Steps to Take

• Check the URL. Unusual URLs, such as those ending with "lo" or ".com.co" are usually not legitimate news sites. (Ex: ABC News, the television network is at abcnews.go.com. The fake news site is at abcnews.com.co. If you're not sure, do a little investigating.)

• Is there a valid Author/Owner/About Us/Contact Us? There should be!

• Verify a fact or quote from the source in a search engine, as in '"Information Literacy is not acquired at once" UNESCO.' Optional: search by date and domain, for example site:people.com July 9, 2014

• Reverse image search to investigate an image: Hover over an image and right click "Search Google for image."

• Follow the “rule of 3”/triangulate: compare 3 sources to verify the information, including traditional media and library databases. Remember to include one source with an opposing viewpoint.

• Go back to the source: When an article mentions a study, if you can, go directly to the source/study and check it out.

• Beware of "anonymous sources" and look for signs of low quality (particularly in social media), such as words in all caps, headlines with glaring grammatical errors, bold claims with no sources, exaggerated and provocative headlines or emotional language and sensationalist images.

• Check the publication dates. Dead links or old updates might mean you need to move on.

• What exactly are you reading? Even when you find yourself in a traditional news site, identify what type of writing you are reading. Is it news reporting, or a feature story, or an editorial, or work by a guest blogger, or a review, or an op-ed or a disguised ad, or a comment?

• Stop before you forward (or use): When you see a widely shared or forwarded link, be suspicious of a hoax or a fake story. Use some fact checking resources to verify the story.

Types of misleading information from the eavi Media Literacy for Citizenship site. Click the image or the link to better view the information.