Whom or What Can You Believe?
Did your mother call you to tell you about the miracle method to prevent Alzheimer's?
Did your Facebook feed pop up with an article that said the California wildfires were started by advanced laser weaponry?
You might have heard any or all of these stories, but there's one thread connecting all of them: they're not true.
The ability to tell accurate news from fake news is an important skill that you'll use for the rest of your life.
This guide will give you valuable insight in telling fact from fiction online, plus a chance to exercise your newfound skills.
Fake news is material that is one or more of following:
Disinformation: a broader term that encompasses all examples of deliberately false or misleading information.
Misinformation: information that is inaccurate but not necessarily maliciously so.
Assessing the quality of the content and the motivation of the source is crucial to understanding whether what you are viewing is true or false, unbiased or intentionally misleading. It is up to you to do the legwork to make sure your information is good.
Why should you care about whether or not your news is real or fake?
This guide has been adapted from content provided by Pace University, Indiana University East, Trinity Washington University, Duquesne University
Guide Editor: Beth Garnsey