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IFLA-L] How to Spot Fake News - IFLA in the post-truth society

 Information Literacy | Fact-checking |Critical Thinking | Media literacy

IFLA-L] How to Spot Fake News - IFLA in the post-truth society

How To Spot Fake News

With Wikipedia’s #1lib1ref (One Librarian, One Reference) campaign going on – the theme of last week being fake news – IFLA posted an How to Spot Fake News infographic on facebook and twitter. We also published a blog about the topic, exploring some of the ways libraries help battle alternative facts and fake news.

Discussions about fake news has led to a new focus on media literacy more broadly, and the role of libraries and other education institutions in providing this. When Oxford Dictionaries announce post-truth is Word of the Year 2016, we as librarians realise action is needed to educate and advocate for critical thinking – a crucial skill when navigating the information society.

The fake news infographic shows eight simple steps (based on FactCheck.org’s 2016 article How to Spot Fake News) to discover the verifiability of a given news-piece in front of you. Download, print, translate, and share – at home, at your library, in your local community, and in social media networks. The more we crowdsource or wisdom, the wiser the world becomes.

If you want to make a translation of the infographic to your language,  please contact Karolina Andersdotter or Evgeni Hristov at IFLA Headquarters for an editable version of the infographic. We currently have translations in these languages pending, soon to be published on the IFLA website: Spanish, Dutch, Hungarian, Swedish, Finnish – do feel free to add to this list! :-)

Cheers,

Karolina Andersdotter

Policy and Advocacy Assistant, IFLA

IFLA Headquarters

P.O. Box 95312

2509 CH The Hague

Netherlands

karolina.andersdotter@ifla.org

Tel. 00 31 (0)70 314 0756

Here's how to outsmart fake news in your Facebook feed

By AJ Willingham, CNN
Friday, November 18, 2016 

(CNN)Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it true. It seems so simple, but if everyone knew that, Facebook and Google wouldn't have to pull bogus news sites from their advertising algorithms and people wouldn't breathlessly share stories that claim Donald Trump is a secret lizard person or Hillary Clinton is an android in a pantsuit.

It doesn't have to be this way. Fake news is actually really easy to spot -- if you know how. Consider this your New Media Literacy Guide.

NOTE: As we put this together, we sought the input of two communications experts: Dr. Melissa Zimdars, an associate professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts whose dynamic list of unreliable news sites has gone viral, and Alexios Mantzarlis, the head of the International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute.

First, know the different types of misleading and false news

1. Fake news
These are the easiest to debunk and often come from known sham sites that are designed to look like real news outlets. They may include misleading photographs and headlines that, at first read, sound like they could be real.
2. Misleading news
These are the hardest to debunk, because they often contain a kernel of truth: A fact, event or quote that has been taken out of context. Look for sensational headlines that aren't supported by the information in the article.
3. Highly partisan news
A type of misleading news, this may be an interpretation of a real news event where the facts are manipulated to fit an agenda.
4. Clickbait
The shocking or teasing headlines of these stories trick you into clicking for more information -- which may or may not live up to what was promised.
5. Satire
This one is tough, because satire doesn't pretend to be real and serves a purpose as commentary or entertainment. But if people are not familiar with a satire site, they can share the news as if it is legitimate. Read more...