Critically assessing a fake news story

The students work in pairs and one of them plays the role of the fake story creator and the other of the fake story evaluator. The fake story creator is tasked to create a story that looks legitimate, attracts attention and can be easily understood (this means that we are not looking for stories with difficult to understand or highly scientific facts).

The story creator provides a written description of the story that might contain text, images, links or references to other documents as it is deemed fit. The story evaluator  will take the story and try to understand if it contains fake facts and which are those facts. The evaluator might use external resources to evaluate the story but in order to recognize it as fake, a rigorous evaluation needs to be provided, including links to the resources that would refute the different claims. This can be done manually or with the help of automated tools.

The evaluator is advised to follow at least the following steps:

Check Credentials – Is the author specialized in the field that the article is concerned with? Does s/he 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.

Read the “About Us” section. Does the resource have one? Reputable websites will have some type of About Us section and will provide a  way for you to contact them.

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 to the left or the 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 most cases, use the most up-to-date information you can find.

Check out the Source – 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 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.

Examine URLs – We see quite a bit of domain manipulation these days. For example, what looks like an .edu domain, followed by .co or “lo” is likely a fake or deceptive site.  If you are you seeing a slightly variant version of a well-known URL, do some investigating.

Suspect the sensational – When you see something posted that looks sensational, it is even more important to be skeptical. Exaggerated and provocative headlines with excessive use of capital letters or emotional language are serious red flags.

Judge Hard – If what you’re reading seems too good to be true, or too weird, or too reactionary, it probably is.

At the end, a debate is set up between the creator and the evaluator where each one tries to support her own position and defend or discredit the story correspondingly.