Fake vs. Real News: 6 Strategies for Recognizing It

By pattyblount

Do you ever second-guess a decision you made? "Oh, if only I'd known [X], I'd never have [Y]."

If I'd known that vaccine was safe, I would have taken it.

If I'd known how badly an airbag could injure me, I'd have worn my seatbelt.

If I'd known that person was already seeing someone, I never would have gone on that date.

In an age when news is delivered in a continual stream, in dozens of forms, it's easy to assume we have all the information we could possibly need to make decisions like: choose a college, plan a date, pick a career...or vote for a candidate. Yet the reality is fake news is a pervasive problem far more dangerous than it seems.

Here's an example. The claim, Vaccines cause Autism, has been widely circulating for decades. It is also FALSE. It began when a doctor in the UK published a study in a professional journal called The Lancet claiming that the Measles, Mumps, Rubella, or MMR vaccine, could trigger autism. Sounds plausible so far, right? A doctor published a study in a respected journal. As a result of this doctor's claim, the vaccination rate among England's 2-year-olds dropped below 80%.

Yet the rate of autism diagnoses did not change.

Numerous follow-up studies (https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/do-vaccines-cause-autism) were performed, yet NONE ever proved any causal link between the vaccine and autism. So what went wrong?

In 2004, a journalist discovered that the doctor who first alleged the existence of such a link had applied for a patent for his own vaccine and was involved in lawsuits with companies making the MMR vaccine. The doctor never disclosed this conflict of interest to The Lancet, which published his original report. As a result, the study was rescinded and the doctor's medical license was revoked. My conclusion is he published a false claim for his own monetary gain.

Even though the study and the results were false, the myth persists. And every year, hundreds of cases of measles, a disease that had been eradicated in the US as of 2000, are reported. Measles can be fatal. Measles, mumps, and rubella are highly contagious viral infections, and even after recovery, can leave patients with lasting complications ranging from blindness and deafness to infertility and encephalitis. According to the CDC, a single family could lose up to a month's income caring for a child infected with measles.

How many of the people who believed the vaccine caused autism said later, "If only I'd known that story was fake, I'd have vaccinated my child?" Perhaps Sarah Walton's parents. Sarah caught measles at the age of 11 months old and recovered. As an adult, she was diagnosed with SSPE or subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a complication of measles that presents as a systemic destruction of the central nervous system.

https://youtu.be/aB8kGwKZiq0

And yet, the myth persists.

This is why should we care about fake news. Because misinformation influences the decisions we make every day and those decisions can have tragic consequences. Fake news is NOT a new development. It's an age-old issue that history has been tracking for hundreds of years, if not thousands.

So how can you protect yourself from fake news if it's posted by credible people like doctors, lawyers, elected officials, if it's been around far longer than we have? How can you even recognize news as false? To answer these questions, let's look at some news vocabulary first.

Bias, which means the news contains a slant toward, or judgement based on, personal points of view. Bias can also be demonstrated by readers when they seek stories written with slants that support their pre-existing beliefs.

Exaggerations, which are statements that bend or stretch the truth.

Claims, which are statements made as if they are true to support an argument or position.

Reasons, which support claims.

Evidence, which are facts, statistics, results, that support reasons and therefore, claims.

Satire, which parodies actual news and features heavy use of irony or humor.

Clickbait, which uses sensationalized or exaggerated headlines to encourage viewers to click links heavily laden with ads

Hyperpartisan, which is extreme bias toward a particular political party

Source: https://www.weareteachers.com/recognize-bias

Okay, now that you understand some basic terms, here are ways you can see through the lies.

First, always consider the source. In 2016, a fake news story about fraudulent ballots was posted to a website called ChristianTimesNewspaper.com. But there was no such newspaper. There was, however, a newspaper called Christian Times but that was not the URL to their website. So before you click on links that look legit, such as abcnews.com.co, do a quick Google search to verify if that is indeed the URL to ABC News.

(Fact check: That is NOT the URL for ABC News.)

Another site called the Boston Tribune sounds on the level, right? But it's not a legitimate newspaper at all. It's a site that's been proven to post propaganda.

Counter-attack: Do an internet search of a source's name before you click the link. See what sites like mediabiasfactcheck.com or snopes.com say about that source. Be suspicious of ALL news you read on social networks. We'll come back to this in the fifth point, but for now, remember that your social networks are self-culled. You're there to have fun, right? So you surround yourself with people just like you. This means that any news you read in your network is likely to be an echo chamber of similar opinions rather than facts.

