SIFT and Screen
[Modified SIFT digital media evaluation method taken from Mike Caulfield & Sam Winesburg's Verified: How to think straight, get duped less, and make better decisions about what to believe online (2023).]
SIFT
SIFT is designed for you to verify information before critically analyzing it.
- Stop
- Verify the existent of the incident or claim reported with a quick search in Google News.
- Verify your understanding of the information shared.
- Investigate
- Check into t he originating source's background starting with Wikipedia.
- Check to see if the originating context of the information is provided.
- Find
- Check to see if other known news reporting websites have picked up the story.
- Check against other sources to see what outlets are saying about the information.
- Trace
- Check the link back to the originally shared information in its original context when possible.
- Verify the claim or quote pulled from the information source is supported by the accompanying details or points raised.
REMEMBER: Unpack your visceral emotional response and identify searchable facts. Reflect on how the initial title or accompanying visuals made you feel about the information prior to reading it.
Screening Corner
- Stop
- If there are no other supporting details found, then the information being reported should be treated as suspect.
- Investigate
- After verifying the facts of the source, verify the background of where it originated. A quick search for a person or organization can be done in Wikipedia.
- Find
- Search for other context building information within authenticated sources (i.e., recognized news media websites, vetted academic journals, or trad periodicals, etc.)
- Trace
- Identify common points (or themes) expressed across the informational sources engaged. This should help fact check individual claims and key details.
