Spotting Fake News: Fact Checking
Identifying and avoiding fake, misleading or heavily biased "news."
Can it pass the SMELL Test?
S - Source
Where did it come from? Who wrote it, published it, posted it? When was it written?
M - Motivation
What are they trying to sell you? Who has what to gain (or lose)?
E- Evidence
Where'd they get their data? Are there citations? Who is (or is not) quoted?
L - Logic
Can you follow their train of thought? Do they commit logical fallacies?
L- Left Out
What aren't they telling you?
Fact checking resources
FactCheck.org
A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center
SciCheck
Focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy.
Politifact
Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-check site.
Snopes
Award-winning fact-checking site.
From the nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the Center for Responsive Politics, the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy.
While focused primarily on political facts, it covers specific claims in-depth and with plenty of cross-referencing.
If it's too good to be true...
Fact checking like a pro.
Learn more about information literacy
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The Poynter InstituteThe Poynter Institute develops resources for journalists and writers, plus offers resources on fact checking and media literacy for the general public.
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The News Literacy Project Facebook PageA nonprofit whose purpose is to provide tools and resources to middle and high school students (and their classrooms) on media literacy
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Framework for Information Literacy for Higher EducationFrom the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association. This is an in-depth look at the factors that go into discerning the reliability of a claim.
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Society of Professional Journalists: Professional Code of EthicsWhat makes real news real? In part, it's because of journalistic ethics. The Society of Journalistic Ethics provides a code of professional ethics for journalists to adhere to.
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AllSidesThis site provides articles and an assessment of their bias, from left to right.