Fake news and other distorted information has become common in mainstream media, cable, and online. This guide will provide resources and tips to enhance people's ability to discern the difference between what is real and what is fake.
Definitions:
Fake News: Propaganda or false and often sensational journalism, characterized by exaggerated headlines, that is presented as serious news and intends to mislead readers. The rise of social media sites as news sources has been attributed to the cause of the proliferation of fake news. (Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fables).
Disinformation: It is applied to the use and other techniques to discredit targeted governments, persons or policies. (Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies).
Misinformation: Fake and misleading information. (Webster's New World Dictionary).
A few tips listed below will help you to maneuver through fake and distorted information.
1. Check your bias: Do not let your personal biases interfere with analyzing media content.
2. Go to other legitimate media sources (local, national, international news-tv and websites, newspapers) that convey another political or social side of a news story and compare the given information.
3. Use fact checking sources.
4. Ask the following questions when analyzing media.
A. To whom is the information being conveyed?
B. What is the main point of the story?
C. What message or opinion is this information stating?
D. Can this information be verified by other news sources?
E. Where did the news information originate?
Fact checking news sources informs the public of what is real vs. fake in news stories.
Periodicals covering all communication and media topics. Search using the same interface as other EBSCO databases.
Reports related to topics in the news and social and political issues. Recommended for topic overviews and for argumentative essays.
More than 1,200 reference works providing background information for topics ranging from agriculture to technology. Search within multiple sources using keywords, or browse topics in different subjects. Recommended for introductory research in all topics.
Scholarly articles, News articles and Audio-visual content, Opinions, Primary sources, Reference, and Websites on topics of social interest. Scholarly content and general reader. Recommended for argumentative research.
Like Fake News, fake images and videos help in promoting misinformation have become common in social media platforms. These tools listed below can help in determining which photo or video is real or not.