Research Guides: Misinformation, Bias and Fact Checking: Mastering Media Literacy: Evaluating Sources

E.S.C.A.P.E

E.S.C.A.P.E - The acronym for evaluating information explained

Evidence - Do the facts hold up? Look for information you can verify.

Names
Numbers
Places
Documents

Source - Who made this, and can I trust them? Trace who has touched the story.

Authors
Publishers
Funders
Aggregators
Social media users

Context - What's the big picture? Consider if this is the whole story and weigh other forces surrounding it.

Current events
Cultural trends
Political goals
Financial pressures

Audience - Who is the intended audience? Look for attempts to appeal to specific groups or types of people.

Image choices
Presentation techniques
Language
Content

Purpose - Why was this made? Look for clues to the motivation.

The publisher's mission
Persuasive language or images
Moneymaking tactics
Stated or unstated agendas
Calls to action

Execution - How is the information presented? Consider how the way it's made affects the impact.

Style
Grammar
Tone
Image choices
Placement and layout

Source: NewseumED

Evaluating Sources

Use this section of the guide to learn the best ways to evaluate information.

Evaluating Information

Whether reading a page or a post, consider the following:

Green box with bold white text reading 'IS IT REAL?' followed by questions and advice on verifying information: checking evidence, assessing the legitimacy of the source, and searching for key facts, people, or images to identify fake content.

Green box with bold white text reading 'IS IT WELL MADE?' followed by advice on evaluating the quality of a story. It emphasizes solid facts, clear and calm writing, and avoiding exaggerated emotion, excessive capitalization, and sloppy mistakes.

Green box with bold white text reading 'IS IT NEWS OR OPINION?' followed by an explanation of the difference. It highlights that news explains events, while opinion takes a stance. It also notes that first-person voice or words like 'perspective' and 'editorial' often indicate opinion.

Green box with bold white text reading 'IS IT SUPPORTED BY FACTS?' followed by guidance on evaluating evidence. It advises looking for statistics, studies, historical examples, primary sources, and expert analysis as signs that the writer has done thorough research to support their argument.

Green box with bold white text reading 'IS IT BIASED?' followed by advice on identifying bias. It explains that biased stories may omit key facts, present only one side of an issue, or exaggerate or downplay the story’s significance in the broader news context.

Green box with bold white text reading 'DOES IT ENTERTAIN AND/OR RAISE AWARENESS?' followed by a question about the story’s purpose. It advises considering whether the story was created for harmful reasons, such as causing destruction, scamming for profit, or unfairly harming someone or something.

This material was adapted from NewseumeD. The original work can be found here.

Evaluating sources with the E.S.C.A.P.E method

Use the ESCAPE method to help you remember the six key concepts for evaluating information:

Image courtesy: NewseumED

Evaluating Sources with the SIFT Method

Use the SIFT method to learn what to do when looking at a source.

Stop - First, when you first hit a page or post and start to read it - STOP. Ask yourself whether you know the website or source of the information, and what the reputation of both the claim and the website is. If you don’t have that information, use the other moves to get a sense of what you’re looking at.

Investigate - Take a moment to look up the author and source publishing the information. What can you find about the author/website creators? What is their mission? Do they have vested interests? Would their assessment be biased? Do they have authority in the area?

Find - Look for more coverage on the topic, or scan multiple sources to see what the consensus is. You don't have to agree with the consensus once you find it, but understanding the context and history of a claim will help you better evaluate it and form a starting point for future investigation.

Trace - Trace claims, quotes and media back to the source. What was clipped out and what stayed in? Find the original source so you can determine whether the version you have is accurately presented.

This material was adapted from research scientist Mike Caulfield, who created the SIFT methodology. The original work can be found here.

Evaluating Sources with Lateral Reading

What is lateral reading?
Lateral reading is the act of verifying what you’re reading as you’re reading it. 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 author you’re checking on. If other reliable sources confirm what you’re reading, you can feel confident about its credibility.

Questions to ask:

Who funds or sponsors the site where the original piece was published? What do other authoritative sources have to say about that site?
When you do a search on the topic of the original piece, are the initial results from fact-checking organizations?
Have questions been raised about other articles the author has written?
Does what you’re finding elsewhere contradict the original piece?
Are credible news outlets reporting on (or perhaps more important, not reporting on) what you’re reading?

This material was adapted from the News Literacy Project. The original work can be found here.