K-12 Research Guides: Detecting Fake News and Media Bias: Home

What is "Fake" News?

There are many types of "fake" news. Determining whether news is fake or not often depends of the intent of the author and the evidence behind the claims found in the article. News can be fake because:

Satire - the article is meant to poke fun at a person or event through the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule
Publicity stunt - the article reports on an event that was staged to distract from something else
Cherry-picking - the author only uses facts that support his/her bias or claim
Lies - the author makes up facts completely to spread misinformation
Accidental lie - the author accidentally cites an incorrect piece of evidence; the author will often update the article with a correction
Not newsworthy - the incident or event is reported in such a way that it is made out to be a big deal when it is not very significant or newsworthy

What is Media Bias?

Bias is defined by Oxford Dictionary as "Inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair."

Media bias is the bias or perceived bias of media and news agencies within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered.

Fact-Checking Websites

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has created a top ten list of online fact-checkers. A few are listed below.

AllSides
While not a fact-checking site, AllSides curates stories from right, center and left-leaning media so that readers can easily compare how bias influences reporting on each topic.
Snopes
This independent, nonpartisan website run by professional researcher and writer David Mikkelson researches urban legends and other rumors. It is often the first to set the facts straight on wild fake news claims.
Politifact
This Pulitzer Prize winning website rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials. Run by editors and reporters from the independent newspaper Tampa Bay Times, Politicfact features the Truth-O-Meter that rates statements as “True,” “Mostly True,” “Half True,” “False,” and “Pants on Fire.”
Fact Check
This nonpartisan, nonprofit project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by U.S. political players, including politicians, TV ads, debates, interviews and news releases.

Headline Quiz

Take this quiz to see if you can tell which real headlines are "real" news and which are "fake" news.

Detecting Fake News and Media Bias: Home

What is "Fake" News?

What is Media Bias?

Fact-Checking Websites

Headline Quiz

Media Bias Chart

Spotting Fake News

Creating Fake News