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HLS 280 Mis-, Dis-, and Malinformation Research Guide: SIFT & Lateral Reading

Exercises

1. Here's a story from a news site called Natural News saying that nicotine can cure brain tumors: https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-06-20-ardis-nicotine-can-cure-tumors.html

Do you think Natural News is a reliable source of information? Why or why not? What lateral reading strategy did you use?

2. Here's a story from a site called AP News saying that a German ice cream shop has cricket-flavoured ice cream: https://apnews.com/article/germany-cricket-flavored-ice-cream-30ec8248ff14db3d842316e7b8e68bf7

Do you think AP News is a reliable source of information? Why or why not? What lateral reading strategy did you use?

3. Here's a piece from the Policy section of a British news magazine called The Spectator: https://thespectator.com/topic/wildfire-apocalypse-canada-climate-change/

Do you think the author has expertise in this area? Why or why not? What lateral reading strategy did you use? 

4. The following site reports on the results of a study connecting soda consumption by children with an increased likelihood of alcohol use: https://neurosciencenews.com/soda-alcohol-children-25174/

Can you track down the original source? How did you do it? 

Acknowledgement

Some exercises drawn from CTRL-F: https://ctrl-f.ca/en/resources/

SIFT

Lateral Reading Strategies

Examples of Vertical Reading:

  • Checking to see if the site "looks" professional (looking for typos, ads, etc.)
  • Reading the 'About' page
  • Checking if the URL is a .com or a .org (anyone can purchase a .org domain, see, for example martinlutherking.org)
  • Reading a story closely to see if it sounds realistic or plausible

Examples of Lateral Reading:

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