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Foothill High School

Equipping Students for Success

Foothill High School

Equipping Students for Success

How Good Are You At Fact Checking?

keyboard with a fact check key

There has been lots of news lately about how many students and adults lack the skills in fact checking the information they find on the Internet. Here are some links to a Stanford Study and a video that shows the possible consequence of not fact checking. 

INFOGRAPHIC - "How to Spot Fake News"

NPR POD CAST - Stanford Study Finds Most Students Vulnerable To Fake News

NPR TRANSCRIPT - Students Have 'Dismaying' Inability To Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds

WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE - Most Students Don’t Know When News Is Fake, Stanford Study Finds  

EXECUTIVE REPORT STANFORD FAKE NEWS STUDY

VIDEO - CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FACT CHECKING PROPERLY 

VIDEO - HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR NEWS

VIDEO - THE PROBLEM WITH FAKE NEWS

Top 10 sites to help students check their facts

The 5 C’s of Critical Consuming.

#1: Context – Look at the context of the article. When was it written? Where does it come from? Have the events changed since then? Is there any new information that could change your perspective?

#2: Credibility – Check the credibility of the source. Does the site have a reputation for journalistic integrity? Does the author cite credible sources? Or is it satirical? Is it on a list of fake news sites? Is it actually an advertisement posing as a real news story?

#3: Construction. Analyze the construction of the article. What is the bias? Are there any loaded words? Any propaganda techniques? Any omissions that you should look out for? Can you distinguish between the facts and opinions? Or is it simply all speculation?

#4: Corroboration: Corroborate the information with other credible news sources. Make sure it’s not the only source making the claim. If it is, there’s a good chance it’s actually not true.

#5: Compare: Compare it to other news sources to get different perspectives. Find other credible sources from other areas of the ideological or political spectrum to provide nuance and get a bigger picture of what’s actually happening.

When we teach students media literacy, and they learn how to consume critically, they learn how to think critically. And critical thinking citizens are good for democracy. And that’s good for everyone.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN DECIDING IS IT REAL? OR IS IT FAKE?

Breaking News Consumer's Handbook