Misinformation wars; how to verify sources and avoid false stories

19 Oct 2018

Conflicting narratives, random videos of Youtube, callers pretending to be in a one city when, in fact, they’re in a different country altogether - telling truth from false is not easy for the average news consumer. But what about journalists covering major stories in places like Yemen, Syria and Iraq, and whose job is to sift through this information to provide the world with accurate and credible news?

Making a mistake in news could blow your credibility, and maybe even cost you your job.

In 2004, the UK’s Daily Mail editor, Piers Morgan, lost his job after the paper published fake images of British soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees. In 2013, American network CBS had to issue an apology and temporarily suspend staff members of its flagship programme “60 Minutes”, after it was revealed that their story on the attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya was largely based on the false testimony of one eyewitness, Dylan Jones. Although he told the network that he went to the compound after the attack and witnessed the aftermath (and even claimed to have fought off a militant), Dylan Jones later admitted to the FBI that he never made it to the scene of the attack that night.

There had been times where several media outlets picked up the same story, turned it into a headline, and then had to retract it because it was false. In 2011, when protests began in Syria, major media outlets reported about a Syrian activist named Amina Arraf, whose blog “A gay girl from Damascus” became well-known after she was purported to be kidnapped. Websites such as CNN even wrote analysis about her becoming a symbol for gay activism in the Arab world. But it didn’t take too long for the truth to come out (and for all media outlets to correct their reporting) that Amina Arraf was a fictitious character, and that the person behind the facade is an American from Georgia called Tom McMaster.

Whether in the newsroom or in the field, verifying information can be tricky for any journalist, and our members are no exception.

We spoke with two of our mentors, CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh and former Al Jazeera correspondent Rawya Rageh, who now works with Amnesty International, to learn how they deal with question of verification and what to do if you get a story wrong.

When it comes to covering the war in Syria, trying to speak to people there, or following some of the social media accounts that purport to come out of there was one of the toughest challenges I’ve had to deal with.

Have you ever fallen for false information?

Jomana Karadsheh: I don’t think I’ve actually fallen for false information, but we followed the trail of lots of fake stories. When I was based in Libya, rumors were our biggest challenge. It would take us hours, if not days, to verify a story simply because there would be so many different versions of it. Unfortunately, some news agencies (and without naming them) would publish the first version they would see of a story without verification. I will never forget this one time when major clashes broke out in 2012 and we went to the frontline. We heard so many different versions of why the clashes broke out from the people who actually took part in the clashes.

Rawya Rageh: The biggest exposure to fake information in my career was definitely during the Arab uprisings. It was a very tumultuous time and social media was being heavily used. There were concurrent protests happening in different countries, and videos shot by activists were being sent directly to newsrooms. At times, people would run videos thinking that they show a protest in one country when it is actually in another country.

I think this was the beginning of a heavy emphasis on verification. The abundance of information was like a storm, and all these developments happening in multiple countries posed a major challenge for newsrooms around the world in relation to verifying materials.

For me personally, the lesson learned from the Arab Uprisings when I saw the constant mistakes that people made online is that you don’t retweet anything without doing a very basic reverse image search. Even if that was not your own tweet, no matter how famous or credible the activist or the journalist is, I have to do a very basic minimum verification process.

At times, people would run videos thinking that they show a protest in one country when it is actually in another country.

How do you know what’s right and what’s wrong?

JK: That’s the challenge. You don’t want to discard something completely because you are not sure, but then miss out on a scoop. This is why you should always verify, verify, verify.

Obviously, there are limitations to this. In Syria, for example, when we reported on places that were under siege like Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta, several people came up on social media, supposedly from these places. So to verify their identity, we tried to reach out to people on the ground whom we trusted, like activists or people whom we knew were trustworthy, and we would ask them to help us verify these accounts. It was easier for me to do this in Aleppo than in Ghouta because we didn’t really have that many trusted sources there.

But say, for example, you are trying to verify the geographical location of an individual, to make sure they are in the place they say they’re in. There are tools for geolocations, and you can talk to organisations like bellingcat. They do an amazing work in verifying locations and they’ve helped us with Aleppo.

