LibGuides: COVID-19 Coronavirus: Check Your Own Claim!

Tips for Fact Checking and Avoiding Fake News

When you open up a news article in your browser, open a second, empty tab. Use that second window to look up claims, author credentials and organizations that you come across in the article.
Fake news spans across all kinds of media - printed and online articles, podcasts, YouTube videos, radio shows, even still images.
As Mad-Eye Moody said in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, "Constant Vigilance!" Always be ready to fact check.
Even the best researchers will be fooled once in a while. If you find yourself fooled by a fake news story, use your experience as a learning tool.

Thanks to KT Lowe, Indiana University East Campus Library.

Things to Think About

Thanks to KT Lowe, Indiana University East Campus Library.

Worksheet & Top Fact Checking Links

Inside Outside ABCDE Template
Download, complete for each source to help you know what to look for. Use Fact Checking Links (below) to help you

AFP FactCheck: Busting Coronavirus Myths
Fact checker from Agence France-Presse (AFP) based in France. The AFP is a large international news agency that has locations around the globe. This allows the AFP to cover diverse fact checks from many different countries. They frequently fact check fake photos and videos as well. This is the best english language fact checker for non-USA fact checks.
AllSides
A site that presents news from the right, left, and center perspectives.
Ad Fontes Media
Good illustration of ratings. They rate the news for bias and reliability using a rigorous methodology and a politically balanced team of analysts.
Definitive List of Fake News Sites
The Daily Dot. Scroll down for alphabetical listing or use Command F to quick search for a specific website.
FactCheck
A product of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, this site is terrific for checking up on political claims.
Lead Stories
Fact checker and hoax/rumor debunker that uses the International Fact-Checking Network fact-checkers’ code of principles as a guide for all fact checking.
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What separates them is the use of a specific engine called the Trendolizer, which tracks story trends that allows Lead Stories to quickly debunk fake news before it becomes viral. They are often the first to debunk outrageous claims.
Media Bias / Fact Check
Find out where your "news source" is ranked: Extreme Left, Left, Left Center, Center, Right Center, Right, Extreme Right
Politifact
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact researches the claims of politicians and checks their accuracy.
Science Feedback
Two seperate websites, Climate Feedback, which reviews climate related claims and Health Feedback, which reviews health and medical claims. Each fact checker holds a Ph.D. and has recently published articles in top-tier peer-reviewed science journals. This is by far the best fact checker for science related claims.

Select a Claim to Examine

Food Babe: How Food Companies Exploit Americans
This article claims that US consumers ingest chemicals that people in other countries don't. Is that true? What else does this article imply?
Spoon University: Drinking Tequila Could Help You Lose Weight
Can you find enough evidence to prove or disprove this claim?
Counter Current News: Marijuana Does Not Lower IQ
Up for the challenge of proving or disproving this one?

Thanks to KT Lowe, Indiana University East Campus Library.

COVID-19 Coronavirus: Check Your Own Claim!

Practice Makes Perfect

Tips for Fact Checking and Avoiding Fake News

Things to Think About

Worksheet & Top Fact Checking Links

Select a Claim to Examine