Skip to Main Content

News & Journalism: Fact-checking assignment

News

FactCheck.org worksheet

Fact or fiction?

  1. In an open web search, decide whether a website can be trusted.
  2. Research a claim.
  3. Decide whether a partisan website is trustworthy.
  4. Identify strengths and weaknesses in a social media video.
  5. Read a tweet and decide whether it provides useful information.

1. Evaluate this article by answering:

  1. What type of publication or forum does the article appear in?
  2. Who wrote it? Is the author a journalist, an academic or other expert?
  3. Does the article cite pro, con and neutral sources? Identify these.
  4. What is the domain name and what does it tell you about the audience for the article?

2. Evaluate this claim: Four Ways DACA is illegal.

  1. What type of publication or forum does the article appear in?
  2. Who wrote it? Is the author a journalist, an academic or other expert?
  3. Does the article cite pro, con and neutral sources? Identify these.
  4. What is the domain name and what does it tell you about the audience for the article?
  5. Write a response to one of the comments at the end of the article.

3. Are these partisan websites trustworthy? Are they liberal, conservative or nonpartisan?

4. Identify strengths and weaknesses in a social media video.

  • Your thoughts here.

5. Read a tweet and decide whether it provides useful information.

  • What did you learn and what do you think about it?

Nonpartisan websites

These organizations seek to offer objective information.

Who wrote it? : Domain names reveal website authors

 
Domain name Who uses it
.com business and commercial entities
.edu academic institutions, universities and colleges
.gov U.S. governmental agencies and entities
.org nonprofit organizations
.mil U. S. military