University of Kwazulu-Natal

Libguides Lateral Reading Guard Against Misinformation

Bonisiwe Shabane
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libguides lateral reading guard against misinformation

Lateral reading can be used to investigate claims. Notice how the following examples recommend lateral reading without calling it that. TikTok News Literacy Project - Not Falling for Misinformation Transcript Here’s an in for 2024 – Media Literacy. This year is going to be crazy. AI is rapidly advancing; conspiracy theories are becoming more and more mainstream.

Not to mention, it’s a presidential election year. [music] So can we please make fact-checking the vibe for 2024? Also because it’s really easy. I work in news and media literacy and here are some of the simplest things you can start doing while you’re scrolling right now. First thing is just checking your emotions. Misinformation is designed to get a reaction out of people, a lot of the claims are simply rage bait.

You can essentially pull any sad, scary image from the internet, pair it with an out-of-context piece of information, use emotional language and people react to it out of impulse. Next, I always take a closer look at the source. Are they an expert? Or are they just someone with a hot take? And I love a good hot take, there are a lot of really smart people on the internet making informational content. It comes down to what is the evidence they’re supplying you with.

If someone is just saying things with confidence without citing a single reputable source, no thank you not in 2024. And, you might not like it, you just have to slow down. We have to break that habit of constanrly scrolling and accepting information that feels true. So take that quick pause to plug some keywords into a search engine, read multiple sources, spend the 30 seconds it takes to do reverse image research. Because misinformation is out. Check out Rumor Guard from the News Literacy Project to learn about five factors you should consider when evaluating the credibility of a claim.

Then use the techniques associated with each factor to apply your knowledge! Learn how to read laterally by applying the strategies below to your evaluation. The infographic & text by UW-Green Bay Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Lateral readers don’t spend time on the page or site until they’ve first gotten their bearings by looking at what other sites and resources say about the source they are looking at. 1. See what other authoritative sources have said about the site.

2. Open up many tabs in the browser, piecing together different bits of information from across the web to get a better picture of the site you are investigating. 3. Evaluate the information in other pages that offer information about the source under investigation. The truth is more likely to be found in the network of links (and commentaries) than in the site itself. 4.

When you get your bearings from the rest of the network, re-engage with the original content. More videos that talk about Navigating Digital Information by the creators at Crash Course Introduction to Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #1 The Facts about Fact Checking: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #2 Check Yourself with Lateral Reading: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #3 Who Can You Trust?

Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #4 In this short video from Crash Course: Navigating Digital Information, John Green teaches you how to employ lateral reading in evaluating your information. Lateral reading means: “instead of digging deep into the site at hand...lateral readers don’t spend time on the page or site until they’ve first gotten their bearings by looking at what other sites and... they get off the page...they open up many tabs in their browser. From Caulfield, M. A.

(2017). Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers. https://collection.bccampus.ca/textbooks/web-literacy-for-student-fact-checkers-361/ GO WIDE: Lateral reading is a strategy for investigating who's behind an unfamiliar online source by leaving the webpage and opening a new browser tab to see what trusted websites say about the unknown... It helps you determine an author’s credibility, intent and biases by searching for articles on the same topic by other writers (to see how they are covering it) and for other articles by the... It's one of the primary strategies employed by professional fact checkers.

The lateral reading concept and the term itself developed from research conducted by the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG), led by Sam Wineburg, founder and executive director of SHEG. One of the most effective strategies for evaluating information found online is to engage in lateral reading. Lateral reading involves leaving the website, opening a new tab, and seeing what trusted digital sources say about that website and/or claim. The below CrashCourse video explains how you can use lateral reading to fact-check a source. It is important to note that several tools have been developed from lateral reading, most notably the SIFT method. This strategy walks through four "moves" that you need to take before reading and engaging with an online source.

