In years past, voters in this country, and this state could count on a robust media to fact check those politicians’ seeking offices from school board to the presidency. But the media has changed, and where once there were robust print publications, there are now stripped-down versions, if at all.
Staffs that numbered in the hundreds, now can be counted on your fingers, and where there used to be fully staffed suburban offices, there are none. Online publications like What’sUpNewp will fact check when possible, but the real burden has shifted to where it should have always been, to the voter.
A Gallup survey last fall showed only 32 percent of Americans had trust in mass media. And where media outlets once boasted of local ownership, beholden to the community, now are mostly owned by corporations, whose allegiance is to shareholders. (WUN is independently owned).
This week in Rhode Island, individuals will be declaring their candidacies and over the next couple of weeks will be seeking signatures on nomination papers that will actually put them on the ballot.
Candidates or their representatives will knock on your doors, looking for your signature, encouraging you to lend your name to let them on the ballot. It’s an ideal time to ask what makes these candidates qualified to run, and what issues are important to them.
Locally, ask questions, reject personal clashes, insist on candidates talking about the issues, and if they’re unfamiliar with the issues, or run afoul of the facts, then these are the candidates you need to avoid. Hold them accountable. You don’t have to support someone just because they represent a political party that you may favor.
Of course, social media will play a prominent role, on all levels. Here are some tips from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions:
- Consider the source. “Click away from the story to investigate the site, its mission and its contact information.”
- “Read beyond…Headlines can be outrageous in an effort to get clicks. What’s the whole story?
- Check the author. “Do a quick search on the author. Are they credible? Are they real?
- Supporting sources? “Click on those links. Determine if the information given supports the story.”
- Check the date. “Reposting old news stories doesn’t mean they’re relevant to current events.”
- Is it a joke? “If it is too outlandish, it might be satire. Research the site and author to be sure.” An example, the Onion.
- Check your biases. “Consider if your own beliefs could affect your judgement.”
- Ask the experts. “Ask a librarian or consult a fact-checking site.”
Here are some additional tips for evaluating news from Harvard University:
- What is the domain name? Be wary of unusual top-level domain names, like ‘.com.co.’ A second-level domain like ‘abcnews’ may appear credible. But note that abcnews.com.co is a different and illegitimate site tough designed to appear similar to the original.”
- Pay attention to quality and timeliness. “Do you notice spelling errors , lots of ALL CAPS, or dramatic punctuation. If so, abort your reading mission. Reputable sources have high proofreading and grammatical standards.
- Is the story current or recycled? “Makes sure an older story isn’t being taken out of context.”
- Check the sources and citations. “How did you find the article? If the content showed dup in your social media feed or was promoted on a website known for clickbait, proceed with caution.”
- “Who is (or is not) quoted and what do they say? If you notice a glaring lack of quotes and contributing sources, particularly on a complex issue, then something is amiss.”
- Is the information available on other sites?
There are many credible fact-checking sites, particularly when it comes to national stories. Here are a few:
- PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize winning site out of the Tampa Bay Times. It fact checks a wide range of claims by politicians, on social media. Extensive research on each topic. Rates from true to false, with its worst inaccuracies, labeled “pants on fire.”
- Fact.Check. org, a program of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Nonpartisan, nonprofit, rating similar areas as PolitiFact.
- OpenSecrets.org, independent and nonprofit site of the Center for Responsive Politics and the nation’s premier research group following the money in politics. If you want to know what politicians is raking in the money from certain special interest groups, this is the site to follow.
- Snopes is described as “the definitive Internet reference source for urbanlegends, folklore, mythis, rumors, and misinformation.”
- Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC), an extremely important site that measures the credibility and biases of more than 3,000 media organizations. Want to know about Sinclair (owners of WJAR-TV), you’ll find they are considered right wing, and have mixed reviews on factual reporting. You can find reviews for Nexstar, owners of WPRI, Citadel Communications, owner of WLNE, Fox and MSNBC.
- Ballotpedia is an excellent site that provides information about all types of elections across the country, tracking things like the number of elections that are unopposed, by state.
There are many other reliable fact-checking organizations that voters can consult to assure the information they are receiving is accurate. In an important election year, locally and nationally, an informed electorate may be the only way to safeguard against election results that we may eventually regret.
