CLASS 17: VERIFYING NEWS SITES

Is that newspaper real? Can I trust information from that news outlet? A deep dive into getting to good news sources

Photo by the blowup on Unsplash

Russia and other autocratic adversaries are using more and more deceptive tactics to manipulate the information space, particularly when it comes to news. In today’s world of influencers, “citizen journalists,” and [at]Sparkleponyglitterpoop’s hot takes, many folks turn to traditional media outlets to help them understand what information they should trust. Did Joe Biden really wander off at D-Day celebrations? Did Donald Trump coach a young Tiger Woods in golf? And who really started the fire (because, as Billy Joel reminds us, we didn’t!)?

I thought, therefore, this would be a good time to write up a few tips for verifying news sites.

The most important thing to know when gathering information—and this goes for information you get from anywhere, not just news sites—is this: Who is the source?

Here are some questions about the source you should be asking (these are good questions for information you get from social media, as well):

• How did the source get this information?

• Does it make sense the source has access to this information?

• What is the motivation of the source?

• How far removed from the event/original information is the source? (Does the source have first-hand information? Second-hand information? Is there a link to an original document or video?)

When it comes to news sites specifically, there are a number of things we can do to check if the site is trustworthy. Unfortunately, this is getting more important to do as billionaires buy up media sites, bad actors (like Russia and China) spoof real news sites, and AI creates a whole bizarro world where we won’t know real from fake.

But before we fully enter this dystopia, here are a few things we can all do to help us consume news more responsibly.