For more information, see the SIFT Method infographic. This video was created by CrashCourse in partnership with MediaWise, the Poynter Institute, and the Stanford History Education Group. This video was created by CNTRL-F with support from CIVIX. ⚠️Is a link not working? Click here to report it. 660-248-6271 library@centralmethodist.edu

The term Lateral Reading was coined by Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew in their 2019 study, "Lateral Reading and the Nature of Expertise", on internet source evaluation techniques. The strategy of Lateral Reading employed by expert fact checkers involves opening a new browser tab to evaluate a source based on information from other trusted sources, rather than evaluating the source itself for... Lateral reading is similar to Triangulation but focuses more on evaluating the source of the information rather than the information itself. Search for information about the company or website. Tip: To exclude results from the website itself, use the -site operator. For example "News Target" -site:https://newstarget.com

Wikipedia and established news outlets such as New York Times and Wall Street Journal have standards for reliability and fact checking. Other source evaluation techniques suggest visiting a website's "About" page. This page is usually written to favorably represent the what the purpose of the website. You can use a domain lookup tool like ICANN Lookup to find out who a website is registered to. Use fact checking sites such as Snopes or others listed on this guide to fact check. If claims are proceeded by "research indicates", search for research articles on Articles+ or Google Scholar.

“In brief, lateral reading (as opposed to vertical reading) is the act of verifying what you’re reading as you’re reading it.” Terry Heick Lateral Reading and the Nature of Expertise: Reading Less and Learning More When Evaluating Digital Information, Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew, Stanford University Digital Repository, https://purl.stanford.edu/yk133ht8603 This study compares how professional fact checkers, historians, and first year college students evaluated online information and presents the strategies fact checkers used to efficiently and effectively find trustworthy information. “Expand Your View with Lateral Reading,” News Literacy Project, https://newslit.org/tips-tools/expand-your-view-with-lateral-reading/ “Learning to ignore information is not something taught in school. School teaches the opposite: to read a text thoroughly and closely before rendering judgment….Online, critical ignoring is just as important as critical thinking.”

Lateral reading is a simple and effective means of evaluating online information sources to help you learn if an unfamiliar website is conveying worthwhile, trustworthy information. When you come across a site new to you, don't start by actually looking at the page itself, or looking for artificial markers of "legitimacy" like the About page, URL, or citations. Instead, move laterally away from the page by opening a new tab in your browser and conducting a web search for the site or its author to see what others have to say about... Bad actors on the internet will, of course, tell you they're trustworthy, but newspaper stories, fact checking sites, or even Wikipedia articles about them may help you discover the site's ill intentions. The following short videos explain lateral reading in greater detail: Crumb Library: 315-267-2485 Crane Library: 315-267-2451 library@potsdam.edu Text Us!: 315-277-3730

SUNY Potsdam College Libraries 44 Pierrepont Ave Potsdam, NY 13676 https://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/5/headlines/trump_calls_for_ethnic_cleansing_of_entire_gaza_strip_and_for_us_to_take_over 2. Use Lateral Reading techniques to evaluate and fact-check this page. 3. What did you find out about the information shared on this page?

4. What is your opinion about the information shared and how it is shared? Is there a bias? Do you agree or disagree with the information?

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Lateral reading can be used to investigate claims. Notice how the following examples recommend lateral reading without calling it that. TikTok News Literacy Project - Not Falling for Misinformation Transcript Here’s an in for 2024 – Media Literacy. This year is going to be crazy. AI is rapidly advancing; conspiracy theories are becoming more and more mainstream.

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Not to mention, it’s a presidential election year. [music] So can we please make fact-checking the vibe for 2024? Also because it’s really easy. I work in news and media literacy and here are some of the simplest things you can start doing while you’re scrolling right now. First thing is just checking your emotions. Misinformation is designed to get a reaction out of people, a lot of the claims ar...

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Then Use The Techniques Associated With Each Factor To Apply

Then use the techniques associated with each factor to apply your knowledge! Learn how to read laterally by applying the strategies below to your evaluation. The infographic & text by UW-Green Bay Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Lateral readers don’t spend time on the page or site until they’ve first gotten their bearin...