How high school journalists can help others find reliable info
By Hayden Hall, First Flight High School
According to Global Digital Insights, in the United States of America, there are 239 million active social media users — almost three-quarters of the population.

Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok are all examples of apps where people interact with posts or even create their own posts that have facts that they believe to be true. The question is, how much of this information is accurate?
“I take everything I see on social media with a grain of salt,” First Flight High School journalist Josh Mouser said.
According to the Pew Research Center, 3 in 10 U.S. adults get their news from social media. It is very common for people to blindly report and share information without checking to see where these accounts are getting this information from. Statista’s 2023 study found that 38.2% of social media users have unknowingly shared fake news.
But how are high school journalists making sure that the info they’re sharing on social media is accurate? How can other students or parents use these same rules? Here are a few tips from high school journalists and fact-checking resources.
Make sure you read multiple sources for the same story
Journalist Courtney Weston, who recently graduated from West Brunswick High School, shared her techniques for finding reliable information.
“I used really reliable websites like college sites. Another thing I do is read four articles about the same topic to make sure that the information is lining up,” she said.
Search the internet or other social media accounts to see if there are more sources that back up your original finding.
Check the URL for any misspellings
Another tip is to check the URL link when using online resources. Sometimes, fake news websites will have misspellings in the URL, according to cybersecurity company Kaspersky.
Another good method is to research further. The extra steps are critical in preventing the spread of misleading information, whether it’s on social media or a website.
Use all of the resources available online to verify facts.
There are multiple different accounts on different platforms that routinely post information on these events, such as Impact, an Instagram account with 2.4 million followers.
Firstly, there are online resources such as MediaWise and Politifact that teach individuals how to tell the difference between reality and fiction.
Some posts made on accounts like Impact are shared across the platform. That is one of the things that causes information to spread online, both true and untrue.
Another factor to consider is bots. A study by the University of Victoria proved that bots automatically create content on social media that reflect the behaviors of humans. Bots also have the ability to give the impression that the post being displayed has more popularity and interactions than it actually does.
If you do spread misinformation, be sure to correct it ASAP and be transparent about your mistake.
While information on social media is not necessarily always false, it is typically a lot less reliable. It’s very easy to create a post full of misinformation, made to stir the public and garner lots of attention.
Journalists are experienced when it comes to fact-checking their sources because they know that it is imperative to get their facts correct.
When editing a news story that is preparing to be published, it is crucial to make sure there is no misinformation in the story. Newspaper adviser Steve Hanf explained how he handles the correction of misinformation.
“We have a conversation and try to find out where the writer got the wrong information, and then basically just try to correct it and get the right information,” Hanf said.
Misinformation can be dangerous and it’s important to prevent the spread of it.
“The internet is a facade,” Mouser said. “And I know by now to not blindly trust the trending posts that I see just because they are popular.”