"Who, Now, Can We Trust?"

(Note: this writing sample is an online lesson I created for my composition class in 2012)

A few days after Osama bin Laden was killed, a beautiful quote started popping up on Facebook feeds everywhere:

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It was inspiring, and it was something that a very angry, grieving America needed to hear. The only problem is, of course, that Dr. King never said it.

As far as anyone can tell, the mixup started when an English teacher named Jessica Dovey posted this on Facebook a few days earlier:

I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

You can probably guess what happened from there. It’s a classic social media chain reaction: first someone dropped the quotation marks while reposting her thought, then someone shortened it to fit a Twitter character limit, then a famous person retweeted it, and before long, the mangled version of the quote was everywhere.

All of which is to say: when searching for accurate information on the internet, your biggest enemy will not be someone trying to trick you. It will be a nice, well-intentioned, earnest person who is just wrong.

It’s an insidious threat, and it’s all the more dangerous because someone who is simply misinformed doesn’t throw up red flags the way that a dishonest person does.  In this age of constant media background noise, we’ve all gotten pretty good and knowing when someone is misleading us. Misinforming us, unfortunately, is a different story.

So: assuming that you don’t want to just throw up your hands, scream that all opinions are equal, and give up, what can you do? You can ask yourself some pointed questions about everything that you read.

Question One: What Are the Chances This Source Was Fact-Checked?

Fact-checking is what it sounds like, and it’s difficult, and it’s time-consuming, and it’s expensive. Sources usually won’t do it unless they have a very good reason. So, unless you can spot one of those good reasons, the source you are reading probably wasn’t fact-checked.

            A Few Good Reasons to Fact-Check a Source:

o   Experts read it— experts who will laugh or make a fuss or at least complain if they see something inaccurate.

o   It has a lot to lose if it gets something wrong. Some sources will lose readers and money if they make a mistake. Some won’t. Some depend on lying to readers to get money.

o   Its sponsors have a lot to lose if it gets something wrong. If a website is sponsored by a university and makes a big factual mistake, that’s embarrassing.  If a website sponsored by Buzzfeed makes a big factual mistake, nobody cares.

Don’t forget to check the date of the last update if you can, too, as even facts that were fact-checked in 2004 are no longer accurate in 2014.  Keep an eye out for dead links—they’re a sign that a site has not been updated.

Also: is there a way to tell the authors if you find a factual mistake?  If they don’t ask, then chances are pretty good that they don’t care.

Question Two:  What Are the Chances That the Author of This Source Knows What He or She Is Talking About?

It would be nice if we could trust that anyone who sits down to write an article about something actually understands that thing, but, then, it would also be nice to have a pony.

The rule here is reason to, not reason not to. That is: we are looking for a reason to think that this author is knowledgeable. If we don’t find one, then we can’t use the source, even if we don’t find a reason not to use it.

            A Few Good Reasons to Think An Author Knows About Penguins:

           

o   The author has a degree in penguin studies.

o   The author has professional experience working with penguins.

o   The author has published other articles about penguins—or, even better, other penguin experts quote the author in their papers.

o   The author is publishing on a platform that would not allow anyone to publish without extensive knowledge of penguins.

Do not be afraid to Google the author. Google the author. If you don’t know the author’s name, think twice about trusting the source.

Question Three: Does This Author of This Source Have a Reason Not To Believe the Truth?

Purposeful bias is pretty easy to spot. Unconscious bias is The Real Monster. A source with incentive not to believe the truth is a source that might lie to you without even knowing it.

            A Few Good Reasons For an Author Not to Believe the Truth:

o   The author will make money if this discussion goes one way, but not if it goes another way.

o   The author does not know what problem the opposing side has with the argument he or she is making.

o   The author is arguing in favor of something everyone loves to favor, like what he or she grew up believing (confirmation bias), what most people already believe (status quo bias), or what seems super urgent because everyone on the news is talking about it this week (availability bias).

Remember, by the way: a source that has an opinion is not necessarily a biased source. In fact, an author with an opinion is probably just an author who is paying attention.

An opinion is something that an author comes to after learning about the subject with an open mind—something that might change as the author learns more.  A bias is something the author had when he or she walked in—something that won’t change no matter what.

So:

“I gave this Spanish class a chance, but it’s boring and the textbook is terrible. I’ve been here three weeks and it’s not getting any better.”	Opinion, wonderful.
“I hate language classes, so even though I’m only ten minutes into my Spanish class, I know it’s terrible and that it’s not going to get better.”	Bias, trouble.

And finally, the last question, which overrules all the others:

Question Four: Does What I’m Reading Make Sense?

No matter how great a source is, if it says something that doesn’t make sense, then let that be a dealbreaker. Learn more or walk away. Your judgment as a researcher is part of what you are offering your readers, so don’t be afraid to use it.