fact-checking 101

INTELLIGENTLY ANALYZING news about current tensionS between the Russian and Ukrainian military at the Ukrainian border

The spread and frequency of misinformation in the digital age is a threat to society that will continue to increase in danger if we do not start to educate ourselves and approach media differently. I believe the key to perceiving anything online is to comprehend everything with intelligence and logic rather than constructing emotionally based conclusions. The Pew Research Center conducted a study about how people assimilate information differently based on established personal characteristics and beliefs. In this study, they separate what is factual and what is opinionated by “the capacity to be proved or disproved by objective evidence”.

The Reuters Fact-Check team recently invalidated an image circulating social media that was attempting to portray current events relating to Russian tanks on the Ukraine border. An image of army tanks on a road was shared on Facebook captioned “This is what a Threat To Freedom looks like… Convoy of Russian Tanks on the Border of Ukraine..” When I went to click on the link for this post, this is what I was taken to (below).

In an article from Scientific American, the authors discuss a concept called social diffusion, which explains how society has the tendency to spread negative and biased aspects when comprehending content or information on social media:

“A 2015 study by OSoMe researchers Emilio Ferrara and Zeyao Yang analyzed empirical data about such “emotional contagion” on Twitter and found that people overexposed to negative content tend to then share negative posts, whereas those overexposed to positive content tend to share more positive posts. Because negative content spreads faster than positive content, it is easy to manipulate emotions by creating narratives that trigger negative responses such as fear and anxiety.”

Further, I think this circumstance of misinformation relative to the photo of the tanks was constructed with the intention to arouse people with a fear of war. Misinformation like this tends to spread rapidly because it manipulates the vulnerability of users to generate engagement and interaction with the content. The Scientific American article explains, “Social media can also increase our negativity. In a recent laboratory study, Robert Jagiello, also at Warwick, found that socially shared information not only bolsters our biases but also becomes more resilient to correction.”

factual vs. opinionated

• IDENTIFYING AN OPINIONATED ARTICLE

The first article I read about this topic was from New York Times. The title of the article, “Russian Troops in Final Stages of Readiness Add to Worries for Ukraine” immediately implements a tone of negativity and fear to the reader with the phrase “Add to Worries”. I can establish this as an emotionally based article right off the bat. Unfortunately, this article has a lot of words that exuberate a sense of danger, fear, worry, and anxiety. Here are some other examples of why I identified this article as opinionated/biased:

• Uses words implementing feelings of fear from the reading/ emotionally driven

• Statements are unclear, broad, focused on potential negative outcomes without factual reasoning

  Ex: “Though the Kremlin’s intentions are unclear, Ukrainian officials are newly worried about the Crimean Peninsula, where Russia has deployed 10,000 additional troops, they said.”

• Photos included in the article are not time-stamped, referenced in detail, or linked

  Picture caption: “A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moving along a highway in Crimea last month.”

• Very few direct quotes from involved/credible/relevant sources

  Ex: “It’s a huge assault grouping,” Ihor Kabanenko, a retired admiral with the Ukrainian Navy, said. “We have not enough capabilities at sea to adequately respond to such a Russian deployment.”

• Information is stated but not backed up with evidence or information about where it derives from

  Ex: “Beyond Crimea, military analysts say it may only be a matter of weeks before the crescent of troops deployed along Ukraine’s northern, eastern and southern border is ready for action. Until now, such forces might have looked menacingly large, but they lacked the supply lines and other logistical infrastructure needed to fight." (Where is this coming from & why should I believe it?)

• New york times covers a wide range of topics, usually steering towards engaging and stimulating an audience and a reaction

• IDENTIFYING A FACTUAL ARTICLE

When searching more about the situation between Russia and Ukraine, I naturally navigated towards an article from Military Times because it seemed to be an appropriate source considering the characteristics of this event: military, potential war, tensions between countries, etc.

• Direct quotes from people actively involved in the situation

• Logical tone and grammar + avoids emotional words

  “There are about 170 BTGs operational in the Russian army today, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told the Tass news organization in August.”

  “A battalion tactical group is a temporary operationally flexible formation,” according to Tass. BTGs are “set up on the basis of a battalion and attached artillery, air defense, engineering and logistics support units for combat operations as part of motor rifle and tank brigades. Aviation groups, special operations forces and other units can also be attached to a battalion tactical group to accomplish assigned missions.”

• Includes time stamps and hyperlinks to sources that are being referenced in the text

  “I don’t consider the situation now more tense than before,” the Ukrainian president told reporters Jan. 28. ”There is a feeling abroad that there is war here. That’s not the case.”

  “We still don’t believe [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has made a decision to further invade Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday. U.S. defense leaders warned Friday that Putin “clearly now has the ability” to have his forces invade Ukraine with “very, very little warning,” but that U.S NATO and Ukrainian forces stand ready to respond if that happens.” (not positive or negative, includes dates with references, and includes hyperlinks to references)

• Photos are captioned with sources and dates 

  “This map shows the locations of Russian troops near Ukraine shown in new satellite images. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies)”

• Military Times is a news source specifically for this type of story, experts in this area

In conclusion

By analyzing the aspects I used above, you can comprehend information more efficiently and accurately. It is easier for us as an audiencece to fall for the manipulative tactics of news outlets, but I recommend investing more energy into questioning and verifying everything you read because you could be mislead by your own narrative and how it relates to the information you are intaking.

Thanks for reading!

Published by Eleana Ramirez on February 5th, 2021.