Ask a librarian or fact checking site? I don’t consider either of them to be “experts” on misinformation, especially supposed “fact checking sites”.
And a librarian’s mandate is about managing sources, not being an expert in the data itself.
Otherwise good stuff.
You misunderstand. A librarian may not know if something is true or not, but they are educated on how to research something to find out if something is true or not. As you said, their job is to manage sources, which includes knowing with sources are reliable and which sources to look at for certain types of information.
Why a librarian, in particular?
Is the article listed in the “Opinion” section? Opinion is not news. Some sections are titled “Analysis” or “Political Analysis” these should be viewed as opinion. Train yourself to recognize an opinion article by reading the headline before you even click on it. Also look to see if there is a dateline at the beginning of the article. This will tell you where the news is being reported from and the source. Some will tuck it at the end where you’re less likely to see it (ahem, Fox News). Some will state in the article who is the source. These sites that are 90% political news will often have reporters in Washington DC and nowhere else. Personally I avoid reading articles who’s headline is a question or state what “could” happen. Know that we all are prone to bias. In my lifetime we’ve gone from literally a handful of news sources to a thousand each catering to a group telling them what they want to hear. Don’t be afraid to read stuff that goes against your beliefs, it will better prepare you for debating. Last and not least, for Jesus Fucking Christ don’t base your opinion on memes!
What are the good fact checking sites?
But why even try? If the news support my biases, I’m sticking with it.
