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Fake News and Media Literacy

Resources and strategies for becoming media literate.

Media Literacy Skill: Evaluating Photos & Videos

 

 

Evaluating Photos and Videos

Creators of online information often present images (photos and videos) as evidence.  Yet technology exists to fabricate and alter photos and videos, so you need to evaluate and check them for authenticity through lateral reading (or watching) before accepting them as valid evidence.  

Questions to ask when evaluating photo and video evidence:

  • what is the source of image or video?
  • what is the context in which the image or video was created?
  • what do other sources say about the image or video?

You can investigate the source of an online image or video by opening a new tab in your browser and searching any information provided in the captions or credits.

You can also investigate laterally by doing a Google reverse image search.  Right click on the image and, if you are in the Chrome browser, choose 'Search Google for Image.'  If you are in another browser, choose 'Copy Link Address' and then paste the link into Google image search.