LIBRARY
Fake News: Resources
The ability to tell accurate news from fake news is an important skill that you'll use for the rest of your life. This LibGuide will give you valuable insight in telling fact from fiction online, plus a chance to exercise your newfound skills.
Saint Leo University Library books, videos, articles
Fake News and Alternative Facts by ISBN: 9780838917503Publication Date: 2018-05-14Listen to a podcast with the author now! Talk of so-called fake news, what it is and what it isn't, is front and center across the media landscape, with new calls for the public to acquire appropriate research and evaluation skills and become more information savvy. But none of this is new for librarians and information professionals, particularly for those who teach information literacy. Cooke, a Library Journal Mover & Shaker, believes that the current situation represents a golden opportunity for librarians to impart these important skills to patrons, regardless of their age or experience. In this Special Report, she demonstrates how. Readers will learn more about the rise of fake news, particularly those information behaviors that have perpetuated its spread; discover techniques to identify fake news, especially online; and explore methods to help library patrons of all ages think critically about information, teaching them ways to separate fact from fiction. Information literacy is a key skill for all news consumers, and this Special Report shows how librarians can make a difference by helping patrons identify misinformation.
- How to Recognize Fake News VideosThink of fake news as a disease. Without knowing how to identify and stop its spread, information literacy is at risk, especially among audiences whose critical thinking skills are vulnerable. This video series equips viewers with tools to spot the stories and images that are false, biased, altered or slanted, even those shared by trusted friends or family. Easy tips to detect and check fake news will encourage scrutinizing material for opinion, inaccuracy or misrepresentation. Target audiences learn how to avoid being duped by fake news and may be less quick to click until they know what’s real and what’s not.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Alibašić, H., & Rose, J. (2019). Fake News in Context: Truth and Untruths. Public Integrity, 21(5), 463–468. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2019.1622359
Bolton, D. M., & Yaxley, J. (2017). Fake news and clickbait—Natural enemies of evidence-based medicine. BJU International, 119, 8–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/bju.13883
Frederiksen, L. (2017). Fake News. Public Services Quarterly, 13(2), 103–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228959.2017.1301231
Ireland, S. (2018). Fake news alerts: Teaching news literacy skills in a meme world. Reference Librarian, 59(3), 122–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2018.1463890
Rochlin, N. (2017). Fake news: Belief in post-truth. Library Hi Tech; Bradford, 35(3), 386–392. http://dx.doi.org.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/LHT-03-2017-0062
Quick and simple debunking exercise
Compare these two links. Which one do you think is true? Why or why not?
1 - Eat This Not That: Shocking Facts About Farmed Salmon
2 - Washington State Department of Health: Farmed vs. Wild Salmon
Classroom resources
- E.S.C.A.P.E. lesson planDeveloped by the Newseum, a museum in Washington, DC dedicated to understanding the press and media, this guide uses the E.S.C.A.P.E. method of understanding fake news.
- Web Literacy for Student Fact checkersGeared for college age or mature high school students, this is an all-encompassing free textbook covering tools and methods to fighting misinformation, including the now-famous Four Moves and a Habit strategy.
Games
- Bad NewsSpread misinformation via a choose-your-own-adventure setup.
- FactitiousFrom American University, a game in which you sort real news from the fake stuff.
- Factitious Pandemic EditionHard is the college level of this game.
- Fake It to Make ItSet a financial goal and write fake news stories to meet it.
- Newsfeed DefendersBecome a social media admin and get your group's profile recognized as a beacon of accuracy and focus with this game.
Other Resources
- 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.
- 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.
- AllSidesThis site provides articles and an assessment of their bias, from left to right.
- NPR: Five ways teachers are fighting fake newsFive in-class exercises used by real teachers for teaching about fake news
- New York Times: Evaluating sources in a post-truth worldGeared for classroom use, this is a sample lesson plan on analyzing fake news
- Shorenstein Center (Harvard): Combating Fake News: An Agenda for Research and ActionConclusions from a fake news conference held February 17-18, 2017 and a plan to tackle fake news in the future.
News outlet codes of ethics and standards
One of the ways in which a news source demonstrates its authenticity and responsibility to its readers is through a publicly accessible code of ethics or standards. A sample of various codes, mission statements and ethics handbooks are listed below.
- American Society of News Editors: Codes of EthicsA comprehensive list of codes of ethics from 47 different news outlets and professional organizations dedicated to journalism
Fact-checking organizations
- McGill Office for Science and SocietyFrom McGill University. A weekly news feed debunking myths and fake news online.
