LibGuides: RESEARCH: RESEARCH PAPERS &amp; GENERAL RESEARCH: 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

INTERESTING ARTICLES ON BIAS, FAKE NEWS, AND MORE

Here are some interesting articles to explore regarding bias, fact-checking, and more:

FACT-CHECKING GAMES & LESSONS

Here are some fact-checking games & lessons to try:

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.
FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986.

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 relatively unbiased sources (source: https://www.purevpn.com/blog/unbiased-news-sources/) and relatively unbiased news outlets:

10 Most Unbiased News Sources in 2025
AllSides AllSides aims to "provide readers a sense of the political leanings of the source. This makes it much easier to provide different perspectives on any topic, helping all of us see a more complete picture and better appreciate each other despite our differences." Compare the site's rating with the readers' rating for each source.
Ground News This site aggregates current news stories -- but it also shows how many of the news sources reporting on each story fall to the left-of-center, in the middle, or to the right-of-center. It also recommends stories that are in the "blind spot" of both left- and right-leaning sources. See the stories being shared by those outside of your own bubble that your preferred news sources may not be showing you.
AP (Associate Press) News
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
NPR News (National Public Radio)
Reuters

FACT-CHECKING VIDEOS

HOW TO SPOT AI PHOTOS/IMAGES & VIDEOS

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHILE EVALUATING IMAGES

Do you think you're seeing a real image, or does something look modified?
What elements are you seeing in the background and foreground of the image?
Are elements (hands/arms/reflections, etc.) in proper alignment?
Did you find and access this image on a reliable website/resource?
Who is the credited source of the image? Can you trust that source?

TOOL FOR VETTING IMAGES

Metadata Analysis: Look up an image's metadata if available, which can reveal date, location, copyright, etc. If accessing via a computer, right-click on the image > select properties to view this.
Reverse Image Search: Using a reverse image search is often a great starting point when trying to analyze the authenticity of an image, particularly since it will pull up similar images for you to compare.

TIPS FOR SPOTTING AI-GENERATED IMAGES

As you analyze images — remember these key giveaways that an image might be AI:

Unusual or Inconsistent Details: AI-generated images often contain minor, noticeable detail errors. Look for abnormalities like asymmetrical facial features, odd finger placement, or objects with strange proportions.
Texture and Pattern Repetition: AI sometimes struggles with complex textures or patterns, leading to noticeable repetition or awkward transitions. Look for unnatural patterns in textures like hair, skin, clothing, or background elements.
Lighting and Shadows: AI-generated images can have inconsistent or unrealistic lighting and shadows. Check to see if the lighting on different objects in the image matches and if the shadows are consistent with the light sources.
Background Anomalies: Backgrounds in AI images can be a giveaway. Many are overly simplistic, overly complex, or contain elements that don’t belong. Pay attention to the background as much as the main subject.
Facial Features: Faces generated by AI can sometimes appear slightly off. This can include oddities in the eyes (like reflections or iris shape), ears, or hair. These features are often subtly surreal or unnaturally symmetrical/asymmetrical.
Contextual Errors: AI can struggle with context. An object might be out of place for the setting, or there might be a mismatch in the scale of objects. Consider whether everything in the image makes sense contextually.
Text and Labels: AI often struggles with replicating coherent and contextually accurate text. If there’s text on the image, it can sometimes be jumbled, misspelled, or nonsensical in AI-generated images.
Digital Artifacts: Look for signs of digital manipulation, like pixelation, strange colour patterns, or blur in areas where it doesn’t logically belong.
Emotional Inconsistency: AI-generated faces may have expressions that don’t quite match the emotion or mood the image conveys.

SOURCE(S)

wwei8. “Spotting Ai: Knowing How to Recognise Real vs AI Images.” Britannica Education, 10 Oct. 2024, elearn.eb.com/real-vs-ai-images.