It’s election time, again, in Charlotte. Use these tips to avoid misinformation
It’s almost time for another election day in Charlotte, with municipal elections set to conclude Tuesday that will determine leadership at the city level.
And more elections and the ensuing campaigning will follow as the community heads towards November.
Voters looking to make an informed decision when they cast their ballots find themselves having to navigate both political spin and misinformation spread on social media in order to find accurate information.
While it can seem difficult to separate fact from fiction, especially in turbulent political times, there are skills you can learn and habits you can adopt to help you better spot and dispel falsehoods.
Here are tips to utilize this election season to help you stay informed and avoid misinformation:
Follow reputable sources
From newsletters to social media platforms and more, there have perhaps never been more ways to easily access information, including updates on elections.
But not all sources are created equal.
Established news sources — such as local newspapers and television stations, NPR and national newspapers — have journalists who are trained to provide accurate information. Stories are reviewed by an editor, and often multiple editors, before publishing to ensure quality and clarity.
When an error is made, these outlets have systems for issuing public corrections or clarifications to ensure that false information isn’t spread.
If you see a report from a source you’re not familiar with, do your research on who’s behind the report and seek out confirmation of the story from sources you already know and trust.
Seek out multiple sources and points of view
Different news outlets may cover the same news event differently. That doesn’t mean one outlet is more accurate than another.
A business news site, for example, could publish an accurate and informative report on a development in the COVID pandemic focused on the impact on the economy. A health news site could cover the same event just as well but with a focus on the medicine involved.
In situations like these, it can be helpful to read the news coverage of a story from multiple sources so you can get the full picture from multiple angles.
This is especially true when reading a column or editorial found in the opinion section of a newspaper, blog, or website.
Opinion stories, which from a reputable news source, will be identified as such, can contain factually accurate and important reporting. But they also typically have an ideological slant. Reading stories from opinion writers from across the ideological spectrum can help you expand your worldview and better understand people with different life experiences and points of view.
Utilize fact-checking resources
Finding time in a busy day to fact-check claims you hear from politicians or on social media yourself can be difficult, but there are multiple reputable programs that offer fact checks of widely circulated claims you can use, including:
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies’ politifact.com
The Washington Post’s Fact Checker
The Charlotte Observer’s Service Journalism Desk also conducts fact checks.
Learn how to spot fake, doctored images
In today’s world, it can be easy for someone to digitally alter a photograph or even create a fake photo. And those photos, when shared publicly on platforms such as social media, can be used to spread misinformation.
An easy way to check if a picture you’ve seen is real, the International Center for Journalists recommends, is to do a “reverse image search” on Google Images in order to see if the picture has been debunked before and other details about it.
Taking a closer look at the picture, ICFJ adds, to see if you can spot “poorly worded text, rough edges within the image, or strange cropping or camera angles” can also help you spot a fake or doctored image.
Programs such as fotoforensics.com can search for and identify discrepancies for you.
Don’t confuse sincerity with truth
It can be easy for folks listening to politicians to conflate conviction on the part of candidates — a sincere belief in what they’re saying — with truth, Patricia Roberts-Miller, a former rhetoric professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in political argument, previously told McClatchy News.
“I think in our culture we have a tendency to think that if a person is sincerely representing what they believe, that’s truthful,” she said. “It might be sincere. But what they’re saying is not necessarily true, just because they believe it.”
This story was originally published July 25, 2022 at 2:26 PM.
