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Fake News: Home

This guide provides the resources, both print and online, to distinguish facts from fake news. Browse the resources below or check with the Reference Librarian at your Delaware Public Library.

What is Fake News?

Unlike satire news, which is often hosted by parody websites (think The Onion) and makes light humor of current events and people, fake news has the intention of disseminating false information, not for comedy, but for consumption. - Alvarez, Barbara.

"Public Libraries in the Age of Fake News." Public Libraries, Nov 2016: 24-7. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Types of Fake News

There are four broad categories of fake news, according to media professor Melissa Zimdars of Merrimack College.

  • CATEGORY 1: Fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on “outrage” by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits
  • CATEGORY 2: Websites that may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information
  • CATEGORY 3: Websites which sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions
  • CATEGORY 4: Satire/comedy sites, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news

No single topic falls under a single category - for example, false or misleading medical news may be entirely fabricated (Category 1), may intentionally misinterpret facts or misrepresent data (Category 2), may be accurate or partially accurate but use an alarmist title to get your attention (Category 3) or may be a critique on modern medical practice (Category 4.)  Some articles fall under more than one category.  Assessing the quality of the content is crucial to understanding whether what you are viewing is true or not.   It is up to you to do the legwork to make sure your information is good.

Infographic for What makes a news story fake? 1. It can't be verified. A fake news article may or may not have links in it tracing its sources; if it does, these links may not lead to articles outside of the site's domain or may not contain information pertinent to the article topic. 2. Fake news appeals to emotion Fake news plays on your feelings--it makes you angry or happy or scared. This is to ensure you won't do anything as pesky as fact-checking. 3. Authors usually aren't experts Most authors aren't event journalists, but paid trolls. 4. Fake news comes from fake sites Did your article come from abc news.com.co? Or mercola.com? Realnewsrightnow.com? These and a host of others URLs are fake news sites.

Infographic for How to Spot Fake News: Consider the Source, Read Beyond, Check the Author, Supporting Sources? Check the Date, Is it a Joke?, Check Your Biases, Ask the Experts.

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Thanks to KT Lowe at Indiana University East for some of the content on this guide.