Election SOS’s very own Christiana Lilly challenged our Election SOS Fellows to spot fake news in this interactive training on online dis- and misinformation. Play along with our team to polish your tackling misinformation skills and spot fake news swirling around this election.

Key Takeaways and Best Practices:

• It’s so simple, but a byline and a dateline are two good indicators that it’s a legitimate news source.
• When you’re looking at a tweet, be sure that the person is a reliable source (are they verified?) and that they tell you where they got the information from.
• Word choice is important. News sources strive to be unbiased, so using odd language (“phony,” “Dumpster fire”) that’s not part of a quote is a red flag.
• Reputable news sources will provide credits for the photography — the name of the photographer and the agency that they work for (in-house, Getty, AP, etc). Remember that images can be photoshopped.
• Some sources to vet information you’re reading: Politifact, Snopes, FactCheck.org, news sources that you trust, verifying information from agencies that are involved in the story you are fact-checking.

Next Steps:

• Check out these resources for tackling misinformation
• Watch Christiana explain best practices for poll watching
• Join ElectionSOS Switchboard to connect with other journalists