Fact Check This!

Maybe it’s tempting to believe what we see and hear online because it can feel so overwhelming to try to fact-check everything! Where do you even start?

Honest journalists are one group of people who do a lot of fact-checking. Their fact-checking mindset is something we can all adopt. Some of their techniques are ones we can learn to help us determine the accuracy of the information in our everyday lives.

Let’s meet Mia – she's a journalist and she’s working on a story right now about a viral video. This touch-screen kiosk features a 3-minute game where Mia will walk us through some of the strategies she uses for fact-checking the stories she covers. You can play along with her at the basic level or the advanced level if you’re feeling confident!

Pause the audio track now to play Fact Check This! Resume the audio when you’re ready to move on.

Wow, you and Mia did a great job following up on that viral video! Mia could have run that tip as soon as she heard about the flying creature, and she probably would have gotten more likes and views that way. But good journalists like Mia would rather be truthful than sensational. Is there anything that Mia did in this game that you could do when you see a video that seems too fantastic to be true?

You’re becoming a real pro at news literacy and media literacy, but there’s still more to learn! Find your next exhibit station and select the corresponding audio track when you arrive.