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English Language Institute (ELI)

A Guide to introduce the Pitt Libraries to students at the English Language Institute

How to Spot "Fake News"

An August 2017 survey from The Pew Research Center has found that two-thirds (67%) of Americans report that they get at least some of their news on social media – with two-in-ten doing so often.  With all the stories about "fake news" , you need to critically evaluate the information you use form the open Web for your research.  

News and Media: Questions to consider

The article Six Questions That Will Tell You What Media to Trust by The American Press Institute offers several good questions to ask if you plan to cite news stories or media as source for your research.  Here are a few from the article:

  1. Type: What kind of content is this?
    • Is it a news story, or an opinion piece? Is it a reaction to someone else’s content?  Does the content have an obvious political slant? Find out who produced the content.  If you don’t know the organization, look it up online.
  2. Source: Who or What are the sources cited, and why should you believe them?
    • Identify who or what is being cited as evidence within the writing.  Are they credentialed experts, journalists as witnesses, or sourceless news?  If the source is a document (a study or data) who produced it and what background do they have in that subject?  If it’s not clear, you should be more skeptical
  3. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Evidence: What’s the evidence and how was it vetted?
    • Identify the evidence that any source offers.  Trust the material that offers more evidence, is more specific and more transparent about the proof being offered.  Ask your librarian to help you investigate the evidence up to verify the facts.
  4. Interpretation: Is the main point of the piece proven by the evidence?
    • Most media content offers a thesis or main point of some kind.  What is the main idea or point of the piece?  Ask whether this main point makes sense, and whether the conclusions are supported by the evidence offered.
  5. Completeness: What’s missing?
    • Is there information missing or not adequately addressed?  The point of news content is not just to tell you something.  Good news content is designed to create understanding.  If there is important information missing, that is a problem.