BMU Resource on "Fake News"
BMU Resource on "Fake News"
"Fake news is a type of hoax or deliberate spread of misinformation, be it via the traditional news media or via social media, with the intent to mislead in order to gain financially or politically. It often employs eye-catching headlines or entirely fabricated news-stories in order to increase readership and online sharing. Profit is made in a similar fashion to clickbait and relies on ad-revenue generated regardless of the veracity of the published stories. Easy access to ad-revenue, increased political polarization and the ubiquity of social media, primarily the Facebook newsfeed have been implicated in the spread of fake news. Anonymously hosted websites lacking known publishers have also been implicated, because they make it difficult to prosecute sources of fake news for libel or slander."
-wikipedia (3/5/17)
also:
Signs of a Lying Website
- The URL includes odd extensions such as .com.co, .lo, .ru, .co, .su; is similar to well-known websites; or is just plain weird.
- Wildly exaggerated headline.
- The headline includes words in ALL CAPS or an exclamation point.
- No author is listed.
- Bad grammar and spelling.
- The original article has disappeared.
- Quotes from another place and time.
- A photo that intentionally makes the story subject look bad.
- Stories that end with “Do you agree?”
- Casual language and slang.
- Amateurish-looking web pages.
- Promoted content or ads with lots of scantily clad people.
Some of the information on this list was taken from:
"Evaluating a News Article". EasyBib, Chegg Inc., 3 Mar. 2017, Current and Controversial Issues: Articles, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennesee State University, libraryguides.mtsu.edu/c.php?g=538137&p=3683247.
Ulanoff, Lance. "7 signs the news you're sharing is fake." Mashable, 3 Mar. 2017,
mashable.com/2016/11/17/6-signs-of-fake-news/#ZSUeKH7unSqr.
Video Resources (as of 3/5/2017)
NBC: Fake News: How a Partying Macedonian Teen Earns Thousands Publishing Lies (4:08)
Common Sense Media: 5 Ways to Spot Fake News (1:09)
Factcheck.org: How to Spot Fake News (3:22)
Six Fact-Checking Organizations
truthorfiction.com
hoax-slayer.com
Reverse Image Lookup
"Reverse image search is a search engine technology that takes an image file as input query and returns results related to the image. Search engines that offer reverse image capability include Google and TinEye. Some websites, such as Reddit, also provide a reverse image search capacity."
-http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/reverse-image-search
Reasons to do a Reverse Image Lookup:
- Locating the source information for an image.
- Searching for duplicated content.
- Ensuring compliance with copyright regulations.
- Finding information about unidentified products and other objects.
- Debunking faked images.
- Finding higher resolution versions of images.
Example:
Two websites for performing "reverse image lookups":
Google Images
Tineye