Fake news

I was thinking about fake news today.  (And upon starting this post I realized the previous one is also about fake news - d'oh! Still on my mind). Recently Facebook posted about filtering out fake news from their news feeds. I didn't really think much of it, I know there are several entities out there fighting it, they are just another on the list, but then my cousin posted about it. She pointed out that she doesn't need Facebook to tell her what's fake news or not, she can do her own research, so now I was intrigued.

Intuitively I know that Facebook is a liberal entity (please tell me if you think I'm wrong), so having them program code that weeds out news they deem fake can immediate cause concern. How unbiased will the programming be? What is their criteria for fake news? Will their code research the source and author? Does it take into account opinion papers/articles? So, yeah, I get it now, this could be a concern. My ideals probably align well with their ideals, so, personally I may enjoy the new coding, but those of opposing opinions may never see information aligned with their opinions.

Upon closer inspection I also realize it's becoming more and more difficult to find accurate information. The current U.S. administration has even caused many journalists to throw unbiased writing out the window (again, I realize this could also be my own bias relating this to the current administration, but I digress) and attack ideals, executive orders, and comments that, they may otherwise, agree with in a different time and place. [OK, wait, I see it now, many people rejected the Affordable Healthcare Act because it was dubbed Obamacare - same idea right? Different place, different time and many protesters would be on board]. Really though? How can I find the time to research articles from various news sources along with the background of the author?

I still stand by my previous post - check out fact-checking websites, at least it's a good place to start. Listen in on Sean Spicer's daily press conferences (get the stories straight from the horse's mouth instead of the media ranting about his mistakes later on). Also, talk to each other. My mom and I have opposing views and have never discussed politics before, but have managed at least 2 civilized discussions in the past 3 months, at least I know a little about where she is coming from.

It's difficult navigating in this new world but soldier on fellow Americans!

Cite 3 Sources

Remember in school when your English teacher told you to cite three sources on your paper? Well, your teacher was trying to prepare you for the real world - when you hear the news or read an article you should look for other sources to back it up.

As a mathematician I can publish a paper full of research, but in order for it to have any credibility it needs to be peer - reviewed. In other words, other mathematicians should read and correct or approve of my work.

Scrolling through Facebook or watching your favorite news network may be a good way to find out what's going on in the world, but is it really reporting the facts? Spend a few moments researching the topic on the web and ask yourself a few questions:

1. Are there other news sources with similar information?
2. Are these news sources citing credible sources? [If everyone is using the same source be sure to double check their work too.]
3. Is the author or news reporter a reliable source of non-biased news? [e.g. does he/she tend to report facts.]
4. Could this be a joke? [The Onion is not a reliable news source and is known for satire - there are others just like them, so it doesn't hurt to double check.]
5. Double check the date on the information.

One of Politifact's truth-o-meter icons.

Last, but not least, check out one of the fact checking entities:
FactCheck.org
Snopes.com
PolitiFact.com
The Washington Posts fact checker

Or you can start there.

The above fact checking organizations get paid to do all the research (which saves the typical consumer tons of time). They provide reliable links to documents, articles, videos, etc. that back up their research. Follow them on Twitter for daily fact checking claims to help you decide what to believe.

Most of the above guidelines came from Politifact.org in an article titled How to Spot Fake News.

Thanks for reading and please leave your comments, questions, feedback!