- The Poynter InstituteThe Poynter Institute develops resources for journalists and writers, plus offers resources on fact checking and media literacy for the general public.
- 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
Deepfakes and videos
- Seeing isn't believing: The Washington Post guide to manipulated videoA terrific overview of the different kinds of faked video and how to identify them.
Fake news in the news
- ABCNews: When Fake News Makes Real News HeadlineAbout a fake story which was treated as real news. Traces some of the pipeline for developing and distributing fake news
- NPR: We Tracked Down a Fake-News CreatorAbout Jestin Coler, who began creating and distributing fake news in 2013.
- NPR: Students Have Dismaying Inability to Tell Fake News ApartMany students cannot tell fake news from real news.
- The Atlantic: The Food Babe, Enemy of ChemicalsAn examination of claims made by The Food Babe, with pointed analysis by professor Kevin Folta of the University of Florida
- The New Yorker: The OperatorAn examination into Dr. Mehmet Oz, who both performs open heart surgery and hosts a television show on medical matters.
- New York Times: How Fake News Goes ViralFrom a single Tweeter with 35 friends to being shared over 400,000 times through various forums, this article traces a Tweet made November 9th, 2016.
- CNN: Fake News, Real Violence"Pizzagate" was a fake news story which connected a pizzeria with a child pornography ring allegedly run by Hillary Clinton and John Podesta. On Sunday, December 3, 2016, an armed shooter entered the pizzeria and fired a shot before being accosted by the police.
- NPR: How to Tell Real News from Fake News in 'Post-Truth' EraThis article discusses "post-truth", the idea that all news outlets will fail you eventually and it's impossible to know who to trust. It provides some commonsense advice on what to look for in a news outlet.
- Global Challenges: Inoculating the Public against Misinformation about Climate ChangeCovers a new theory about combating fake news known as "attitudinal inoculation" and follows two studies testing this method.
- TED: How to tell fake news from real newsA brief selection of things to look for when determining the fakeness of news.
- The Atlantic: The Rise of Progressive "Fake News"This interview with Snopes editor Brooke Binkowski examines the emotional pull of fake news
- BBC.com: How do Fake News Sites Make Money?An investigation into how profitable fake news can be.
- Washington Post: The information war is real, and we're losingDiscusses the findings of Dr. Kate Starbird, who traced the sources and popularity of fake news.
- 60 Minutes: How fake news finds your social media feedsA thorough investigation into the fake news industry, including bots, Facebook and interviews with fake news authors Jestin Coler and Michael Cernovich and University of Oxford professor Phil Howard.
- Washington Post: This is not an interview with BanksyArticle about practical joker James Horner, whose hoaxes have been featured on major news sites as real news
- NY Times: Spot the fake memeA surprisingly difficult quiz on spotting images from fake social media sites.
- CNN: The Fake News MachineVeles, Macedonia used to be a town known for its pottery. Not anymore.
Fact checking links
- FactCheckA product of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, this site is terrific for checking up on political claims.
- PolitifactThe Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact researches the claims of politicians and checks their accuracy.
- Snopes.comOne of the oldest debunking sites on the Internet, Snopes.com focuses on urban legends, news stories and memes. the also cite their sources at the end of each debunking.
- Lead StoriesEstablished in 2015, Lead Stories intentionally seeks out viral stories using software and debunks them as fast as possible.
- Hoax-SlayerSimilar to Snopes but tighter in scope, Hoax-Slayer focuses on email hoaxes, identity theft scams and spam.
- The Washington Post Fact-CheckerWhile focused primarily on political facts, it covers specific claims in-depth and with plenty of cross-referencing.
- Veracity (iPhone app)Double check image sources and see where they came from.
Also, while it's not a direct link, the New York times has a "Fact Check of the Day" feature that analyzes a meme, tweet or other object and confirms or debunks it using reporting, fact finding and other tools. It's a fascinating look into the newsroom of the Times.
Known fake, parodic and misleading news sites
- The Daily Dot: Fake News Sites ListNOTE: This list is not exhaustive and may be updated at any time. A compiled list of fake news sites to watch out for.
- List of Fake and Parody NewsProfessor Zimdars' original list and criteria, with updates and addenda.
- The OnionOne of America's premier parodic news sites.
- The Borowitz ReportFrom humorist Andy Borowitz, a column parodizing and commenting on current news trends
- Dr. Joseph MercolaMercola is a doctor of osteopathy who has frequently been targeted by the FDA for promoting false, misleading and even dangerous medical advice. His site promotes products and his blog includes false and/or misleading information about medical topics.