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FAKE NEWS vs. REAL NEWS: How to Determine the Reliability of Sources
This LibGuide was created by Ann Grandmaison and Susan Leonardi, Reference Librarians, Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill and Lawrence MA, used with permission of the original authors, and adapted for Pierce College.
Nearly all of us have been taken in by a video that was later found to have been doctored or faked. Click below to see some of the most famous faked videos that fooled millions:
Though this term has been politicized, fake news is a real problem and represents information that is completely fabricated. There may be bias in mainstream news sources, but this is not the same as intentionally presenting false information.
Where information comes from is important. No news site is unbiased, but some do a better job of trying to balance facts and opinions.
Where do you get your information? See below for Vanessa Otero's (practicing patent attorney) opinion of where news sources fell on a continuum from liberal (left side of the chart) to conservative (right side of the chart) in 2016.
Click on the pdf link above for a larger version of the 2016 chart below, created by Vanessa Otero, practicing patent attorney.
How to Spot Fake News
In a Huffington Post story entitled How to Recognize a Fake News Story dated Nov. 22, 2016, the author (Nick Robins-Early) lists nine critical thinking points to consider when examining news stories.