The Shocking Truth About Fake News

False! Your favorite influencer may have strong feelings about makeup or gaming, but you should never trust them to give you unbiased information. In order to make sure their stories are accurate, journalists interview many people and do research like reviewing studies or digging into data. If a journalist wants to share their opinion, the story will be clearly labeled as an opinion article. But everything an influencer says is their opinion. Plus, many influencers get money to endorse products, so those opinions aren’t always trustworthy. 

True! Reliable news stories cite their sources. Sources are the people, studies, and reports that provide information to journalists. But not all sources are equally valid, so make sure there’s a legitimate name or organization being cited. For health stories, for example, the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reliable sources. Fake news videos, on the other hand, might use language like “studies show” without listing what those studies are. (Choices usually lists the sources of studies at the end of an article.) If no sources are cited, the person in the video might be posing as an expert without being able to back up their claims. 

False! If content evokes intense emotions like anger or shock, it’s likely attempting to convince you to take a side. While it’s true that some events can be upsetting, there’s a difference between feeling upset by the events and feeling upset because of the way the information is conveyed. Content that uses manipulative language or dramatic music is likely unreliable. “Ask yourself: ‘What is the message that they’re conveying? Is it actually information? Or is it a persuasive message or trying to sell me something?’” suggests Fromm. 

True! A quick way to tell if a story is true is to see if it shows up on other trustworthy news sites (like The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and BBC). If the story is real, other outlets will cover it, but if it’s not featured elsewhere, that’s a clue that it could be fake. Legitimate news centers have a fact-checking process in which every fact, quote, and detail is verified before the story is published or posted. This process can take some extra time, but it means you can feel confident that what you’re reading is reliable. If the story doesn’t show up on reputable sites within a day or two, it’s likely not true.

False! Reporters are human! They sometimes make errors. In fact, a poll found that 26 percent of journalists say they have unknowingly reported a story that was found to contain false information. But if a legitimate news outlet makes a mistake, it will admit it and make a correction as well as explain that a previous version of the story contained inaccurate information.