Fact Checking
With so much “Fake News” being bandied about, how do we know what to believe?
I just finished reading the recently published “The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking.”
Here are some excerpts that I found helpful.
Primary sources – the sources closest to the origin of the fact. Such sources are to be preferred over other sources.
Secondary sources – the sources that are more than once removed from the origin of the fact.
Examples of Primary Sources
Eyewitness reports (but be sure to corroborate) • Correspondence • Autobiographies • Diaries • Interview or speech transcripts • Audio and video recordings • Government documents (hearings, laws, etc.) • Photographs (be careful: these may be doctored) • Surveys or polls • Original scientific experiments • Newspapers or online media
Examples of Secondary Sources
Magazines • Histories • Biographies • Encyclopedias • Criticism • Reviews • Scientific reviews and meta-analyses • Newspapers or online media
**Note newspapers and online media appear on both lists, depending how they are used, I.e. Reporting (news) or commentary (editorial and OpEds). A single source could be both. An opinion about an interpretation of events could be offered by an eyewitness to the events. An opinion may be biased, but an opinion from an eyewitness to relevant events carries more authority than the opinion of a secondary or tertiary source.
Questions to answer to corroborate a primary source:
- 1) How do I know this person is telling the truth?
- 2) Do they have anything to gain by lying, or stretching the truth?
- 3) Is it possible their memory is faulty?
- 4) Are there other witnesses who can corroborate, or attest to plausibility?
- 5) For experts, what are their credentials? Is their work controversial?
- 6) For scientific experts, are they a dissenting or minority voice? Is there established scientific evidence that corroborates?
From a Christian perspective, I found Karl Vater’s blog article “A Matter of Integrity” (CT) helpful. He suggests 4 guidelines to aid in deciding what to post:
- 1) Find out if it is true.
- 2) If it is not true, don’t post it.
- 3) If you are unable to find out if it is true, don’t post it.
- 4) If it is true, is it HELPFUL? EDIFYING? Then ok to post.
He also says:
“The more huge and out-of-the-mainstream a story is, the less likely it is to be true. Because true stories tend to get covered enough that they stop feeling huge anymore.
Yes, I’m aware that mainstream news has an agenda, too. So there are some stories that have gone under-covered because of that. That’s why it’s important to get our news from multiple reputable sources, not just those that lean our way politically or ideologically.
Just because a story supports our worldview doesn’t mean it’s true. In fact, I’ve learned to become especially skeptical of any story that fits my argument too perfectly.”