Again, without naming any organisations or individuals, I have seen interviews done over social media (Facebook Messenger and Twitter) with people who say they are in a certain place but without verification. You must talk to the individual directly, ask to see their face. If it’s difficult then ask to speak with them over the phone. Ask many questions, because the more you ask, the more you can verify.

RR: Journalists hold the burden of proof. Our job is not only informing the public but also to do minimum verification to assure the truthfulness of our sources.

You don’t want to discard something completely because you are not sure, but then miss out on a scoop.

You never publish a story that is based on one source. You need at least a minimum 2-3 sources and if it is a highly controversial story you need even more. You want to try to triangulate what one source is telling by speaking to as many people as possible and by employing secondary research from documents and open sources of information.

Additionally, there is the experience. The more experienced you are the more you develop a certain instinct and the ability of hearing certain words and whether it is a genuine voice of this person or not. But it is equally important to maintain an open mind and not let your experience make you too cynical or dismissive of people.

In case of falling for fake news or information, what should a journalist do?

JK: This is a scary time because of this “fake news-real news” war that we are in.

A lot of people, even reputable journalists, have fallen for fake information. We all make mistakes. So if it does happen, then I think honesty is the only way of dealing with it. You need to open up and be honest about why this happened and how you fell for it. Whether you are on TV or on radio, try if you can address your audience or write a letter. It’s a minefield and you have to be careful. But if it happens you have to deal with it by being honest.

RR: You have an absolute responsibility to correct false material, and not be defensive. Mistakes happen in the best of circumstances in the best of newsrooms. Nothing shows the integrity more than being responsible in correcting it, no matter what the percussions are.

You have an absolute responsibility to correct false material, and not be defensive. Mistakes happen in the best of circumstances in the best of newsrooms. Nothing shows the integrity more than being responsible in correcting it.

Jomana Karadsheh’s top tips to detect, investigate, and avoid misinformation:

Always trust your instinct. Go with your hunch. If you feel that there is something that it is not right about a certain story, even if the story came from a trusted source, then go to other sources for verification. Verify each story from at least two sources.
Ask questions. This is such an important thing. If you get a story, dig more. Don’t just rush to publish it. I remember this rule from one of my bosses, who would rather be late and right then quick and wrong. This is about your reputation and responsibility. So if you feel you need more information, then wait before you publish.
Turn to a colleague that you trust. Always check with an editor or someone you constantly work with, someone whose advice you can get. Sometimes we work alone, but you need a second person to share your ideas and ask more questions. So if you have someone that you trust that you work with that’s always a really good thing.
Don’t ever do an interview without speaking to the person first. That’s a big thing that we are facing now with social media. I suggest that you always establish contact with the person first. If you’re in different countries, ask to see them over video. If that’s difficult, ask them to send you a local telephone number so you can call them. Do whatever you can to verify that this person is who they say they are.
Ask yourself: “why is someone coming to me with this story?” This is important if you fear that you are being fed fake news. Who is the source and why are they giving me this? Just ask them that and try to find out why they are giving you this information. The motive behind giving you a story is something that you need to think about.

Rawya Rageh’s top tips to detect, investigate, and avoid misinformation:

Verify. You can verify videos or photos by doing a reverse image search, one of the recommended engines you can use is www.tineye.com. You can verify witnesses by geo-locating them, especially when you are doing remote interviews by asking your witness to drop a location pin.
Look carefully at links. Nowadays, there is a common phenomenon called the “dubious links”, which disseminate fake news on the net. Look closely at the links. The web domain can be similar to a familiar news outlet except one letter; it will have either a missing letter or an extra letter.
Be suspicious. If something doesn’t feel right, or something feels too good, it means that you should probably double your efforts in order to triangulate this information with more sources.
Always ask. It doesn’t harm. If you need to verify information you are getting from a source, ask them “Do you know who I can go to?”, “Where I can go to?”,
Work in collaborative environment. Have an editor to look into your materials. Even as a freelancer, having an editor gives you a good safety net. When you are too close to a story, you might sometimes miss minor details, that are then caught in the process of verification by a second eye.