How to Fact-Check Like a Pro
Sick and tired of seeing misinformation? Never know who or what to trust? Can’t figure out if what you’ve heard is true? Feel duped? Want better tools to sort truth from fiction? Here’s a quick gide to sorting out facts, weighing information, and being knowledgeable online and off.
Check Credentials
Is the author specialized in the field that the article is concerned with? Does he or she currently work in that field? Check LinkedIn or do a quick Google search to see if the author can speak about the subject with authority and accuracy.
Check the Sources
When an article cites sources, it’s good to check them out. Sometimes, official-sounding associations are really biased think tanks or represent only a fringe view of a large group of people. If you can’t find sources, read as much about the topic as you can to get a feel for what’s already out there, and decide for yourself if the article is accurate or not.
Look for Bias
Does the article seem to lean toward a particular point of view? Does it link to sites, files or images that seem to skew left or right? Biased articles may not be giving you the whole story.
Check the Dates
Like eggs and milk, information can have an expiration date. In many cases, use the most up-to-date information you can find.
Judge Hard
If what you’re reading seems too good to be true, or too weird, or too reactionary, it probably is.
It’s never too late to seek out good information. Contact us at liblearn@iue.edu.
(Image courtesy of Indiana University East)
