Tips for Analyzing False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and Satirical News Sources, and Websites
Melissa Zimdars, assistant professor of communication and media at Merrimack College, has made a list of more than a hundred problematic news sites, along with tips for sorting the truthful from the troublesome. Includes a list of over 100 websites that are problematic.
Eli Pariser, author of The Filter Bubble is collaborating with journalists and researchers worldwide to look for solutions to fake news on social media. Their crowdsourced document, Design Solutions for Fake News, is a work in progress as a Google Doc, and can be found here.
Alternative Facts:
The worst of the four classifications of lies: lies, damned lies, statistics, alternative facts. Alternative facts are distinguished from the other damnable lies by the addition of gaslighting the listener. (Urban Dictionary)
Evidence:
The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.(Oxford Dictionary)
Fake News:
The deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for the purpose of profit or influence. (MediaBias/FactCheck.com)
Post Truth:
Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’ (Oxford Dictionary--Word of the Year)
Truth (Journalism):
Not a conclusive account but the best obtainable version of the news events based on verified facts up to that point of publication. (Truth)
Verification
Establishing or confirming the truth or accuracy of information with evidence. (What Makes Journalism Different)
Fact Check.org
A nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
Politifact
A Pulitzer Prize winning, fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics. Includes PunditFact and the Truth-O-Meter.
Snopes
​Regarded as an online touchstone of rumor research, the research materials they use in the preparation of any particular page are listed in the bibliography displayed at the bottom of that page so that readers who wish to verify the validity of our information may check those sources for themselves.
Verbatim
A fact-checking project of Ballotpedia. Examines claims made by elected officials, political appointees, and political candidates at the federal, state, and local levels.
The Washington Post Fact Checker
The purpose of this Web site, and an accompanying column in the Sunday print edition of The Washington Post, is to “truth squad” the statements of political figures regarding issues of great importance, be they national, international or local.
Miscellaneous Fact Checkers
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