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Evaluating Websites 2019 (redirected from Evaluating Websites 2017)

Page history last edited by Kim Zito 7 years, 8 months ago



Why do we need to evaluate our resources?

Some examples:

Dihydrogen Monoxide Warnings

Reaction by a CA city council:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/24/usa.worlddispatch

 

17 Times 'The Onion' Fooled People Who Should Know Better 

 

Longest Running Wikipedia Hoax

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/

2015/04/15/the-great-wikipedia-hoax/

 

Fake News: "Pizzagate" story

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-38156985

 

Watch this BrainPop

 

Now Use the organizer to evaluate  a source you find using Google.

 

How to Spot Fake News from FactCheck.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fact Checking Social Media Stories

Snopes

http://www.snopes.com

The snopes.com website was founded by Barbara and David Mikkelson, who live and work in theLos Angeles area. What they began in 1995 as an expression of their shared interest in researching urban legends has since grown into what is widely regarded by folklorists, journalists, and laypersons alike as one of the World Wide Web's essential resources. Snopes.com is routinely included in annual "Best of the Web" lists and has been the recipient of two Webby awards. The Mikkelsons have made multiple appearances as guests on national news programs such as 20/20ABC World NewsCNN Sunday Morning, and NPR's All Things Considered, and they and their work have been profiled in numerous major news publications, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles TimesThe Washington Post,The Wall Street Journal, and an April 2009 Reader's Digest feature ("The Rumor Detectives") published as part of that magazine's "Your America: Inspiring People and Stories" series.  

 

Hoaxy

https://hoaxy.iuni.iu.edu/

Hoaxy visualizes the spread of claims and related fact checking online. A claim may be a fake news article, hoax, rumor, conspiracy theory, satire, or even an accurate report. Anyone can use Hoaxy to explore how claims spread across social media. You can select any matching fact-checking articles to observe how those spread as well. 

 

Fact Checking Political Statements:

1.  Factcheck.org

http://www.factcheck.org/

Their mission:

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 is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels.

 

2.  Politifact

http://www.politifact.com/

A PROJECT Of the Tampa Bay Times

PolitiFact is an independent fact-checking journalism website aimed at bringing you the truth in politics. PolitiFact's reporters and editors fact-check statements from the White House, Congress, candidates, advocacy groups and more, rating claims for accuracy on our Truth-O-Meter. Every fact-check includes analysis of the claim, an explanation of our reasoning and a list of links to all our sources. 

Their explanation of their Truth O Meter has lots of information to consider when evaluating political statements

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/nov/01/principles-politifact-punditfact-and-truth-o-meter/

 

3. Alllsides

Allsides.com

Unlike regular news services, AllSides exposes bias and provides multiple angles on the same story so you can quickly get the full picture, not just one slant. See issues and political news with news bias revealed. Non-partisan, crowd-sourced technology shows all sides so you can decide.

 

4. Washington Post Fact-Checker

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/

This column first appeared during the 2008 campaign and The Washington Post revived it as a permanent feature at the start of 2011.

We will not be bound by the antics of the presidential campaign season, but will focus on any statements by political figures and government officials–in the United States and abroad–that cry out for fact-checking. It’s a big world out there, and so we will rely on readers to ask questions and point out statements that need to be checked.

 

5. On The Issues:

http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm

Our mission is to provide non-partisan information for voters in the Presidential election, so that votes can be based on issues rather than on personalities and popularity.  We get our information daily from newspapers, speeches, press releases and the Internet--it is a labor-intensive process that requires countless volunteer hours.

 

6. VoteSmart

http://votesmart.org/

Since Project Vote Smart was inaugurated in 1992, we have offered special services and programs for political journalists to enhance their coverage of politics and elections. The Project partners with more than 300 national, state, and local news organizations, all endorsing Project programs. In addition to comprehensive databases on more than 40,000 candidates and incumbents, the Project provides journalists with special research services and publications. We devote considerable effort to researching information about all candidates for presidential, congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative office and elected officials. Voters thus have access to unbiased information on candidates as well as those serving in elected positions.

 

Open Secrets

OpenSecrets.org

OpenSecrets.org is a nonpartisan organization that tracks the influence of money in U.S. politics. On the site, users can find informative tutorials on topics such as the basics of campaign finance -- not to mention the site's regularly updated data reports and analysis on where money has been spent in the American political system. While potentially useful for fact-finding, the site is clearly intended for more advanced adult readers and best left for older students and sophisticated readers.

 

 

Just for Fun

Explore these hoax websites:

Bonus Challenge:  Test your skills on one of these pages:

 

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