Fight fake news with real action

By Kate Hayden | khayden@charlescitypress.com

This Sunday, a man stepped in to a Washington D.C. pizzeria and allegedly pointed an AR-15 rifle at a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee, and the suspect fired his weapon into the floor. An additional weapon was found in the suspect’s vehicle.

This is what happens when you believe fake news reports.

Apparently, the North Carolina man was “investigating” an “international Satanic child sex abuse cabal hosted by powerful Democrats, including Hillary Clinton” (NPR.org). He allegedly bought into an entire movement known as #PizzaGate.

This theory is a baseless conspiracy, but it’s blown up incredibly since Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s emails were released from WikiLeaks. The only evidence tying the pizzeria Comet Ping Pong to the Clinton presidential campaign were a few emails discussing a potential campaign fundraiser.

This unbelievable (and very fake) conspiracy theory took a small business owner’s career and turned it upside down. American loves small business owners. We can’t stop talking about them. But if they conveniently fall into a narrative deemed “plausible,” some Americans have found it OK to throw them under the bus.

Fake news is a real problem, and we have to fight it. How?

First, we use the same skills our teachers and librarians are sharing with the children of Floyd County. We vet our sources.

NPR.org did a great rundown on things to look for (Fake or Real? How to Self-Check the News and Get the Facts), but I’d like to share them here for you:

1. Pay attention to the URL

“.Gov” and “.edu” are considered reliable sources in internet research. You can find original press releases, government archives, and academic research from these sources. If a page is claiming to belong to a government or academic entity but ends in “.org” or “.com” be a critical thinker and evaluate your source.

Established news organizations will either be “.org” (ex.: propublica.org) or “.com”, but fake news sources will aim to copy professional logos. Do not trust “.com.co”. Example: abcnews.com is legitimate and trustworthy, but abcnews.com.co is a fraud.

2. Look for “About Us” (and Google them)

Look for information on the company that owns it, the mission and ethics statement, and organization leaders. Google the names of reporters and the organization’s leaders to find information in places other than the website. If no reporters or owners are listed, or they only post under an avatar or nickname, be a critical thinker and evaluate your source.

3. Look at the story’s quotes (and sources)

How many sources are quoted? Community daily or weekly news organizations may have one or two sources quoted per story, but that is pretty skimpy among national organizations. Look at the sources’ qualifications. Is it an academic at a school you’ve never heard of? Google is a free service. Is it a quote by a well-known politician or public figure, such as President Barack Obama or Pope Francis? Nearly every public statement those two make are recorded or archived. Google the quotes and see if the quote is recorded by multiple, credible news sources (including the “mainstream”) or if it seems to be an outlier. Go with your gut — if something seems weird, it’s probably off.

4. Reverse image search

Did you know you could do this? Fake news authors generally aren’t writing from the community or field, and are very likely not taking their own photos. Look for a cutline. Every photo or illustration the Charles City Press publishes include a line beneath or beside it, stating who the photographer is, if the photo was contributed, or if the photo is an old file photo. If there’s no cutline on an internet story, right-click on the image and choose “Search Google for Image.” Is the photo used on many different platforms, for many different stories? The author likely took the photo from a different source without crediting it — hurting their own credibility.

5. So you think the Facebook story is false. Now report it

When you see a Facebook post, look for the “v” menu in the upper-right corner of the post (it should be next to the button asking you to “Like” the page). Choose “report post” from the menu, then choose “I think it shouldn’t be on Facebook.”

Facebook will ask what is wrong with the post — select “It’s a false news story”.

There’s more you can look for, but these are the basics. Don’t be negligent. We have the freedom to believe whatever we want — but we are not innocent of the consequences.

Kate Hayden is a reporter for the Charles City Press. For links to more sources on this topic, visit www.charlescitypress.com to view this story.

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