Cathy Dobson/The Independent

Rebecca Blunt was suspicious of an online photo depicting a shark swimming through the streets after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida.

The Lambton County library technician said the quality of the photo was poor.  “I felt like I’d seen it before,” she said.

And she was right. 

The viral photo viewed by millions of people last month is a long-standing hoax that circulates on social media after almost every serious hurricane. 

Dependable organizations like The Washington Post, The Toronto Star and Snopes.com – a website dedicated to rooting out conspiracy theories and fake photos – have debunked the wayward shark story, concluding that it was created by combining an image of a flooded street in Puerto Rico with a photo of a shark taken by a fellow named Thomas Peschak near South Africa in 2003.

It’s just one example of the vast amount of misinformation repeatedly shared on social media platforms, Blunt said during a media literacy primer marking Ontario Public Library Week. 

“There’s a lot of fake news out there and AI (Artificial Intelligence) makes it worse,” she said.  “Now things are so advanced that fake news can’t always be identified for its poor grammar.  AI fixes the grammar and makes it look real.”

We’d all be doing ourselves a favour if we learn how to spot fake news, Blunt said.  “There’s so much information coming at us all the time – especially AI information – and we need to be thinking about what is real.”

Importantly, learning to recognize fake news will stop us from sharing it and contributing to the problem, she said. It’s particularly concerning when a politician or influencer shares fake news because it lends credibility and makes it tougher for readers to decide what is true. 

Blunt shared several quick and easy ways to confirm what you see and read can be believed. Her source is CBS News.

1. Find the primary source: Get off social media and check the headline to determine if other news sources are carrying the same story/photo.  “If it’s legit, it should be on multiple sites,” says Blunt.

2. Look for visual clues:  Is the screenshot high quality or is it pixelated like the street shark photo? Is an author or publishing date visible? Does the font and style match other real articles from the same outlet? 

3. Check your emotional response. Fake headlines and stories frequently provoke extreme emotions. Evocative language is often in use, unlike real news that tries to remain neutral. If the article makes you feel unusually sad, happy or angry, you need to check other outlets for its veracity. Extreme language is often used to generate more “clicks” – which produce revenue for the online source – and is so prevalent it’s been dubbed “clickbait.”

4. Check your mindset: When you’re scrolling on social media, it’s important to keep your guard up and retain a critical mindset.

 Blunt also drew advice from the BBC.

1. Beware of stories that don’t make sense, she said, showing a headline that referenced a category six hurricane. “There’s no such thing.”

2. Check the name (the URL) of the news site that published the story. If it is very complex – like abcnews.com.co –  or if it is misspelled, or similar but not the same as one you trust – abc.co – it is likely fake.  

The sites that end in “.co” are trying to look legit but they are not.

3. Check the author. Do a quick search of the name.

4. Check the publication date.  Many fake news stories are old articles, sometimes years old.  “I found that most interesting,” commented Blunt.

5.  Look for unusual spelling mistakes and the over use of capitals. Real news sources have editors that catch mistakes before they are published.

6.  Real articles cite sources, include quotes from real people, have photo credits, do not use CAPS or dramatic punctuation.

The Lambton County library system decided to focus on media literacy because libraries are one of the few place that can be counted on to provide non-biased information, said Vanitia Campbell, public services co-ordinator of youth programs and outreach.

“It has become very difficult to tell what is legitimate,” she said.  “It’s important we teach people how to consume media in a knowledgeable way.

“This is not something we’re just going to shelve.”

Media literacy is highlighted on the Lambton County Library website and can be found by clicking on the Learn tab at the top of the homepage.