Fact-Checking

We are constantly being bombarded with information - on the web, on TV, in books, and in conversation. Unfortunately, a lot of it is misinformation. It's not that most people intend to deceive us, but once they've picked up an error, they pass it along.

Fortunately the web makes it possible to fact-check on the fly.  Here are some resources.

• Consumer Reports - objective product information and reviews
• DeviceWatch - debunks phony products and gadgets
• FactCheck.org - fact-checking for the news from the Annenberg Public Policy Center
• MythBusters.com - from the Discovery Channel TV show that debunks urban legends, old wives' tales, and movie physics, among other things
• NewsTrust.net - crowd-sourced fact-checking of the news media
• PolitiFact.com - the least partisan fact-checking source for politics and what politicians say
• Snopes.com - debunks virus warnings, chain letters, hoaxes, scams, urban legends  
• SourceWatch - crowd-sourced tracing of information to its original intellectual and financial sources, from the Center for Media and Democracy  

Text @ 2011 Empire State College.  Used with permission.

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