Trace Back to the Original Source

Step 4: Trace Back to the Original Source

Good information should cite their sources. Scholarly sources will have a list of references at the end. Online popular sources may or may not link to their sources.

Click on the links within the article. Are their sources credible?
Was the original source accurately represented? Was anything left out or taken out of context?

When you trace back to the original source, you may find that the original source is better for your use than the one you started with.

Images, Video, and Media

These can also be altered, taken out of context, or misrepresented. This happens frequently on social media.

Do a Google reverse image search to locate the origins of photo. Right-click over the image and select Search Image with Google. You'll see where that photo has been used and often find its origins.
A site like Snopes.org can help you verify the validity of images, video, and media.

Here's one example of how an image was misrepresented in a social media post:

This image was shared on social media in August 2021 and allegedly showed evacuation traffic from New Orleans during Hurricane Ida. It was even picked up by popular news media. Fact-checkers finally stepped in and found that the image originated from 2017 and was taken by a Los Angeles TV station to show gridlock traffic during a holiday weekend.

Fact check: Image of 2017 Los Angeles holiday traffic misrepresented as New Orleans evacuations