How To Spot False News

Peter Thiel’s Fridge
Gawken
Published in
2 min readApr 13, 2017

Be vigilant.

Make sure to always hold a piece of real news in front of you at arms length, like an amulet.

Be wary of stories that aren’t true.

Is the story fabricated or false? That’s a good sign that it’s false news.

Be skeptical of headlines.

That “headline”? It might not be a headline at all. It might be a person disguised as a headline.

Launch your own investigation.

Follow up with sources. Cross-reference. Did the original story make a mistake? It might be journalistic error. Or maybe, my friend, just maybe, we might have ourselves a case of false news.

Is there a typo in the story?

That means the whole thing is a fabrication.

Your own investigation, Pt. II

Walk into the restaurant and investigate the situation yourself. You’re allowed to go in whenever you want, it’s the law.

Try to get into the false news mindset.

Spend a day in false news’ shoes.

Talk to your friends and family.

How are they doing? What do they think? Let me know what they think.

Look at other reports.

If no other new source is covering the story, that might mean its false news. Or it might mean you’ve just landed on the biggest scoop of your life.

Consider the photos.

Are they fake or phoney? That’s one more piece to add to your Evidence Bag.

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