Spotting — and fixing — bad information helps raise credibility
By Kaara Baptiste
After Friday morning’s 2017 ACES conference general presentation on the “Online Misinformation Ecosystem” that broke down the climate of “fake news” on the internet, editors headed to “Don’t get fooled: How to spot bad information and fake news,” presented by Gerri Berendzen. The session provided several practical takeaways on how to detect misleading or wrong information and prevent legitimate publications from becoming unsuspecting purveyors of “alternative facts.”
Be skeptical
This is considered a given among journalists when dealing with sources, but we have to do this with our writers and clients as well. There is a growing culture of mistrust among readers who generally don’t remember who got something first, but will remember who got it wrong. It’s important for editors to be on their guard to ensure accuracy in the materials they read. Ask yourself: How do we know this fact? Who said it? How do they know this? What’s the source for their information? In the session, we saw examples of how simple questions on subjects ranging from homeschool enrollment to the definition of the labor force could lead to light digging that changed a narrative.
Should you check every fact?
Time constraints are real, especially if you’re working on daily papers or websites. A useful tip shared was to know what information is most likely to be incorrect in general AND to take stock of problem areas—your own, the writers you work with, sources, etc. This can help you prioritize areas to focus on while editing.
Know what facts raise flags
This list includes:
- Numbers, including dollar amounts
- Data and polls: Are the conclusions cherry-picked?
- Inconsistency or repetition
- Visuals: Do they ring true? Is anything off or misrepresented? Who submitted the photo?
- Biased sources: Is the sourcing one-sided?
- Absolutes/superlatives: Question if something is indeed “the first,” “highest ranking,” or “the best.” If it’s quantifiable, look up the source for yourself. If not, you can often leave out the superlative and still make your point.
We spent some time on checking numbers. Journalists and editors are not expected to be mathematicians, but we should know math and how to ask questions about figures in a story. For example, look at the numbers and ask, how likely is this? How could someone count or determine that? Where did the number come from? What was the original source and context? Taking some time to look at numbers instead of glossing over them or assuming the writer/client checked them can make a big difference.
Determine your source’s credibility
It is important to evaluate resources used in stories. For example, if referring to a website in copy, go to the site yourself and look around: Who runs it? Do they have an agenda? Check out the About page. If something about the site alerts you to a lopsided agenda or it says outright that it’s a satirical site, go elsewhere! It’s important to verify sources because once an established publication shares info from a shaky source, it may compromise that publication’s credibility or lead to misleading information being spread even further.
Train yourself to be more skeptical:
- Always ask questions and practice critical thinking. As you read, make note of your questions so that you can come back to them and you can get in the habit of looking for certain things.
- Read a lot. And broadly. It will help you build your knowledge base so when you read something, a flag may go up if you see something odd. (You should still check it out though, don’t base it off of your memory)
- Look at things in a different way, literally. Find different ways to read copy you’ve already looked over to see if there’s anything you missed. Print it out or copy/paste in a Microsoft Word document in a different font or color. This is like tricking your brain’s cache and forcing it to refresh.
So, in general: If something seems too good to be true, question it. If a question comes up while reading, look into it. If something seems coincidental, check it out.
Even in our personal social media habits, we can ask ourselves whether we should share or retweet information that we can’t verify or that sounds outrageous.
The session’s takeaway was one of empowerment: While there may be a lot of false information out there, we can equip ourselves to prevent being part of that pipeline.
