HOW TO FACT-CHECK INFORMATION YOU HEAR OR SEE ONLINE
By Branda Gorgies
Photo credit: CC by ND
July 23, 2023 (East County) – The internet is truly a double-edged sword. While it’s helped spread a lot of information to all parts of the world, it also has its fair share of misleading and false information. Regardless, it’s important to know the truth and avoid being misled. In order to do so, fact-checking is a very useful tool. So here are some tips.
Let’s start with a hypothetical. Say you heard a politician claim that the COVID-19 vaccine has caused heart issues in those that have received it. A good place to start would be to simply search “COVID-19 vaccine heart issues.” But, you have to be careful to avoid sources that aren’t credible.
In general, a credible source shouldn’t be a social media meme without links to sources, or a corporate site or one containing bias. Avoid sources with a financial conflict of interest, such as relying only on a pharmaceutical company’s ads about its products, or claims about climate change funded by an oil company or wind energy company. If the topic is a complex one, such as medicine, then the source should be backed by research or written by an expert in the specific field. Timeliness is also a factor, as you don’t want old news or outdated research. You should use more than one source to see if the information provided by one is consistent with others.
If we go back to our hypothetical, some good sources that show up are UC Davis Health, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the American Heart Association and Yale News. These articles range from September 2021 to May 2023. Some of the articles are written by medical professionals and the ones that aren’t cite credible studies.If we take a look at each one, the UC Davis Health article is written by a doctor specializing in cardiovascular medicine, the Memorial Sloan one is written by a cardiologist, and the American Heart Association and Yale articles link credible sources. In terms of information, each one states that there is a small risk with COVID-19 vaccinations when it comes to the heart condition myocarditis, but that the risk of the same type of heart problem is far greater from COVID-19 than from the vaccines, with generally more severe outcomes. Click the links above to learn more on this issue.
An easier way to check for credible sources is websites such as Media Bias/Fact Check, All Sides and the interactive media bias chart by Ad Fontes. There are also sites where you can fact-check individual stories, like Factcheck.org, Politifact, AP Fact Check and Snopes.com. These sites fact-check rumors and questionable claims, which is helpful before forwarding memes or social media posts making outrageous or inflammatory claims.