ENGC 1101 College Writing (Darling)

Evaluate each source you use with CAPPS!
Consider the source's – More info about CAPPS
 

What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?

• Misinformation: Information that is incomplete, uncertain, or vague
• Disinformation: The spread of purposefully false information

Initially, it is easiest to look for clues in the article itself. How that information is presented to us can tell us a lot.

1. Headlines: ARE THEY IN ALL CAPS? This is often done to grab attention, and wouldn't make it past an editor in any standard information channel.
2. Author: Does the article have an author? No author can be a sign of mis/disinformation. Experts in their field want credit for the hard work they do and will want to be listed as an author. (There are always exceptions, though. Encyclopedias don’t list authors in each article.)
3. URL: You can sometimes tell credibility by the URL. Look closely for websites that are imitating known websites (Do you see the issue with: cdc.gov.cu). Other times, we can look at the “high-level domain”. This is the .com, .edu, .org in the URL. Most news sites use .com, so that isn’t helpful for us. If you go beyond news sites, though, look for .edu, .gov, and .org. These tend to be more legitimate. Be Careful of .org, though. You don’t need special permission to use .org, so many people who are trying to trick you will use those URLs.

After that, we can look outside for clues outside of the article.

1. Supporting Sources: Any credible piece of information is going to use outside sources to verify what is contained in it. Does the article specifically state where its information comes from? Be careful of vague sources that say things like, “According to one CDC scientist…” Also, be aware of links within articles that use the same website as a source. This circular logic makes it appear these articles have sourced information, but it’s really just trying to lead us to believe it’s true when it is not.
2. Find Information on the author: Try to Google the author’s name. Do they have a Wikipedia page? A LinkedIn page? A Bio on a university or legitimate news site? Read through this information, do you feel like the author is qualified based on what you have read?
3. Check the different Fact-Checking sites for help:

4. Try to find information about that website on Google: A search string that excludes results from that website will be helpful(Example: New York Times -nytimes.com).
5. Triangulate: Read multiple articles on the same topic. Does one of the articles seem way off from what the others are saying? We call this an outlier, and it would probably be best just to disregard that source. This can be difficult when we hear so much about news sources having a political slant or agenda, but it can also be very helpful in finding out exactly what is happening. For example, read about an issue on CNN and the same issue on Fox News. After that, try reading about the issue onthe  BBC. These three stories will likely vary somewhat in the information that is presented. Taken together, though, you should have a good idea of what the truth on the issue is. 

Crash Course has an excellent series titled Navigating Digital Information which is great for helping you recognize misinformation and disinformation. 

If you don't have time for the whole series, the second and third videos will be great on their own for helping you with your internet research: