COMM 315 - Investigative Journalism/Igoe: Evaluate

Who are the parties involved in your topic? Are there interest/advocacy groups; what are their positions? Is there an individual that is addressing or instigating the issue? Does it involve a company? What do you know about that company? Are there policy questions that think tanks are writing about? Are there local, state, or federal laws?  What led up to the event? Recognize the cultural, organizational, historical, political and other contexts of the information gathered.  Fact check by finding the information in multiple credible sources.

• AP Fact Check, Associated Press

• Duke Reporter's Lab: Fact Checking News and Global Fact Checking Sites
  Displays interactive world map. The Reporters’ Lab explores new forms of journalism, including fact-checking, which is growing around the world, empowering democracies and holding governments accountable (Stanford School of Public Policy).

• FactCheck.org
  Annenberg Political Factcheck - Monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players.

• FactChecker (Washington Post)
  Weekly blog from the Washington Post.

• Ground News: News Comparison Platform
  Download the app for Android, iOS, or use the web version.

• PolitiFact.com
  From the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly. Has a 'Truth-O-Meter' scorecard checking the attacks on the candidates (includes explanations).

• Retraction Watch
  Reports on retractions of peer-reviewed scientific journal articles.

• Snopes.com
  "Oldest and largest fact-checking site on the Internet". Useful for checking information, memes, etc. shared on social media.

Here are some resources from the internet:

• Bellingcat's Digital Toolkit

  Open Source Verification and Investigation Tools and Methods.

• Exploring the Invisible: The Kit

  Makes investigative tools and techniques accessible to the public.

• Ongoing Collection of Work by Journalists & Researchers on Disinformation

  A list of articles to read.

• Verification and Digital Investigations Resources by Craig Silverman

  Try the browser plugins -- InVID verification is highly recommended.

• Verification Handbook

  A definitive guide to verifying digital content for emergency coverage (2nd ed.)

• Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers by Mike Caulfield

  Call Number: ebook
  Publication Date: 2017

Reverse Image Searching: checking for the original source of an image by searching other websites for the same image. Try multiple Reverse Image Search Engines.

• Google - Instructions for Reverse Search 

• Bing Reverse Image Search

• TinEye Reverse Image Search 

  • How to use TinEye 

  • TinEye FAQs