Fact Checking Sites | Westford Public Schools

How Can You Check A Sources Facts? These websites help to debunk fake news or verify news reports.

Snopes-One of the first fact checking sites of its kind. Snopes goal is to help readers analyze the news. "When misinformation obscures the truth and readers don’t know what to trust, Snopes.com’s fact checking and original, investigative reporting lights the way to evidence-based and contextualized analysis. We always document our sources so readers are empowered to do independent research and make up their own minds". (snopes.com)

Politifact-This fact checking site focuses on political news. "PolitiFact helps policymakers and voters sort out the truth in politics. We research statements from members of Congress, the president, Cabinet secretaries and lobbyists and then rate them for accuracy. Our audience is highly educated, passionate about politics and appreciates quality" (politifact.org)

FactCheck-This fact checking site focuses on politics. A project from the Annenburg Public Policy Center from the University of Pennsylvania. "We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding" (factcheck.org)

AllSides™ "Strengthens our democratic society with balanced news, diverse perspectives, and real conversation. We expose people to information and ideas from all sides of the political spectrum so they can better understand the world — and each other. Our balanced news coverage, media bias ratings, civil dialogue opportunities, and technology platform are available for everyone and can be integrated by schools, nonprofits, media companies, and more." (allsides.org)

FAIR-Ask yourself these 10 questions when you are looking at a news source to determine its quality.

How Can You Learn More About An Image's Origins?

Questioning an images validity? Try a Google Image reverse search. This will show you what sites are linked to an image. See the vidoe below from First Draft to learn more about Google Image reverse searches.