Facts vs. Opinions

We're going to start with the simplest check on your ability to understand the news. Can you tell fact from opinion?

​How did you do?

Only 26% of adults got all 5 factual statements right. 35% got all 5 opinion statements right. That is not a majority!

Even being very politically aware, very interested in the news, or understanding media didn't make people that much better a determining fact from opinion!

Look at the study on the next page to see how Americans did on the survey you just took!

" When Americans see a news statement as factual, they overwhelmingly also believe it to be accurate. " 





*That doesn't mean it really is accurate! We still need to check the source!

Some sources have more bias that others!
Using biased sources is okay as long as you know they have a bias.
Using a variety of sources from different perspectives is helpful.
Consider the sources you use and look up how they are rated by the sources used the the League of Women Voters.

​Media does have bias!

What is the source?

These services are where news outlets often get there stories. They are a good source of direct factual information.

www.reuters.com
www.apnews.com

​AP & Reuters

AllSides will pull similar stories from multiple sources to share a broad perspective on current events.

www.allsides.com

AllSides

Research a Story!

Sometimes news isn't news!

While there are lots of legitimate news sources exist, there are also lots of sources that aren't really news. Many techniques exists to make a source look like news, but that doesn't mean it's telling the truth, or even basing it's news on actual facts!

Check out the next slide for examples of common methods of sharing misleading information!

Create your own fake news!

Bad News Game

Exists to show people how impactful fake news can be and why some websites use it, even if their goals are just to get more "likes."

Play through to see how fake news works!

Practice Fact Checking

There are lots of sites where you can check facts to see if a story is real.

https://apnews.com/ap-fact-check
https://www.politifact.com/
https://www.snopes.com/
https://www.factcheck.org/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fact-checker/
https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/
https://library.csi.cuny.edu/c.php?g=619342&p=4310783