Spotting misinformation (inaccurate information) and disinformation (misleading information and lies) is a vital news literacy skill, and there are several tips to help.
TL;DR: Check the URL, look out for errors, question the stats, avoid clickbait, and scrutinize AI.
Today, news is served up 24/7 from a range of sources—from journalists to bloggers, to influencers—on social media, news apps, podcasts, and more. Generative AI is also changing the way information is delivered and consumed. No doubt we are inundated with information, and it can be difficult to know what to trust! At the same time, keeping up with local, national, and even global news is an important way to learn and stay civically engaged. News is also a valuable tool for learning about timely health information like disease outbreaks, scientific research advancements, and health policy.
Luckily, there are some tried and true tips for spotting misinformation and disinformation:
🌐 Check the URL. Is the news story hosted on a legitimate website? Sites that end with .com, .org, .edu, or .gov are usually more trustworthy than websites that do not. You can also check the “About” and “Contact” sections—legitimate sites usually make this basic source information easily available. If not, search other credible sources to see if you can verify the story.
❌ Look out for errors. If there are typos or obvious mistakes, the content has likely not gone through the rigorous reviews required by credible news sources.
📈 Question stats and data. Where did the data come from—did the author provide a source? How was it collected? Is it reliable?
🖱️ Avoid clickbait. If the information seems sensationalized or exaggerated, that’s a good sign it isn’t trustworthy.
🔍 Scrutinize AI. Remember that generative works by synthesizing other online information. For example, searching for news or health information on ChatGPT will give you a response based on a wide range of online articles and conversations. Google sometimes offers up a quick AI-generated summary at the top of online searches, too. While AI can be helpful, the information it pulls from may or may not be accurate, which could generate an AI response that is false or misleading. It’s best to get health information from human-generated sources.
February 3-7, 2025 is National News Literacy Week, an effort by the News Literacy Project [archived link] to help people gain skills to determine if news is credible. Check out more tips and resources from the News Literacy Project, and explore some of their news literacy tools, like RumorGuard [archived link]. They also have great resources to learn about AI and the news.
ICYMI: Want more on this topic? Read recent posts, “How can I tell if a news source is legit or not?” and “It’s National News Literacy Week!” from Nerdy Girl Amanda.
Happy learning!
Those Nerdy Girls
Sources & Further Reading:
News Literacy Project – News Literacy Week [archived link]
Cornell University – Getting your facts right: Tips on media literacy [archived link]
