Authentic news sources are essential at all times, and especially in times of crisis. Mis-information, wild internet rumours and hearsay are dangerous or worse.
Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate ...
- Who? - produced the material:
- A recognized body such as a Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, or the National Library of Medicine in the USA
- OR: a private individual with no recognized background who produces his own opinions, unreferenced
- Why?
- Is the text for public information, using accredited sources such as the World Health Organization, or an opinion blog; or to promote a particular brand pharmaceutical whose provenance and even testing may be uncertain
- Where?
- Does the material relate to a very particular area of the world, or is the background of the institution questionable? Cross-check against other studies using a database such as PubMed or Medline
- When?
- How up-to-date is the material; has it been superseded by newer studies? Use authentic sites which are frequently updated, such as from the World Health Organisation, European Union or NHS in the UK
- Use a forward citation-searching feature such as in Web of Science to cross-check later references
Or have you chosen a source simply to confirm your own biases?
Read:
- 'How to spot fake news' - blog post from the Fact Check organisation (Kiely and Robertson, 2016).
- There is a Fact-checking / myth-busting section in the Information Literacy Group's Covid-19 and information literacy list
- The EEAS press team, for the European Union, has produced an EU vs Disinformation site to counter misinformation on the internet, particularly from a pro-Kremlin position. It has a specific Coronavirus page. NB: this does not represent official EU policy as such. (EEAS, 2020)
- The World Health Organisation (2020) has produced a clear Myth-busters guide. UNESCO (2020) has a clear warning about disinformation and the Covid-19 crisis
References
