How to Know What to Believe – The News Literacy Project
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It’s hard to know what to believe, but we should try to give truth a chance.
“ ‘A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.’”
It’s hard to determine what’s true any more. Between far left, far right, conspiracy theorists and denialists, misinformation, disinformation, bias and propaganda, it’s an info-demic out there. How do we know what to believe and more importantly why is it our job to ferret out what’s true and what isn’t?
I am disheartened when I listen to friends and family who have become apathetic towards news and information. ‘I don’t know who or what to believe, so I believe nothing. Nothing’s true.’ I’m dispirited by such cynicism… it disempowers us. Instead, I’d encourage some healthy skepticism. I cannot believe everything I hear and read, and I’m willing to take a little time (sometimes just seconds) to confirm the veracity of information before making judgments and decisions... and definitely before sharing. We undermine and exploit each other every time we share misinformation, disinformation or known untruths whether unwittingly or not. Allowing ourselves to be manipulated by misquotes, altered photos and incendiary headlines is just plain wrong and sharing them not only adds to the confusion, but it diminishes the credibility of the person sharing.
“ For starters, let’s stop calling it ‘fake news’. Disinformation [and misinformation] proliferates online - and like the mythical unicorn, often blends some plausible elements in conveying untruths.
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Yes, on occasion it can be a time-consuming and frustrating exercise, but usually it takes about as long to verify a fact or photo as it does to wash your hands… about 20 seconds. It seems incumbent on me, on us as rational beings and members of society, to sort out as best we can the truth from the untruth.
Sometimes bias may make the truth a bit blurry… taking quotes out of context, choice of vocabulary words, omitting some facts. Where there’s a kernel of truth, it’s sometimes hard to ferret out the whole truth. But sometimes there’s no doubt that someone deliberately concocted an untruth (disinformation) to rile us up and someone else, unwittingly perhaps, shared it (misinformation). I look at verifying information as a challenge, more like solving a mystery. I want to verify for myself that it really was Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory with a candlestick… and I don’t want to take just anyone’s word for it. I don’t want anecdotal evidence to be considered a reliable source, especially when someone like Professor Plum who definitely had an ax to grind and an indisputable personal bias is providing all the information. Independent, standards-based sources are best… the more the better.
I’ve recently discovered the News Literacy Project, a non-profit, non-partisan group whose stated mission ‘empowers educators to teach students the skills they need to become smart, active consumers of news and other information and engaged, informed participants in civic life.’
The group has been conducting webinars on Zoom during the past couple of weeks on a number of relevant news evaluation topics and I was interested in participating. I’m neither an educator nor a student, but they let me in anyway and it’s been time well spent. Not only have I picked up some skills that help me sort out fact from fiction, but I’ve also discovered (or perhaps acknowledged) some of my own biases and how they can color my perceptions and views. I’m willing to take the time to find out that what I want to believe (confirmational/personal bias) and what is the truth might be in conflict. I’ll vote for the truth.
In a nutshell, here are four skills I’ve found useful which I’ve borrowed directly from the News Literacy Project that can help to promote ‘information sharing hygiene’. These techniques are serving me well as I stumble through an obstacle-laden, hard to traverse information landscape.
1. Lateral reading
This is the easiest and least time-consuming skill of all, in my opinion. Take the time to do a quick search on quotes or events to be sure what was quoted was actually said by the person to whom they’ve attributed it and in the context in which it was said. Be sure that the event actually happened where and when it was reported. Just type a quote or an event into your search bar and see what comes up. Use a little ‘click restraint’. Don’t waste your time on opinion or personal blogs, but rather go to reliable, ‘standards-based’ sources. The major newspapers and the major networks will provide valid sources for their stories and claims. If you still aren’t sure, use the sources provided to do some ‘upstream’ checking until you feel confident that what you’re reading has been verified. There are several credible fact-checkers out there that you can use that provide the sources for their conclusions. Try Snopes.com, FactCheck.org, leadstories.com – If you don’t believe them, use their sources to verify.
2. Web archives
I didn’t even know I could do this until I learned it during the webinar. Both archive.today and Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/ ) allow you to save a link even if the tweet or post is subsequently deleted. It can also be used to find an archived post on social media that has already been deleted. Note that there are also several sites that allow people to generate false posts and tweets and attribute them to someone else. And it’s really easy to have Alexa or Siri say something and then record it to make it sound like gospel. If a post immediately elicits an emotional response especially anger, consider it suspect. That’s how trolls manipulate you.
3. Critical observation
When looking at a photo that might have been doctored or ‘borrowed’ for use in another application, be careful to check it out thoroughly before assuming it’s real. Recently, a neighbor showed us a video of Humvees, tanks and personnel carriers being loaded on trains in Chicago on their way to enforce martial law in major US cities. He’d received the video from a friend, who had gotten it from a friend, who knew an Army guy who confirmed it was true. David scoffed at it, noting that this video could have been from anywhere including the Middle East which is where it ultimately did originate. Look at the surrounding area, visible text, distinctive landmarks and other telltale clues that might allow you to discern the difference between real and unreal.
4. Reverse image search
Another handy tool especially easily used on Google Chrome. You can right click on any posted photo and choose ‘Search Google for image’. Google can do pixel recognition to find the photo on the WWW. With luck, you can find it in its original form and source. You can then determine if the photo was manipulated, borrowed for another purpose or maybe it’s the real thing.
5. Geolocation
I haven’t had the need to use this, but it’s a tool in the toolbox just in case. Using Google maps, one can go to street view to home in on a particular location. With this tool, you might be able to verify that a photo was taken in a certain place in a certain city/town or not and use landscape, signs, landmarks, etc. to verify.
These are all valid tools to make us more savvy, informed consumers of ‘news’ and information. I have a dilemma though. If I find that something you’ve shared and posted on your social media page is untrue and you’re spreading misinformation, and I have the original sources and documentation to prove it, will you be angry with me for ‘gently’ correcting your mal-share? Just checking.
Here’s a quick reminder to Sanitize before you share… https://newslit.org/get-smart/information-hygiene-sanitize-before-you-share/ - 4 quick steps for practicing ‘information hygiene’
