This is a presentation developed for the 2017 National High School Journalism Convention to help students learn how to be more discerning in their backgrounding and researching to avoid citing sources that are biased or unreliable.

1. Credible Information
in a “Fake News” World
with
Margot Carmichael Lester
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

2. We don’t just need to be
careful about our personal
news consumption.
We need to be vigilant
about the background
sources we use in
producing our own news.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

3. Why We Care About
Credible Background Info
•75% of Americans said it
was difficult to
determine what news is
accurate and what is not.
Source: Weber Shandwick, public affairs firm Powell Tate and KRC Research
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

4. Why We Care About
Credible Background Info
•>80% of middle schoolers
believed that 'sponsored
content' was a real news
story.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning

5. Why We Care About
Credible Background Info
•>80% of high school
students accepted
photographs as presented,
without verifying them.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning

6. Why We Care About
Credible Background Info
•75% of high school
students didn’t recognize
verified news accounts on
social media.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning

7. Why We Care About
Credible Background Info
•>66% of undergrads didn’t
think a source’s political
agenda was a sign the person
or data might be unreliable.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning

8. Why We Care About
Credible Background Info
•82% of Americans are
concerned about the impact
fake news can have on the
credibility of news and
information in the media.
Source: Weber Shandwick, public affairs firm Powell Tate and KRC Research
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

9. Created with Haiku DeckPhoto by ©athrine - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/7573447@N05

10. What is Fake News?
Fabricated news accounts
intended to spread virally
online.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

11. What isn’t Fake News?
“The Onion” or “ComPost”
aren’t fake news — they’re
satire.
Sensational headlines aren’t
fake news — they’re clickbait.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

12. What isn’t Fake News?
Stories and sources that show
a highly partisan bias aren’t
necessarily fake news or
unreliable — they’re biased.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

13. What is Bias?
Noun: Prejudice in favor or
against something or someone,
usually in a way considered
to be unfair.
Verb: Cause to feel or show
inclination or prejudice for
against something or someone.© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

14. “It has been a busy day for
presidential statements divorced
from reality. Mr. Trump said this
morning that any polls that show
disapproval of his immigration ban
are fake. He singled out a federal
judge for ridicule after the judge
suspended his ban, and Mr. Trump
said that the ruling now means that
anyone can enter the country. The
president’s fictitious claims,
whether imaginary or fabricated,
are now worrying even his backers,
particularly after he insisted
that millions of people voted
illegally, giving Hillary Clinton
her popular-vote victory. There is
not one state election official,
Democrat or Republican, who
supports that claim.”

15. Photo by __andrew - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License https://www.flickr.com/photos/81917335@N00 Created with Haiku Deck

16. What is a Fact?
Something that can be checked
and backed up with evidence.
There is no alternative.
EXAMPLE:
The Space Needle was built
in 1962.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

17. What is an Opinion?
A belief or point of view, not
necessarily based on evidence
that can be checked.
EXAMPLE:
The Space Needle is beautiful.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

18. © 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
•News Outlets
•Books & Reports by Trusted Authors
•Third-Party Research & Industry
Groups
•Government Data
•Experts
1. Collect Credible Sources

19. © 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
•Evaluate the URL & headline
•Beware a lot of all caps &
excessive modifiers
•Notice ads or pop-ups
•Check out contextual links &
related content
•Look for bylines, post dates, quotes
& references to trusted sources
2. Look Around

20. © 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

21. © 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
•Look at the About Page
•Search for mentions on fact-
checking and reliabilty sites
•Check out individuals on Linkedin
and other social media
•Ask beat reporters and others
3. Ask Around

22. © 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
•Review 2 or 3 other reports, data
sets, experts, etc., on the same
issue
•Compare the information and
angles
4. Find Other Instances

23. So?
Improving your ability to suss
out trustworthy background
research is crucial to serving
your community.
A stronger nose for news makes
you a better journalist and makes
your paper or show a better
product.
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com

24. with
Margot Carmichael Lester
Twitter: @word_factory
Blog: thewordfactory.com/our-blog
Instagram: @beabetterwriter
Thanks for attending
© 2017 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information contact Margot Lester at margot@thewordfactory.com
Credible Information
in a “Fake News” World