Step 4: Trace Claim to Original Source
A lot of things you encounter online have been stripped of context. This could be due to inaccurate or misleading re-reporting, edited sound and video, images being shared with inaccurate captions, etc.
In some cases, stories or claims can get better as they pass through intermediaries. However, in most cases the more a story circulates, the more it becomes warped and you’re presented with a radically wrong version of an event or piece of research. This is when you investigate further and start tracing back to the original source for full context.
SIFT Search Strategy 7: Finding the History of Images
Learn how to find out where an image has been used and if it’s been changed or taken out of context. Mike Caulfield describes the strategy on finding original images and verifying caption claims. (4:14)
SIFT - Tracing Re-Reporting: Example
Here is an example of how you could approach tracing a claim. Below is a tweet you might encounter while scrolling through your feed.
This tweet is John's takeaway from the article. However, the article doesn't say to ditch your sunscreen. And it doesn't even say that the FDA is warning people about the chemicals. The study merely concluded that given the levels of the chemicals in the bloodstream — from applying sunscreen four times a day — that additional regulation might be warranted.
This article isn't from a reliable source, and is in fact pulling all its quotes from another article. It's reporting on reporting. If you click through to the link (supposedly to the research article) it links to a CNN story. And in that story you notice the re-reporters left something out:
So, should you stop using sunscreen? Absolutely not, experts say. "Studies need to be performed to evaluate this finding and determine whether there are true medical implications to absorption of certain ingredients," said Yale School of Medicine dermatologist Dr. David Leffell, a spokesman for the American Academy of Dermatology. He added that in the meantime, people should "continue to be aggressive about sun protection."
The original story actually says the opposite of what the tweeter proposed.
Tweeted Article: FDA Warns Chemicals From Sunscreen Enter Your Bloodstream After One Day
CNN Article: Sunscreen enters bloodstream after just one day of use, study says
SIFT - Exercises - Trace Claims, Quotes & Media Back to Their Original Source
Keep a notebook of fact-checking exercises in a text editor or a word processor like Notepad, Google Docs, or Microsoft Word.
The format of the notebook is simple. For each fact-checking prompt you are given a heading. After that, you need to complete the following steps:
- Write the heading in the document in all capital letters
- Hit enter and answer the questions on the prompt page
- Formatting is up to the instructor but should be encouraged to be kept simple
Please go through the examples below and answer and log your answers on a Word or Google Doc.
SIFT Prompt: Beer Tax
SIFT Discussion: Beer Tax
SIFT Prompt: Biggie and Cobain
SIFT Discussion: Biggie and Cobain
SIFT Prompt: Guns in Schools
SIFT Discussion: Guns in Schools
Acknowledgement
Note: This SIFT method guide was adapted from Michael Caulfield's "Check, Please!" course. The canonical version of this course exists at http://lessons.checkplease.cc. The text and media of this site, where possible, is released into the CC-BY, and free for reuse and revision. We ask people copying this course to leave this note intact, so that students and teachers can find their way back to the original (periodically updated) version if necessary. We also ask librarians and reporters to consider linking to the canonical version.
As the authors of the original version have not reviewed any other copy's modifications, the text of any site not arrived at through the above link should not be sourced to the original authors.
Also, would like to acknowledge Wayne State University Library System.