Fact-Checking Group Teaches How To Debunk Myths

ACROSS AMERICA — Fact-checking websites have grown in the digital age as the spread of misinformation online ramps up. Sites such as Snopes, FactCheck.org and others are devoted to debunking myths and helping people determine what’s true and what’s not about particular claims.

One project is taking a different approach to limiting the spread of false content. It is showing people how to fact-check on their own.

“What we are doing is teaching the masses how to think like fact-checkers and journalists,” Katy Byron, editor and program manager for MediaWise, told Patch.

A nonprofit and nonpartisan program of the Poynter Institute, MediaWise teaches people how to sort fact and fiction through in-person and virtual training events, online educational videos and their own fact-checking efforts. It started in 2018 with classes for teenagers and has since expanded to include adults and now seniors.

The class for seniors, started in June, is a result of the influx of misleading data coming from the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Coupled with the vulnerability of seniors to contracting the virus, the spread of false information on the topic has become “a matter of life and death,” according to the class description.

MediaWise programs are in higher demand now due to a surge in misinformation online related to the pandemic, Byron said. So far, 3,593 people have signed up for its online courses, and the number of sign-ups for its new seniors courses nearly doubled in a week.

“There’s been a bit of an ‘infodemic’ since the pandemic hit that we are determined to fight,” Byron said. “The amount of misinformation exploded after the pandemic hit. The amount of unreliable information related to COVID-19 has been shocking and really damaging to people unsure about what they can trust.”

False or misleading information comes in many forms online, but there are three in particular Byron warns of: manipulated photos or videos, content posted to one social media site and screenshot to another, and fancy informational graphics.

“Just because it looks pretty and has a polished look and appeal does not mean it is accurate,” Byron said.

An August survey by professors from Northwestern, Harvard, Northeastern and Rutgers universities found that about a quarter of the 21,000 Snapchat, Instagram and Wikipedia users who participated believe inaccurate claims.

“This misinformation may, in turn, have dire consequences when it comes to individual behaviors and group attributions,” said Northwestern University’s James Druckman, one of the educators who conducted the survey.

It’s not only seniors who can be swayed by false claims.

“There’s been a question of whether teens need coaching and digital media literacy skills, and absolutely, they do,” Byron said. “Even though they are digital natives, there’s research from Stanford and others that show how teens do struggle deeply with what is reliable information on social media.”

One class now offered by MediaWise is taken solely via text message.

“It’s an innovative way to teach younger people and reach them,” Byron said. “An 18-year-old is more inclined to take a class if it is something just over the phone.”

Aaron Sharockman, executive director of PolitiFact, is “really excited” about what MediaWise is accomplishing, noting a difference in the mission between his group and theirs, both owned by Poynter. Poynter is a Tampa-based non-profit journalism school and research organization that also owns the Tampa Bay Times newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Network.

“As a fact-checker, our main goal is to show readers what’s true and what’s false,” Sharockman told Patch. “Their goal is just as important and, if not, more, because they are training the world to be their own fact-checkers.

“We have a small team of 15 people, so we can’t fact-check everything everyone says. So it’s even more valuable and critical to give people the skills to do it themselves.”

Google, TikTok and other online giants have also backed the MediaWise mission. Google provided a $3 million grant to help it launch two years ago as part of the Google News initiative.

Google’s work in fighting false claims broadly falls into three categories: quality, malicious actors and context, according to a paper the company presented at the Munich Security Conference in 2019.

A Google spokeswoman had been reached, but was not able to provide Patch with additional information on its fact-checking process.

Looking to find if something is true or not? Here are five other fact-checking websites:

• FactCheck.org
• Lead Stories
• AP Fact Check, Associated Press
• NPR Politics Fact Check
• Duke Reporter's Lab
• Media Smarts