The Fake News Game
Try to spot the news story NOT based on facts!
Round 1: Aarti’s fake story
This round tests how well you can assess news websites.
Some things to think about when evaluating websites:
• Check the URL.
• Check the language and tone.
• Check the publisher and/or source.
• Check the author.
Round 1: find the fake story
Read each source and decide if the story is fake news or not:
The Pope gave a TED Talk and asked tech companies to do better from The Verge
Prince Charles spent £46,000 on a train trip from iNews
McDonald’s uses worm meat fillers but can legally call it 100% beef from Daily Buzz Live
Round 2: Katherine’s fake story
This round tests how well you can assess content on academic sources.
Some things to think about when evaluating academic sources:
• Check the URL.
• Check the language and tone.
• Check the publisher and/or source.
• Check the author
Round 2: find the fake story
https://librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/storyline/questioning/fake_news_game/story_html 4.html Summer 2019
Read each source and decide if the story is fake or not:
Refugees and the Definition of Syria from Past & Present
CERN Researchers Apologize for Destruction of 5 Parallel Universes in Recent Experiment
from The Onion
Bizarre new deep-sea creatures discovered off Australian coast from The New Scientist
Round 3 Kate’s fake story
You can trust and even cite some tweets but one of these is fake!
Some things to think about when evaluating social media sources:
• Check the user is verified.
• Check likes, followers, shares, etc.
• Do a reverse image search.
Round 3: the fake tweeter
Click on each source to read the full tweet and decide if the tweeter is fake or not:
EXCLUSIVE: 43% of Republicans want to give Trump the power to shut down media,
according to a new poll. from The Daily Beast
For absolutely no good reason, here's the General Election again, in a 15 second hexmap gif.
You can probably click to pause, if you must from Alasdair Rae
I think not much people know that this is my real page from Jennifer Lawrence
Bonus round: Oliver’s challenge
Here’s a tabloid news story based on a high impact journal article.
Is it a good source, or fake news?
Time to apply your knowledge!
Bonus round: good source or fake news?
https://librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/storyline/questioning/fake_news_game/story_html 4.html Summer 2019
1. First, have a look at this high impact journal article:
Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health
outcomes
2. Then read the extract from a typical tabloid news story about the scientific review:
“SCIENTISTS have discovered that your morning cup of coffee could be a MIRACLE
CURE! In a new study, boffins found that drinking coffee prevents heart disease
diabetes, cancer, back pain and more! So sit back and enjoy that latte, it could save
you a trip to the doctors!”
3. Then decide if this if fake or true or complicated!
Full URLs
The Pope gave a TED Talk and asked tech companies to do better
https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/26/15442644/pope-francis-ted-talk-future-
worthbuilding
Prince Charles spent £46,000 on a train trip https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/prince-charles-
spent-46000-train-trip/
McDonald’s uses worm meat fillers but can legally call it 100% beef
http://dailybuzzlive.com/mcdonalds-uses-worm-meat-fillers-can-legally-call-100-beef/
Snopes fact checks https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/worm-meat-used-
mcdonaldshamburgers/
Refugees and the Definition of Syria https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtw048
CERN Researchers Apologize for Destruction of 5 Parallel Universes in Recent Experiment
https://www.theonion.com/cern-researchers-apologize-for-destruction-of-5-
paralle1819579830
Bizarre new deep-sea creatures discovered off Australian coast
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2137672-bizarre-new-deep-sea-creatures discovered-
off-australian-coast/
EXCLUSIVE: 43% of Republicans want to give Trump the power to shut down media,
according to a new poll. https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1026859591680835584
For absolutely no good reason, here's the General Election again, in a 15 second hexmap gif.
You can probably click to pause, if you must
https://twitter.com/undertheraedar/status/876901734064549892
https://librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/storyline/questioning/fake_news_game/story_html 4.html Summer 2019
I think not much people know that this is my real page
https://twitter.com/OFFICIALawrence/status/246051613477851136
Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health
outcomes https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k194
Last reviewed: June 2019
Review due: Summer 2020
Except otherwise noted, this work by The University Of Sheffield Library is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy
of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.
https://librarydevelopment.group.shef.ac.uk/storyline/questioning/fake_news_game/story_html 4.html Summer 2019
