LibGuides: SPEECH & PUBLIC SPEAKING & PERSUASIVE TOPICS LIBGUIDE: FACT-CHECKING HELP

FACT-CHECKING GUIDE(S)

BE SMART

Do not be fooled by fake news!! It is incredibly easy to manipulate and spread information, so you should always use critical thinking skills and question what you read, see, and hear.

FAKE NEWS

Defined: "Fake News" is the deliberate falsification and fabrication of news-based information.
Though Fake News can appear in traditional magazines and/or newspapers, it appears most often and spreads most rapidly via social media (TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).

HUMAN NATURE

All human beings are biased, and fake news knows how to target and twist that bias to its desired end by creating misleading information or outright false information.

TYPES OF FAKE NEWS

Satire or Parody: This type of fake news makes fun of the truth or mocks the truth typically for entertainment purposes. In this type of fake news, the author typically did not set out to cause harm.
Misleading Information: This type of fake news frames a real/existing news story in some misleading way with the purpose to intentionally deceive.
100% Fake News: This type of fake news is a story where all of the information is false and was intentionally made up with the purpose to deceive and cause harm.
Manipulated News: This type of fake news is when information has been manipulated, typically through text or images that have been doctored, which is now very easy via AI with the intention of deceiving the reader.

CREDITS: Mark Aaron Polger @ College of Staten Island

HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS - FACTCHECK.ORG

FACT-CHECKING WORKSHEET - PROQUEST

Proquest Fact Checking Worksheet

FACT CHECKING WEBSITES

While you should never rely on fact checker sites as your single sources of verification, they should be included as a routine part of your fact checking process. Fact-Checker sites strive to confirm, deny, or verify questionable information and conspiracy theories.

The following sites are some of the most used and reliable at the moment:

FactCheck.org A nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
Snopes.com When misinformation obscures the truth and readers don’t know what to trust, Snopes.com’s fact checking and original, investigative reporting lights the way to evidence-based and contextualized analysis. We always document our sources so readers are empowered to do independent research and make up their own minds. Snopes got its start in 1994, investigating urban legends, hoaxes, and folklore. Founder David Mikkelson, later joined by his wife, was publishing online before most people were connected to the internet. As demand for reliable fact checks grew, so did Snopes. Now it’s the oldest and largest fact-checking site online, widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and readers as an invaluable research companion.
Politifact.com Fact-checking journalism is the heart of PolitiFact. Our core principles are independence, transparency, fairness, thorough reporting and clear writing. The reason we publish is to give citizens the information they need to govern themselves in a democracy.
Washington Post Fact Checker In an award-winning journalism career spanning nearly four decades, Glenn Kessler has covered foreign policy, economic policy, the White House, Congress, politics, airline safety and Wall Street. He was The Washington Post’s chief State Department reporter for nine years, traveling around the world with three different Secretaries of State. Before that, he covered tax and budget policy for The Washington Post and also served as the newspaper’s national business editor. He has been editor and chief writer of The Fact Checker since 2011.
Fact Check from Duke Reporters' Lab The Reporters’ Lab is a center for journalism research in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Our core projects focus on fact-checking, but we also do occasional research about trust in the news media and other topics.
SciCheck FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy. It was launched in January 2015 with a grant from the Stanton Foundation. The foundation was founded by the late Frank Stanton, president of CBS for 25 years, from 1946 to 1971.
FlackCheck Headquartered at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, FlackCheck.org is the political literacy companion site to the award-winning FactCheck.org. The site provides resources designed to help viewers recognize flaws in arguments in general and political ads in particular. Video resources point out deception and incivility in political rhetoric. FlackCheck.org is funded by an endowment provided by the Annenberg Foundation to support the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics.
Media Bias / Fact Check Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC), founded in 2015, is an independent online media outlet. MBFC is dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices. MBFC’s aim is to inspire action and a rejection of overtly biased media. We want to return to an era of straight forward news reporting. MBFC follows a strict methodology for determining the biases of sources. Dave Van Zandt is the primary editor for sources. He is assisted by a collective of volunteers who assist in research for many sources listed on these pages. MBFC also provides occasional fact checks, original articles on media bias, and breaking/important news stories, especially as it relates to USA politics. Funding for Media Bias Fact Check comes from donations and third-party advertising. We use third-party advertising to prevent influence and bias as we do not select the ads you see displayed. Ads are generated based on your search history, cookies, and the content of the current web page you are viewing. This sometimes leads to politically biased ads as well as the promotion of pseudoscience products that we do not endorse.
NPR Fact Check NPR (national public radio) is an independent, nonprofit media organization that was founded on a mission to create a more informed public. Every day, NPR connects with millions of Americans on the air, online, and in person to explore the news, ideas, and what it means to be human. Through its network of member stations, NPR makes local stories national, national stories local, and global stories personal.
OpenSecrets.org OPENSECRETS.ORG is a non-partisan news site run by the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. It uses information gathered from sources like the FCC and the Federal Election Commission to provide an overview of how U.S. political campaigns are funded -- where the money comes from, how it’s accounted for, and what it's spent on. Users can also learn about lobbying and other topics and look up donor information, view a glossary of terms, create their own tools using the site's data, or read politically related news.
Poynter.org The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit that strengthens democracy by improving the relevance, ethical practice and value of journalism. Through teaching, publishing, convening, fact-checking and media literacy, Poynter creates a crossroads where communities come together to use journalism to confront society’s complex problems.

UNBIASED NEWS SOURCES

"...Are there any unbiased news sources available on the internet? The truth is, there’s no such thing. It’s nearly impossible for human beings to be completely unbiased. Therefore, it’s the audience’s responsibility to use multiple news outlets and read their viewpoints before taking a judgment call. Well, now what?

Though unbiased reporting is challenging even for the most seasoned of journalists, there are some online news sources that have proven to be relatively reliable and informative."

Here is a list of centrist, left-wing, and right-wing sources below in no particular order: (Source: https://www.purevpn.com/blog/unbiased-news-sources/)

10 Most Unbiased News Sources in 2025

SPEECH & PUBLIC SPEAKING & PERSUASIVE TOPICS LIBGUIDE: FACT-CHECKING HELP

FACT-CHECKING GUIDE(S)

HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS - FACTCHECK.ORG

FACT-CHECKING WORKSHEET - PROQUEST

FACT CHECKING WEBSITES

UNBIASED NEWS SOURCES

FACT-CHECKING VIDEOS