Massasoit Libraries: News Know-How: Getting Started

We are surrounded by information all day, every day! How do you know what to trust? This guide aims to guide you into thinking more deeply about the news we see, and to answer questions about fake news, media bias, filter bubbles, and more.

Social Media

Social Media and News Fact Sheet

News Know-How

When looking at information, ask yourself the following questions to verify information:

Who says?
“How do they know?”
“Are they biased?”
“What don’t I know?”

What do I check?

proper names
place names
references to time, distance, date, season
physical descriptions
references to the sex of anyone described
quotations (and facts within quotes)
any arguments or narrative that depends on fact

Source: The Fact Checker’s Bible: A Guide to Getting it Right, by Sarah Harrison Smith

Fact Checking Sites

AllSides AllSides exposes bias and provides multiple angles on the same story so you can quickly get the full picture, not just one slant
AP Fact Check
Check Your Fact
FactCheck From Anenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania explores facts behind statements
Media Bias/Fact Check A comprehensive media bias resource on the internet
NPR Political Fact Check
Politifact Pulitzer prize winning project from Tampa Bay Times
SciCheck SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy.
Snopes
USA Facts USAFacts is a new data-driven portrait of the American population, our government’s finances, and government’s impact on society. They are a non-partisan, not-for-profit civic initiative and have no political agenda or commercial motive. They provide this information as a free public service and are committed to maintaining and expanding it in the future.
Wayback Machine Web archive that captures websites over time and can be used to verify content history and edits.