More than ever, we're being subjected to false narratives and conspiracy theories about candidates and issues in presidential elections--and it's critical that we be able to identify it in our information ecosystems.
Here are questions to ask yourself:
Check the "About" page of a website to see if it contains detailed information, such as its value, ownership, funding, location, and contact information.
Search the issue on trustworthy sites--this process is called lateral reading. If the facts reported by credible sources don't align with the content you're reviewing, don't share it.
It's easy to believe things that confirm our views. If a claim seems too good to be true, see whether a trustworthy fact-checking organization has evaluated it and provided additional context.
Make sure you are using unbiased search language and remain open-minded to evidence that might contradict your beliefs.
How well can ordinary people tell the difference between a deepfake (video manipulated by AI) and a normal, non-altered video? There are many subtle signs that a video has been algorithmically manipulated. With practice, people can build intuition for identifying what is fake and what is real. You can practice trying to detect DeepFakes at Detect Fakes.
If the content makes you feel shocked, angry, or sad, consider that its purpose may be to get you to respond emotionally and share it without confirming its accuracy.
By using these steps to quickly assess controversial news, videos, or images, you can avoid sharing with others and help combat the problem of corrosive online content.
Journalists Tiffany Hsu, Stuart A. Thompson and Steven Lee Myers cover the crucial issue of election-related disinformation in the article "Elections and Disinformation Are Colliding Like Never Before in 2024."
In the New York Times special feature, the authors note that this cycle of elections coincides with decreased social media protections, advances in artificial intelligence, a global wave of extremism, and multiple sources of information operations/warfare.
Article by Rachel Leingang Mon 26 Feb 2024 07.00 EST in the Guardian US
List of presidents and vice presidents from 1789 to the present from Issues & Controversies in American History..
Search the full-text of editions of record for local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers as well as full-text content of key international sources. This is your source for The Modesto Bee from January 1989 to the present. Also includes in-depth special reports and hot topics from around the country.
To access The Modesto Bee, limit your search to that publication.
Search over 35 databases simultaneously that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. Gale databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
Search 22 databases simultaneously that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. EBSCO databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
You will find a lot of political and elections news on the Web. Here are some reliable sources for you to use:
The American National Election Study (ANES) is a survey conducted by leading scholars of political behavior of voters during each general election. Be sure to check out the site's "Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior," where you'll find tables that present yearly results across time to a wide number of ANES variables. Did voters view Ronald Reagan as knowledgeable, or Bill Clinton as moral? You can find the answers here
Voter turnout data and analyses formerly from The United States Election Project; now archived and updated at the University of Florida's Election Lab
Politics section of the venerable newspaper, The Washington Post
Pulitzer Prize-winning Web site from the Tampa Bay Times, provides analysis of candidates and issue statements to learn the truth about American politics.
From CQ-Roll Call Group, this extensive site reports on the people, politics, and personalities in Congress as well as critical legislative action
The Voting and Election Science Team (University of Florida, Wichita State University) maintains a comprehensive database of precinct boundaries and associated statewide election results at the Harvard Dataverse
A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, FactCheck is a nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" that monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.