On Thursday, May 23rd, the League of Women Voters invited Paul DeBell (Associate Professor of Political Science), Dr. Michele Malach, and Dr. Erich Riesen to The Sunflower Theatre to speak on mis- and disinformation in our modern news and media landscape.
Recommended Mis- and Dis-information Resources provided by the Panelists via Montezuma County LWV
Verified: How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online, Caulfield, Wineburg (uchicago.edu). This book is an excellent, quick guide on how online fact checking requires a different approach than typical source evaluation. They provide a handy acronym – SIFT – for evaluating claims:
- Stop: We err when we think quickly and uncritically, so stop. Pause and ask yourself “Do I know what I’m looking at in the first place?”
- Investigate the source: Quickly check out the source, URL, author credentials, etc. You can also use AdFontes (below) or a similar service to identify the source’s ideological position and journalistic reputation.
- Find other coverage: In a world of slick web design and generative AI, a convincing looking .org is easy to produce and no longer belies credibility. Don’t spend all your time on the source site. Quickly use the web to check and see if the claim is being widely discussed and shared, or if this source is out on a limb by themselves. For big stories and claims, there will always be lots of coverage across the web.
- Trace: Follow the claim, quote, or media to the original contexts to see if those contexts support the claim as made in your source.
- Beyond Fake News: Finding the Truth in a World of Misinformation - 1st (routledge.com). FLC’s own Dr. Justin McBrayer’s book provides a wonderful explanation of the problems we face in finding the truth and how to navigate mis- and dis-information.
- Interactive Media Bias Chart | Ad Fontes Media is a great resource for evaluating the ideological leaning and reliability and journalistic rigor of sources.
- News Literacy Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has a huge range of resources on their web page for getting informed and avoiding mis- and disinformation. They even have an interactive app you can download to help you develop your media literacy skills.
- FactCheck.org - A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center continuously responds to major news stories and claims made by prominent figures to provide research and context that help us identify the truth of a situation.
- Snopes.com | The definitive fact-checking site and reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation. Another great site to bookmark to check claims as we come across them.
- Why Do Our Brains Love Fake News? | Above the Noise | PBS LearningMedia This compelling short video provides a quick overview of how our brain is wired to believe things that aren’t true if those claims reinforce our existing beliefs, biases, and groups. This is what Paul uses to start conversations in class.
- Fake news: How to spot misinformation : Life Kit : NPR is a useful web article with key steps to take and lots of links to helpful organizations and resources.
- PBS’s online lesson plan provides a lot of tools and resources: Be MediaWise lesson 5: How to determine the credibility of a source on social media | PBS NewsHour Classroom