How do you cope with all the misinformation ("fake news") around Coronavirus? The answer: the same way you would cope with any other type of misinformation.
Here's a quick and handy checklist of six steps:
Check the date of the news article. You can spot outdated information just by looking at the date. Credible websites will not only display a date and time of publishing, but will also indicate when the article has been updated. You can also look for the place of publishing and the name of the reporter.
Check the source of the "news" or advice. This refers to both the journalist and media organisation publishing the story, and the experts/journals that have been cited in the article. Be wary of any source that sounds impressive but isn't. Search for their names separately to see how credible they are.
Check the URL. The URL, or uniform resource locator, is also known as the 'web address' that you type into a browser. Sometimes, the URL will be off. For example, washingtonpost.com.co is not the correct address for The Washington Post (it is washingtonpost.com).
Google the message. This is handy especially when the information you've received comes as a forward on WhatsApp and has no website associated with it. Simply copy and paste it onto a search engine. You will then find out that the news has been debunked as fake or unreliable. Even if that isn't the case, you could check the results to see if reputable news websites are carrying it. If they are not, then don’t believe it. A third scenario is that the search will yield no results at all, which is another indication that it is unreliable.
Don't forward anything that comes from a source you don't recognise.
And finally, go to reliable sources. For coronavirus-related questions for example, the "myth busters" section on the World Health Organization's website is great. Here's the link. Bookmark it!
This checklist was curated for citizens by Karen Rebelo, who's the Deputy Editor at BOOM, the organization where I work. It’s not exhaustive but it is a good starting point.
Stay safe!
Image credit: Gerd Altmann