Second, mine the headline. Have you clicked headlines like YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT only to read screen after screen of boring stuff you already knew? Clickbait stories rarely deliver the promise implied by their headlines. But that's okay by them! They don't care about the stories, only that you saw their advertisements.

When headlines sound far-fetched, they're typically clickbait. However, even legitimate sources use sensational headlines to get your attention. After all, they're competing with EVERYTHING in the world for you to read their articles.

Counter-attack: Read past headlines. Look for buzzwords, exaggerated claims. Keep on scrolling right by. These stories are just advertisement delivery mechanisms. If you're truly curious, do an internet search and see if the story is being reported by legitimate sources, too.

Third, check the author's by-line and date. Most fake news stories have no author, but if an author's name is provided, Google that name. If the author's bio lists awards, that information is easy to confirm with another Google search. As for dates, authors of fake news who have bias toward a political party like to recycle old news and either BLAME it on the opposing party or claim their party is responsible for any success. For example, a story giving President Trump credit for Ford moving production of its trucks from Mexico to Ohio was fake news because Ford's production change actually happened in 2015, a full year prior to the election, and therefore could not be attributed to the president's success.

Counter-attack: When you verify authors actually exist and the date of publications match any claims made in the article, your odds of finding real news increase.

Fourth, verify any images. Fake news articles frequently include manipulated images, repurposed images, or even stock images. In a widely circulated story about kids in cages, an image of a crying boy gripping a fence was provided without proper context according to snopes.com. The child in the photo was accompanying family members to a protest. He was never in a cage and in fact, was not being detained.

Take a look: On the left is the manipulated image designed to make you angry. On the right is the image with proper context. The cage was part of a protest against the president's immigration policy and the boy in the black and blue clothes was simply there with his parents. 

Counter-attack: To verify images, type IMAGE SEARCH in Google. You can paste the URL of any suspicious images or upload one to search the internet. If you find the image in multiple places, chances are it's a stock image. Or, you may find out the image reported as a riot at a Black Lives Matter protest is actually one taken at the holidays during a doorbuster sale.

Extra Tip → You are most likely to see images like this in your social media feeds. Be suspicious -- always -- of any news you receive through a social network. (See the Fifth point about confirmation bias.) Social networks are notoriously lax on what people are permitted to post. As I write this, people on my social media feeds are posting things like CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS SET UP ILLEGAL BALLOT BOXES (this is true according to snopes.com) and OBAMA: AN IMPEACHED PRESIDENT CANNOT APPOINT JUDGES (satire according to snopes.com. The source for this story cites Article 11 in the Constitution. Our Constitution has seven articles. So it's CRITICAL for you, as a consumer of news, to determine what is fact, what is satire, and what is false, from your social media feeds because the networks will not do it for you.

Fifth, refute your own bias. Yes, you have bias. We all do. The nature of social networks means we align ourselves with like-minded individuals. If you see news shared on your Facebook or Instagram feeds, understand that they're being shared by people who share your ideals, which instantly means you're likely to agree with, support, share, and favor that news. Psychologists refer to this as one example of confirmation bias. If you truly wish to be informed and impartial, practice what journalists do: find two or more sources to verify the claims made in any article. When you do so, look for sites and sources that slant away from your particular political beliefs to get both sides of the story. For example, Fox News slants to the right. Republicans value and trust Fox News. CNN slants to the left. Democrats value and trust CNN.

Counter-attack: Consider visiting neutral sites or news aggregators that collect stories from both sides and feed it to you simultaneously. Why is this important? President Trump never told People Magazine that he'd run as a Republican because they're the dumbest group of voters in the country. The magazine as well as snopes.com and Reuters have all said this is false. Similarly, Hillary Clinton did not use a DC pizzeria as the headquarters for a child sex trafficking ring.

Yet, both claims persist. Evidence (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41982569) has shown that Russian bots contribute many of these false claims and exaggerated stories to intentionally create feelings of outrage and horror in us. Now that you know how they're doing this, you can be smart enough to see through their attempts.

Sixth, study the language. All news outlets use certain buzzwords to help change perception. For example, look for terms like thug instead of protester in articles about racism, or sex with underage women instead of children in articles about sexual assault. Look also for unsubstantiated statements such as "Studies indicate," but then no such studies are cited.

Hopefully, you now know why fake news can be dangerous. It narrows our minds and leads us to make faulty decisions we regret later. With so much at stake in this year's election, we all have a civic duty to become journalists ourselves. Determine which issues matter most to you. Research what both candidates have said and done about those issues by practicing the fake news counterattacks presented here. These counterattacks can help you be sure you're making a decision you won't regret.

Best of all? It's easy. It takes only a couple of minutes and you can even use your phone. And that's a fact.