The online world can be a confusing place sometimes. There’s so much information out there that it’s difficult to know who to trust and how to double-check the things that you see.
As part of BBC Young Reporter, our top journalists give you the lowdown on how thinking like a journalist can help you to weigh up what’s real and what’s fake.
Knowing who to trust
All journalists will have a set of trusted sources up their sleeves, but how do we know who to trust?
In a world of fake news, we’ve all got to make sure that what we share is accurate and trustworthy.
Checking the story
Even in a 24/7 newsroom, it’s important to pause and make sure that a story checks out before putting it on the news.
BBC journalists share their secrets for checking stories online and on social media.
Tips for spotting fake news online
There are so many stories and pieces of information flying around on the internet that it can be hard to know what’s real and what’s fake.
Broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake looks at some simple steps which will help separate fact from fiction online.
Student: Fake news nowadays, it’s that widespread and you can’t tell what’s real or fake.
Student: It affects my mindset on me actually trusting the news itself.
Student: If it’s not from a credible source, like if it’s on Google and it’s not got the padlock on I normally don’t trust it.
Student: Most news is fake news.
Student: I think it’s everywhere and you don’t really realise it.
Nihal Arthanayake: These days you’re bombarded with an ever increasing amount of news and information, and because the internet is not regulated this can lead to these emotional grabby headlines, you can have these shocking videos, GIFs and memes. In a world of news, what is real and what is not? So when we’re dating, we do a bit of online detective work to decide whether we should meet up with someone or not. Well with news it’s no different; we have to research, therefore we can decide whether the story can be trusted – or not.
Nihal Arthanayake: So, I’ve got a couple of stories here which our willing crew have had a look at to see whether they’re fact or fake. Now the first story is this one: “Greenpeace Activist Gets Arm Bitten Off After Hugging a White Shark”. What do they make of this?
Student: The bottom image sort of looked like it could be off stock images, and for some reason the Twitter up there is in English at the top and then all the rest of it is in a different language.
Student: Other news stories are like really strange, like “Hairdresser Arrested for Making Voodoo Dolls From Customers Hair”. They all just seem a bit far-fetched.
Nihal Arthanayake: So fact or fake? Ha, they think this one is fake. So let’s see what they think about this story: “Obama Signs Executive Order Declaring Investigation Into Election Results; Revote Planned for December the 19th”. So, fact or fake?
Student: It’s actually by someone it’s says who it’s by and we could do like a search on like who he is, to see if he’s an actual journalist.
Student: I think it’s a fake website cause I swear “ABC” is in capitals normally.
Student: Looks like they just copied and pasted like a few things to make it look sort of believable.
Nihal Arthanayake: Ok so is this fact or fake?
Nihal Arthanayake: Some ingenious thinking there but let’s see if they’re on track with some top tips from our fact checking expert.
Claire Milne: What are people trying to tell you with the information that you’re reading? Is it a news story, is it an advert, are they trying to sell you something. Is it meant to be a joke?
Claire Milne: Is it an opinion piece that’s just giving their point of view on something, is there someone named, is it an organisation that you perhaps recognise and can find out more about?
Claire Milne: Look for things that might show that it’s not quite right, it’s full of typos or the URL doesn’t look quite right or it’s not one that you’re necessarily familiar with.
Claire Milne: It could be that it was something that was from several years ago, that was correct at the time but now it no longer applies because the information is no longer accurate.
Nihal Arthanayake: So have the tips told them anything that’s confirmed their opinions?
Student: It said on the video that if it had anything after the “.com” then it’s not a real news source and it has “.co” after it, so…
Nihal Arthanayake: And the other story, what about the language?
Student: “Sharks can be affectionate an cuddly when they’re calm”.
Student: I don’t think they are affectionate and cuddly, they might not be aggressive, but they’re not affectionate and cuddly.
Student: There’s not even someone who’s wrote the piece, like it doesn’t say it.
Nihal Arthanayake: They are right! Both of these stories are fake.
Students: Woooo!
Nihal Arthanakaye: If you don’t want to be tricked by fake news then you need to do your own detective work by using our top tips or visiting a fact checking website. Why not pause before you share and think if what you’re sharing is fact or fake?
Don’t let fake news fool you – use these four tips to check anything you read online that you are not sure about:
- The story – what are they trying to say? Is it an ad or a joke? Look to see if you can find the same story somewhere else
- The author – is it someone’s opinion or a fact? Real news will most likely have a link to the writer’s details, but if there’s no author, dig deeper
- The website – are there spelling or grammar mistakes? What’s the URL? Check the address bar at the top – most trusted URLs end with “.com”, “.co.uk”, “.net”, “.gov”, “.org”, “.mil” and “.edu”
- The date – is the story recent or old? It could be outdated or a copy of something that happened years ago. Computer programs called bots post anytime and often, so be wary of this.
Fact or Fake?
Lots more resources helping you to spot and deal with fake news.
Fact or Fake? collection
Find out how to spot and stop fake news
More on News and journalism
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