Visual Arts & Art History

Evaluating the News

Check out the Ad Fontes interactive media bias chart and learn more about their methodology here.

Evaluating Websites

You can tell a lot about a website how its web address ends. Here's a handy guide for identifying what type of website it is based on the domain name:

Image by adstarkel / flickr

Helpful Tools & Information

• FactCheck.org

  Produced by The Annenberg Public Policy Center, FactCheck is "a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.

• From Headline to Photograph, a Fake News Masterpiece

  From the New York Times.

• How a Fake News Story Goes Viral

  From the New York Times.

• How to Outsmart Fake News in Your Facebook Feed

  From CNN, "Fake news is actually really easy to spot -- if you know how." A Media Literacy Guide.

• How to Spot Fake News

  An infographic from the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA).

• SciCheck

  FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy.

• Six questions that will tell you what media to trust

  From the American Press Institute. Ask these six questions and they will unlock whether something is trustworthy.

• Snopes.com

  Since 1995, Snopes has been tracking down the truth about urban legends, gossip, and rumors on the internet.

• VIDEO: Photo Fact-Checking in the Digital Age

  From the News Literacy Project at the American Press Institute.

Try out your information sleuthing skills!

Are these websites fake?! Real?!

• Dog Island, Free Forever

• GenoChoice: Create Your Own Genetically Healthy Child Online

• Staten Island Ferry Disaster Memorial Museum

• A Visit to Aoshima, a Japanese 'Cat Island'

Another way to test your skills:

• Facticious

  A game to test your news sense, produced by the AU Game Lab and the JoLT Program.

• Facticious: Pandemic Edition