Know what you are reading
News outlets publish several different products under one name. A news report describes what happened and attributes its claims to named sources and documents. Analysis interprets those facts. Opinion argues for a position, and it is held to a different standard. Sponsored content is advertising dressed as an article. The labels are small, and they vanish when a piece is shared on social media, so look for them on the original page.
Headlines are usually written by editors to win attention, not by the reporter, and they routinely claim more than the article supports. Check the date as well, since old stories resurface as though they were new.
Go to the source
Most stories rest on something you can read for yourself, such as a court ruling, a bill, a study or a full speech. A six-word quotation can reverse its meaning inside the full sentence. Look at how an anonymous source is described and whether any other outlet has confirmed the claim independently.
Professional fact-checkers use a habit called lateral reading. When they meet an unfamiliar site, they leave it, open new tabs, and see what established references say about who runs it and how it is funded. A visible corrections policy is a good sign, because every outlet makes errors and only careful ones admit them.
Numbers deserve suspicion
- A risk that doubles may have gone from one in a million to two in a million, so look for the absolute figure.
- A poll of 1,000 people carries a margin of error of about three points in either direction, which makes a two-point lead a statistical tie.
- A single study, especially a small one or one not yet peer reviewed, is a starting point and not a settled finding.
Breaking news and images
First reports of fast-moving events are frequently wrong about casualty counts, suspects and motives. Waiting a day costs you nothing. Photographs from earlier events are regularly recirculated as new, and synthetic images and audio are now easy to produce. A reverse image search shows where a picture first appeared.
Audit your own diet
A feed ranks items by how likely you are to react, not by how true or important they are. Read at least one serious outlet whose editorial page you disagree with, and notice which subjects you hear about from only one side.
Tip Before sharing anything, wait until you could explain the strongest reasonable objection to it. If you cannot state one, you have not read enough yet.
