Fake news have been around for a long time, but we probably never paid too much attention to it until 2016, when dubious stories posted mainly on social media and other obscure websites started making headlines during the US electoral campaign and indirectly contributed to its unexpected outcome.
It is incredible (and scary) that in such a short amount of time online fake news have grown so much to the point of influencing the political and economic scenarios of whole countries. And it is very unsettling to know that many people, including many of our students, don’t know how to spot the difference between real news supported by evidence and stories based on opinions, paid content, or pure hate speech. One more reason to invest in techniques to identify potential fake news stories.
The principles to identify fake news are the same that we would use to evaluate information for a research topic: authorship, currency, reliability, and purpose. It is also important to ask questions and try to verify if other sources report a similar story and how they are being reported (the tone of the message). This worksheet provides some great ideas for how to spot fake news.
We highly encourage that you use this worksheet and spread it around. The best way to remain a little closer to the truth in a post-truth era is being skeptical and looking for evidence rather than just general opinions.