Mis-information. Dis-information. Mal-information. Information pollution. Fake news. Pseudo news. Junk news. Alternative facts. Hoax. To name just a few of the terms bandied around these past years.  According to one online thesaurus there are 147 synonyms for fake news. Check it out. This isn’t hogswallop! It’s enough to give a person a headache. At best.

At worst. It’s enough to make a person not care. After all. Is there anything really new in this fake news phenomenon? Hasn’t it been around forever? Just by listening to any news aren’t we subjecting ourselves to the bias and manipulation of the author? Why even bother reading this post about fake news? We get it. News is fake. Sometimes. Often times. More times when digital. Multiply that figure when on social media.  So what? It’s not like we can do anything about it. A person has got to believe something. Who cares if it’s fake?

Who cares if it’s fake?

Good question. Does it really matter if our news is fake? In the large scale of things, what does this change in our daily lives? If misinformation, propaganda, has always existed. Has anything actually changed? The term fake news is not new. It’s true. Our recent increased interest in fake news is, however. In fact, fake news has just recently made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. October 2019 to be precise. And we can credit a certain unmentionable American president for giving fake news a starring role in the media starting in 2016. But why should we care or what can we do about it?

Why should we care?

Well, for a start, fake news has real-life consequences. People die because of fake news. People kill because of fake news. Governments are upended because of fake news. Billions of dollars are lost because of fake news. From revenge killings in India to deaths in Iran where over 700 people have died from ingesting methanol, following fake news advice that it protects from Covid19,  to Pizzagate, which not only contributed to putting Donald Trump in the White House, but brought a 28 year old man to drive hundreds of miles from North Carolina to Washington D.C. and open fire with an assault rifle in the Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria, fake news has serious consequences. It affects all of us.

Why believe me?

Why believe me?

Don’t. I could be lying. But you can learn to trust yourself. With a few techniques. You can protect yourself from being fooled, becoming a fool, or worse, doing foolish things based on lies, manipulation, or tricks.  And isn’t that the best reason there is?

But where to start?

That’s a good question. Good thing there are so many information sites out there that want to help you become an expert in detecting when information is true or false, manipulative, or grossly biased. I’ll share with you here what, in my opinion (note I’m being honest here), are the best tips.

First – Consider your news sources

The more digital your news source the more you’ll find fake news. If you rely on social media for your news the likelihood of coming across fake news is even higher. The reason for this is simple. The Internet provides a level playing field for everyone out there to share information. For free! It costs nothing. With the right storytelling and packaging, false information can go very far. So, the first technique to protecting yourself from fake news is to verify your source. The following amazing list of sites known for disseminating fake news should be rather helpful. There are also tips for how to recognize when a site is probably not 100% on the up and up.

Two – Read beyond the headlines

Headlines are purposefully made to capture attention. The more outrages the better. Read beyond the headlines to find out the whole story. Consider the context in which the story is being told.

Three – Check the author

Do a quick search for the author. Is it a real person? What other types of information is this author sharing? What are his or her credentials? Does the expertise match the information given?

Four – Supporting sources

If there are links to supporting sources, click on them. Verify that they actually support the story. You can also check the supporting sources in the same way you check the original story.

Five – Check the date

Reusing old stories in a new context is an easy way for would-be manipulators to fool us. Just because a story was true at a particular time in a particular context doesn’t make it necessarily true or relevant to current events.

Six – Is it a joke?

Some stories are too outlandish to be true. Again, check the source and the author to find out if it’s meant as satire or not. Some websites specialize in satire or comedy. It may be easy to recognize the satire in a Randy Rainbow video.

But beyond that what can you do? That amazing list above will help you discover a few satirical sources. These websites create purposely fake news which can unfortunately be misinterpreted. Any article from The Onion for example is going to be satirical. But surprisingly it’s still easy to be fooled if you don’t know.

Seven – Check your own biases

The likelihood of believing fake news is linked to our own judgement. Basically, we believe what we want to believe. We are more likely to believe news if it confirms what we already think. This is called confirmation bias. Another human trait is to believe those people who belong to our own group. Meaning, we are more likely to believe information that comes from a friend or trusted person. This is called implicit bias. Both implicit and confirmation bias make us fall for fake news. They are inevitable to avoid. No matter how impartial we believe we are, everyone has biases and our biases are one of the greatest influences on what we believe or not. So the best we can hope for is to be aware of our own biases and recognize when they may be clouding our judgement.

Eight – Ask the experts

In the case of fake news who are the experts? Well. Surprisingly. Librarians. Yes, librarians are experts in media literacy and learning to spot fake news is fundamental to media literacy. For example, this handy list of tips to spot fake news comes from none other than The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).

But also journalists and media experts on specialized websites such as Lie Detectors or in French the Fake News Factory of Artemis.

Nine – Check the picture

Seeing is believing. A picture is worth a thousand words. Such expressions are part of everyday language and may give us a clue as to why people are so apt to believe pictures or videos without verifying. But pictures and videos are also subject to manipulation through montage or simply through taking out of context, recycling, or adding captions that influence the interpretation. The first thing to do when checking a picture is to do a reverse search to find the source of the picture or where else it has appeared. You can do this either through Google images or tineye.com reverse image search.

What about deep fakes?

Deep fakes are notoriously hard to spot because created by deep learning algorithms or AI. And it’s likely to get worse before we learn more about how to spot them.  But there are still methods that can help you. If you think you may be looking at a deep fake, I suggest you read the two articles just linked to and see if you can spot any of the telltale signs.

Sometimes, the hardest part about spotting fake news is realizing you need to check your news in the first place. In this day and age of information overload, who has the time to check every single piece of information we come across? I sure don’t. That’s why it’s best to choose your sources wisely at the beginning. Remember. If your primary source of news is on line or even more so on social media you’re putting yourself at higher risk of encountering fake news. Take a look at these statistics on where Americans primarily get their news and how much of it is fake.

Recognize the techniques

You can also learn to quickly recognize the techniques used to manipulate. Mind Over Media examines the techniques used in propaganda which are similar to those used in fake news. The four telltale signs of propaganda are that it:

• Activates strong emotions
• Simplifies ideas and information
• Responds to audience needs and values
• Attacks opponents

Play some games

Finally, if you still want to learn more while having a little fun. There are websites out there that offer fun ways to practice your fake news detecting skills. Mind Over Media allows you to rate real media messages and then analyzes the techniques used.  Factitious proposes different levels to test your skills. While Get Bad News hilariously lets you create fake news and amass followers depending on how good you are. Try them out and post your results in the comments below!