"There is news, and there is everything else that isn't news. There is no fake news." - @margot_lester #nhsjc
— Conner Davis (@connerdavis27) April 8, 2017
Figuring out how to spot deliberately misleading information, also known as "fake news" or "alternative facts", is a big problem for all of us, whether we're consuming it for personal use or using it as background information.
I built this deck for one of my workshops at the 2017 National High School Journalism Convention. The tips are based on recommendations from fact-checking organizations and the practices we use here at The Word Factory to vet background information we use to research our work.
Take a few minutes to review these tips at your next writers' meeting. Most of your team likely knows how to properly vet information for "fake news", but it's easy to get complacent and miss sneaky things like www.abc.com.co. A booster shot of awareness helps us all remember to stay vigilant and not get fooled again!
"Won't Get Fooled Again" is just one fantastic song from The Who, the greatest rock band of all time as far as I'm concerned.