Evaluating Sources: Fact Checking

Why should you act like a fact checker?  The video below discusses the Stanford History Education Project research on our ability to recognize reliable information on the Web.

What are the techniques for a quick evaluation of the facts?

You can use these sites to see if the source of the information you want to use has already been researched.

• AP Fact Check "Fact-checking, accountability journalism and misinformation coverage from AP journalists around the globe.
• FactCheck.org  A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, this nonpartisan, nonprofit seeks to "reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. Politics (FactCheck.org - About Us)."
• Fact Checker --The Washington Post  The Post's guide to the news, using the Pinocchio ratings
• Medline Plus The National Library of Medicine's guide to fact checking health information.
• Politifact "PolitiFact is a nonpartisan fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics. PolitiFact was created by editors and reporters from the Tampa Bay Times..." and is now owned by the Poynter Institute.
• Reuters Fact Checking Reuters journalism fact checking feed.
• SciCheck FactCheck's SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy
• Snopes Long time fact checking and myth debunking website.

Sort Fact from Fiction Online, Stanford History Education Group, Jan. 16, 2020.

This guide draws largely on research from the Stanford History Education Group and on teaching materials from Mike Caulfield's SIFT approach and his Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers.