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Girl Scout cookies are toxic? An Asteroid is going to hit Earth? Real estate agents can no longer get paid by consumers? Today’s headlines and social media fodder are more than attention-grabbers; they can also be inaccurate, wrong or misleading. Bad information can impact your snacks, your business, and, worse yet, your future. Yikes!
Every time you open your phone, to doom scroll information and advertising is being offered to you before you can even say, “Wait, is that even true?” And let’s be honest — sometimes it’s not. With the advancement of artificial intelligence, deepfakes and algorithms, one might argue that false information is more frequent than ever before, which means it’s more important than ever to be able to tell the real from the fake.
Media literacy isn’t just a buzzword; it’s your secret weapon for navigating the chaos of modern news, as well as the difference between an informed pro and a rookie with fake news.
Whether you’re scrolling social media, flipping through the latest headlines on Inman, or reading a forwarded article from that one relative who still thinks Facebook is a reliable news source, this guide will help you confidently tell fact from fiction.
Read on to learn the various types of articles and discover how to identify reputable news media platforms, research if a “source” is good, identify an expert and even fact-check the article you just read.
What are you reading? Types of articles you may be reading
Before we dive into fact-checking tools and how to spot scams, let’s start with a quick vocabulary lesson. Defining what common types of articles are will help you figure out if this article is written for you or if it is written for a different audience.
Not all news is created equal, and knowing the differences can save you from misinformation whiplash.
Credible media sources strive to be unbiased, avoid favoring one viewpoint over another, and present information in a balanced way.
There are many different media outlets, and each one has a different standard, style and set of rules. A good starting point is understanding the most common article types.
- Hard news: This is the serious stuff. Hard news includes well-sourced, time-sensitive, factual reporting — usually by trained journalists — on the news, such as politics, world events, crime, industry, finances and major developments. Why is hard news important? It’s how you stay on top of what is happening in your world. It provides credible information on safety, economy and social justice. It’s the backbone of journalism — think Associated Press, The New York Times, and Reuters.
- Opinion/op-ed: This is just that: an opinion. A writer shares their perspective on a topic, which may or may not be backed by solid facts. A good opinion piece will be well-researched and presented logically. Think of it as the opinion section of a newspaper, editorial blog posts, or that one neighbor who thinks their take on global politics should be required reading. These pieces can be insightful but shouldn’t be confused with straight news reporting. You can often find these on personal blogs as well. Where can opinion articles hide? Think Medium, Substack, Reddit, and other places where everyone is soapboxing about something.
- Features: These are educational or entertaining deep dives or profiles, often written in a more narrative style. These articles often “myth bust” or explain a complicated subject in (often, but not always in a snack-sized summary) to help the audience gain awareness of a particular topic, trend or issue. They provide background, context and analysis but are not breaking news. If hard news is what happened today, featured news explains why that thing you keep hearing about matters, who’s on each side of the issue and their points of view. Features are also places where you can learn some great strategies and self-help methods to help improve your life and business.
- Service: When newspapers were more prevalent, this was often referred to as “refrigerator journalism” because these types of articles are the ones you might clip out from the paper and save on your fridge for later. Think how-tos, guides, listicles, timelines, explainers and other less narrative-focused content. These stories are crafted to help you better your life, whether personal or professional. At Inman, our contributors focus on service journalism and opinion pieces. These stories are often written by experts who share knowledge, insights and strong takeaways.
- Sponsored/advertorial content: If you’ve ever seen an article that looks like news but subtly (or not so subtly) promotes a product, congratulations! You’ve encountered sponsored or advertorial content. Sponsored content is not uncommon, in fact it has continued to gain popularity amongst advertising firms and is a regular feature on even big news network programs like the the TODAY show. These pieces are basically advertisements dressed in news or service article clothing. What you should know is that they are paid placements. Always check for disclaimers like “Sponsored Content” or “Paid Partnership” before assuming unbiased reporting. Many people know to look on search engines for notifications of sponsorships, but these can be more difficult to identify in the formatting of how articles are presented. Look for notifications at the top and bottom of the article.
But it looks so real!
Just because something has thousands of shares doesn’t make it true. Also, just because someone shared something in a private Facebook group about real estate contracts doesn’t make them your broker or a lawyer. (Looking at you, random social media conspiracy poster who stirs up all the drama in groups online.)
@MomsAcrossAmerica raise the alarm about girl scout cookies
How do you verify that what you’re reading is legit? There are certain things to check for, and remember it’s important not to be lazy when it comes to making sure something is accurate before you spread it and cause potential reputation harm to someone’s business or personal life.
Check it out
As an exercise, check out this recent headline that came across my feed:
“Asteroid’s odds of hitting Earth go up as Webb telescope is tasked with studying potential ‘city-killer’”
Now, let’s go through the steps of vetting the legitimacy of the piece.
- Source it: Who published this? Reliable sources include established news organizations with a reputation for fact-checking, such as NPR, BBC, The New York Times, or The Wall Street Journal. If the article is from “TruthAmericaFirstDaily.biz” — proceed with caution. Unfortunately, many of these faux media sites try to pull real articles that real experts have written and manipulate them to benefit their personal goals.
- Look for multiple sources: If only one obscure website is reporting a major event, that’s a red flag. Real news gets picked up by multiple outlets.
- Verify the author: Is the writer a journalist or expert on what they are writing about, or are they just someone with an internet connection and a strong opinion? A quick Google search can reveal credibility. Before I accept that someone is a real estate expert, coach, mentor, guru, video or social media magician, I actually check to make sure they have sold a house and take a look at their social media. The proof is often in the pudding.
- Check the date: Old news gets recycled as new news all the time, particularly on social media. This is especially true with real estate old-school business practice jargon. Some of the data top coaches are yelling at you on social media is decades old. Why? Because the same song and dance works most of the time, and very few people check or ask for data to back up what they say. They just take it as fact. Just because an article is going viral today doesn’t mean it’s recent, relevant or event true.
- Watch for emotional manipulation: This is a big red flag. There is a difference between catching your attention and “click bait”
If a headline is designed to make you angry or scared rather than informed, take a step back. Reliable news informs, not inflames. Also, watch out for multilayered pop-ups and other things that indicate that the story could be a scam and not reliable and informed news on a credible site.
In the case of the asteroid headline, the story came from CBS, but reading the information further, I discovered that, while the info was true, they had pulled the most alarming information from the NASA James Web Space Telescope study, and that the chances of this happening in 7-8 years is only about 2 percent.
FYI, using the handy dandy Snopes site, I was able to debunk that Girl Scout Cookies are, in fact, safe to eat and that you can continue to support your favorite cookie dealer without worrying that you are being poisoned.
How to fact-check and recognize a fake
If you ever feel like you’re being bamboozled, these sites will have your back and help you figure out the fine line between truth, fiction and opinion — which is often harder than you may think!
- Fact-checking websites: Snopes, FactCheck.org, and OpenSecrets.org help verify whether something is true or just internet garbage your third cousin shared.
- Bias checker websites: AllSides and Media Bias/Fact Check let you see where different news sources lean politically, helping you get a more balanced view. Media bias is important to understand; a great tool or chart to reference is the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart. This interactive chart shows in real time a scaled-out analysis of how the media platform presents information to consumers. Below is what it looked like at the time this article published:
The wild west of misinformation: Thanks to AI and social media
Social media platforms are hot and sweaty breeding grounds for misinformation. What’s even worse is that there are so many tools for both writing, videos, graphics, etc., that algorithms push engaging content (read: often misleading), and misinformation spreads fast.
Here’s how to stay ahead:
- Everyone has shared it: If something is being shared or has gone “viral” at warp speed, double-check it before believing it.
- Read the comments: Sometimes, I almost trip running to the comments, meaning that it usually is not from a good source or it has a good chance of being fake. Consumers are smart, and if it’s not right, it will be discussed in the comments.
- AI-generated content: Deepfakes and AI can now easily take over identities, voices and so many other things. It’s the Wild West, and what you see is often not true or manipulated. This sophisticated platform is learning at a rapid pace, and the content it creates is more and more realistic and human-like. Make sure to double-check that the content is real by searching several different sources.
Follow the money, and you will find news scams
Fake news isn’t just misleading — it can be a scam. Hackers know that news and information are great ways to collect data. Although it used to be more obvious to suss out nefarious intent, now the scams look real. They can even mimic real newspapers and other media sources.
Please don’t click it if:
It looks like clickbait
I once clicked on an article titled, “Julia Roberts’ Daughter Turns 16 And Is Her Replica.” If you click through the 40-plus slideshow pics (with a million pop-ups), you’ll discover that Roberts nor her offspring are pictured. If you look up what her daughter actually looks like, you’ll realize that the two pictures on the article’s cover are two photoshopped pics of Roberts rather than a photo of her and her daughter.
This is the perfect example of clickbait. If a headline could send you down a fake news rabbit hole, it’s probably clickbait. Celebrities and trending personalities are often used because people want to know. The average consumer’s attention span is between 3-9 seconds, and that is not a lot of time for media outlets to grab your attention. Writing headlines is an art form that is often constrained by character count and a lesson in psychology. Headlines from reputable organizations will typically cut to the story’s core but deliver on their promises.
It smells like phishing
These are scammy sites that steal your info when you click on them. The names of the news source may be off or the email may look like it’s from Facebook. Look at where the article came from, that is a good indication.
Seems like a good donation for a sad story
Some people love to help, and many of us have seen the power of a successful GoFundMe campaign for a family in need. Unfortunately, after natural disasters, scammers create fake news stories to get people to donate to fraudulent causes. Always make your donations on the host sites to benefit the cause.
Oops, I did it again: What to do if you have shared fake news
Don’t panic. Follow my surefire, “Stop, Drop, and Roll” technique to stay out of hot water online.
- Stop: Delete the story from all social media sites you shared it on.
- Drop: Drop the new link to the right story and make sure you verify it.
- Roll: Keep going with your day, and remember to encourage yourself and others not to share misinformation or fake news.
Misinformation is like glitter — it spreads fast and is hard to clean up. Don’t bother arguing with trolls, friends and loved ones who share misinformation constantly.
Often, it is very difficult to separate people from their love of fake news. Instead, you can encourage them with correct stories, hide them from your feeds so you don’t have to see it, and block them from being able to comment on your feeds and posts. I call this the “knuckle head clause”; if Uncle Bob can’t say something nice, then he doesn’t need to say anything at all with you attached to it.
Misinformation can mismanage your day and mess up your business
Understanding what you are reading, why you are reading it, and why it was written will help you level up your “game” by identifying real news and real happenings and the best sources to help you learn how to be a better agent, human and community member.
The media gets a bad rap 99 percent of the time, but the hard-working journalists who cling to ethical journalistic practices hold leaders accountable, demand transparency, provide education and awareness, and share social injustice information.
The truth is out there, my friends. It’s up to you to take the time to do the research and find it.
Rachael Hite is a seasoned housing counselor and thought leader in the real estate industry, known for her extensive expertise across business news journalism, retirement housing, and affordable housing initiatives. Connect with Rachael on Instagram and Linkedin.
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