How can you tell fake news from credible news? What are the red flags? 
If one or more of the following characteristics is present in a news story, it is very likely fake.
- You only see the story on social media (Twitter, Facebook) and few, if any other, reputable news sources are covering the same story.
Look at other reputable, respected news sources. Are they covering the same story? Probably not.
What reputable, respected news sources should you consult? This is, by no means, a complete list, but try these:
- The New York Times
- The Washington Post
- The LA Times
- Wall Street Journal
- BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
- NPR (National Public Radio)
- And other major U.S. news outlets, such as NBC, ABC, CBS or CNN
- Fake news stories tend to use emotionally charged language.
Does the source convey an upsetting tone? Does it attempt to make the reader angry, fearful or sad? Does it incite or call for rash action on the part of the reader, such as doxing individuals?
- Fake news sources typically have unusual or odd domain names and/or url tags.
Does the domain name itself attempt to strongly brand its website? (Infowars, AddictingInfo, ConspiracyWire, ImmediateSafety) Does the url end in .co (ABCNews.com.co) or .de (CNN.com.de)?
- Little to no information about the author/source is provided.
Transparency is a pre-requisite for credibility. 'Writers' for fake news sites will often re-use and re-package content from other sites (and other authors) with no attribution. If the news source does not provide information about the author, you should be wary of its legitimacy.
- Fake news stories are often proliferated from fake social media accounts
- How to spot a fake Twitter account:
- Take a closer look at the account. Does it only have a few posts in its history? Has the account been active for only a short period of time? If so then it's probably fake.
- How to spot a doctored photo:
- Use Google Reverse Image Search or TinEye to reverse-search an image.
- To use Google Reverse Image Search, go to Google Image and click on the camera icon in the search box. Copy-and-paste the photo's url, or upload the image.
