A fact-checker is simply obliged to question everything. Any information must be verified, preferably by several sources that have a reliable reputation. Although no one is immune from mistakes, as in the above publication in the Lancet, a highly authoritative scientific publication.
When fact-checking, the main things to pay attention to are:
Names and titles. For example, if the author of the news is I. S. Nekhlebaylo, first of all, you need to make sure that the information comes from Ivan Sergeevich Nekhlebaylo, and not from his namesake, whose name is Igor Semenovich. If the material mentions Frankfurt, Germany, keep in mind that along with Frankfurt am Main there is a city on the Oder with the same first part of the name.
Correctness of the indicated positions , experience, rank. In the practice of the Federal Bailiff Service of the Russian Federation, there was a case when complaints and petitions were received by territorial departments of the department from a person who called himself a major general of the FSSP. Meanwhile, such a rank simply did not exist at the time of receiving the corresponding correspondence in the service.
Numbers. Year of birth, date loan database of event, age of a person, etc. One digit in the date of birth changed – and we have a different person in front of us. A typo in one sign when indicating the year of events – and what happened several months ago goes back to the era of deep antiquity. Remember "Yeralash" and the question of the character A. Loye: in what year did Napoleon Mamaia win?
Statistics. Try to use official publication sources, for example, Rosstat data. If this is not possible, do not be lazy to refer to the content of the study itself. Although, how can one not recall the expression: there is a small lie, a big lie and... statistics.
Contacts. In the search engines Yandex and Google, you can often come across outdated phone numbers, addresses, etc. For example, try calling the Arkhangelsk prosecutor's office at +7 (8182) 21-10-31, offered by Google, and instead of an employee of the relevant institution, you will hear the voice of an answering machine insistently offering to call the operator.
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Quotes. Here the scope for manipulation is truly limitless. The meaning of a quote can be completely changed with just one word. Remember the expression attributed to V. S. Vysotsky: "I have complaints about my state, but I will not discuss them with you." This phrase actually sounded different, and even had a far from similar meaning.
Terms and special vocabulary. If you don’t know the meaning of a concept, it’s better to refrain from using it or commenting on it. Remember the line “Chefs frappipute.” If a restaurant customer has a sufficient vocabulary and knows that “frappipate” means “unpleasantly surprise,” such a phrase is unlikely to whet his appetite.
Facts. Here, in principle, everything is clear. Let us recall once again the hero of A. Loye and the same issue of "Yeralash": by what score did the Swedes lose to the Canadians near Poltava? It is obvious both that the Canadians have nothing to do with the Northern War and that the Swedes did not play hockey with them in the vicinity of Poltava.
Links. This is especially important if the information under the links is used to go to the original sources. The link may become outdated, and the information previously posted on it may become refuted.
Images. Photoshop can change any photo beyond recognition, which an unscrupulous user then passes off as genuine. Also pay attention to watermarks to avoid copyright issues.
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Alexander Kuleshov
Alexander Kuleshov
General Director of Sales Generator LLC
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