Ideally, unless it was shared with you by someone who is known to […]
Summary If you can’t trust the source supplying the news to you, the best strategy is usually to do a quick news search, and see who else is reporting it. Sometimes (lots of times!) you’ll find that there is better coverage of the claim out there than the story that reached you. Share that instead. […]
Summary Most major English-language publications have Wikipedia page. If you don’t recognize a source, search the url + ” wikipedia” to find the relevant Wikipedia page. Scan the page asking: Is this source what I thought it was? Is there anything that might disqualify this as a source? Does this source have the expertise and/or […]
Summary To find out more about a source, hover over the link to the user profile (desktop browser) or click it (mobile). When you hover, ask yourself Is this source what I thought it was? Is this source credible enough to share without any further checking? Hover every time, not just when you are suspicious. […]
Sifting Through the Pandemic 