Fact-checking is the process of verifying the accuracy of information or claims. It is an important skill in today’s world, where misinformation and disinformation can spread quickly and have serious consequences.
Here are 5 best ways for fact-checking:
- Use credible and reliable sources: When fact-checking, it is important to use reliable sources of information. This includes news organizations (you can use Google news to find news publishers that are regularly publishing news), government websites^, and academic institutions*. These sources are more likely to be accurate and unbiased, and they often have fact-checking processes in place to ensure the accuracy of their information.
- Check multiple sources: It is always a good idea to check multiple sources when fact-checking. This will help you get a more complete picture of the situation and ensure that you are not being swayed by a single perspective.
- Look for documentation and establish provenance: When fact-checking, it is important to look for documentation that supports the claims being made. This can include links to studies, data, or other sources of information because establishing the information’s provenance is as important as finding the sources.
- Be aware of biases: It is important to be aware of your own biases and the biases of the sources you are using. This will help you avoid being swayed by misleading or biased information.
- Use fact-checking tools and platforms: There are many online tools and resources that can help you fact-check information. These include fact-checking tools, such as Google Fact-check explorer, Snopes, PolitiFact, Verified Signatories of IFCN, and browser extensions that can help you fact-check information as you browse the web.
To summarize, fact-checking is an important skill in today’s world. By using credible sources, checking multiple sources, looking for documentation, being aware of biases, and using fact-checking tools, you can help ensure that you are getting accurate and reliable information.
Bonus Tip: Identifying Government & Academic websites! Here you go:
^Government websites: Although each country has its own domain name extension but in general they end with domain extensions such as GOV, for example, the website addresses belonging to the United States Government (federal, state, and local) end with .GOV, whereas the UK government uses .GOV.UK, and Indian ends with .GOV.IN. Some country governments use country code top-level domain name (ccTLD), for example, Canada uses .CA for their official sites. You have to be aware of these alternates as well.
*Academic institutions: Websites of Universities, Colleges and other academic institutions normally end with domain extensions such as .EDU in the United States, .AC.IN in India, .EDU.AU in Australia, .ACK.UK in the United Kingdom, .CA in Canada, etc.