Fact checking :Why should we do it?

What is so important?

What amount of information that you read or view is fake news? What portion is the truth? How can you tell the difference?  There seems to be so much misinformation spread around, it’s hard to tell what to believe. The line between true Journalism and blatant lies has become more and more narrow, making it more important than ever for us to follow trusted sources, fact check and question what we hear and see.

“Fake news. It’s the year’s biggest buzz term: We see it all over our televisions, in the paper and on the Web. We even hear it straight from the president’s mouth. Don’t agree with a report? Call it fake news.”  ~Samantha Lile (https://visme.co/blog/fact-checking-for-content-marketers/)

If you write something or repost it on social media, people will notice. And more and more folks will call you out on it.  What may need fact checking? Dates, statistics, names, quotes and attributing them correctly. When fact-checking news stories, the best way to check facts is to find more than one source. If you can, find the original source.

When people share misleading or inaccurate information, it can have serious consequences.

Fact- checking isn’t just for business people and those who post web content, like myself.

Every citizen should, and could be well-informed in order to take part in the civic debate, to vote well, and to share their opinions in their community.

Part of my job as an adult is imparting accurate knowledge to my grandchildren and using accurate facts when I post on social media, write a letter to my legislator or talk with friends. I need the information necessary to be aware of and understand current events.

As an older American (over the age of 65) I am targeted for more and more scams, conspiracies, hoaxes and false news stories than ever before. Poynter. says that “spotting misinformation online can be a matter of life, death and democracy.”  Poynter. is part of MediaWise who have previously focused on teens, is now launching a program to help people aged 50 and older with the skills to navigate misinformation about politics, health and other critical topics.

It’s a sad commentary about our society that we need to fact-check, but I suppose lies and lying liars have been around since the beginning of time. It just seems like the number of instances of misinformation, misnomers, fabrications, falsehoods, fibs, deception, prevarications, shams and  out-and-out fake news has reached an all-time high, not to mention the exaggerations, alternative facts, and flights of fancy.

Thankfully, many organizations and schools are teaching robust fact-checking protocols, so I think fact checking will become more common place. Yet, our teens are the most anxious to discuss current events with us. We, as well as our teens, need to have the facts and know how to find the facts around any given event, in order to be well-informed and to have an intelligent discussion.

But in this era of ever-present access to information on social media, disinformation, and political strife, it is more important than ever to know the facts from fiction.

I am naturally curious, so I encourage everyone to ask more questions. A healthy dose of skepticism keeps us from jumping to conclusions about events and news stories. (although, that seems to be the only exercise some folks get.)

Here are some questions to help you consider information critically:

  1.  Where did you see that information? Is it a person or site you trust?
  2.  Did it come from a reliable source? Who is behind the information?
  3.   What is the evidence?
  4.  Does the information sound right to you?  What do you wonder about it?
  5. Is it too good to be true? (especially if they are trying to sell you something)
  6. Who are the stakeholders in this news? (who has something to gain or lose?)
  7. Has this happened before or is this the first time? Are there similar things happening?
  8. Can you find that same information on the websites of major newspapers or television news networks?
  9. What are other sites saying about this event?
  10. What happens if you do an Internet search for that information you heard and add the word “rumor,” “conspiracy,” or “fact-check?” Do you find any helpful information there?
    1. (Try “dec 21 2012 rumor” and you will see several great stories about that particular Internet conspiracy.)

photo credit to: ben-white-qDY9ahp0Mto-unsplash.jpg

Here are some sites that help you check the facts:

1. Checkology  at: https://checkology.org/auth

    A site that has created curricula and protocols for use with teens

2. MediaWise at: https://www.poynter.org/mediawise/

Poynter. offers news, training, ethics & Leadership, fact checking and media literacy

3. The Trooclick app, which can be installed in your browser, helps you detect inaccuracies within a source. It works in real-time and is ideal if you have several sources quoting different figures or numbers.

4. When it comes to finding reliable sources, there are a number of trusted sites you can always depend on, such as YouGov, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and data.gov.uk.

In the age of the internet, the really is no excuse for getting something wrong. Even the smallest of errors can have an impact on your business. Having to wait a day or two to publish a piece because you need to confirm a fact or name is better than dealing with angry readers or losing sales.

(the above two sources from Fact-Checking guide for content marketers by Laura Varley)

Non-partisan Fact Checking Sites

Annenberg Political Factcheck – a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. ‘Monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players.’

Weekly blog from the Washington Post.

From the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly.  Has a ‘Truth-O-Meter’ scorecard checking the attacks on the candidates (includes explanations). Also see their Punditfact page.

“Oldest and largest fact-checking site on the Internet”.

“Dedicated to checking the accuracy of claims by pundits, columnists, bloggers, political analysts, the hosts and guests of talk shows, and other members of the media.”

This list taken from: https://middlebury.libguides.com/internet/fac-checking

Resources:

Resources:

Photo credit for first image goes to: andraz-lazic-Wh9ZavMYeIw-unsplash.jpg

Fact Checking Guide to Content Marketers” by Laura Varley, May 24, 2016 at Verticle Leap. See: https://bit.ly/3fr1B0j

“Social Media’s impact on Social- Emotional Health”  at Your Teen for Parents see: https://bit.ly/3m1zO7S

“Survey Results: How Has Fake News Affected Content Marketing?” from Visme at; https://bit.ly/3ucbMdf

“Teaching older Americans how to sort fact from fiction” Poynter. news media for Seniors at: https://www.poynter.org/mediawise-for-seniors/

Teaching Teens How to Fact Check Media They Consume” At Your Teen for Parents. seehttps://bit.ly/3rHhLoQ

“The Report of My Death Was an Exaggeration” is quote by mark Twain in 1897.  by Nathan Sanderson, Aug. 6, 2019. in Captial Journal News at: https://bit.ly/3m6OxP2

1 thought on “Fact checking :Why should we do it?”

  1. This is so true, Annette. It makes my blood boil when I see outright lies and out of context statements published by people I know, and whom I thought knew better. Thanks for the list of places to check on these statements.

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