This lesson and its accompanying seven-minute video introduce students to a professional fact-checker, who describes the methods and processes he employs to verify information that appears in news stories. The video explains which claims can be fact-checked, and why some sources are more reliable than others. How do fact-checkers engage in analysis of contemporary and historical claims? How do we distinguish between “bad facts” and “bad narratives” when critiquing media sources? Examine the tools that fact-checkers use to identify and interrogate claims, and put those skills into practice.
How to Fact-Check History
Meet Joseph Hogan, Retro Report’s fact-checker who explains what methods and processes he employs to verify the information in our stories.
The flood of information spilling across social networks into classrooms has led to cries for more “fact-checking,” but what exactly is that? How do you do it – especially if you’re trying to check something that happened decades ago?
In this video, Joe Hogan, head of fact-checking at Retro Report, answers those questions, and explains why fact-checking is a needed skill today, whether you’re a making a video, writing a news story, or just trying to stay informed.
“History is full of lessons,” Joe says. “And to really understand those lessons, you have to understand what actually happened.”
Joe’s job is to make sure that happens. He verifies every claim made in a Retro Report video to ensure it is accurate; if it isn’t, it’s corrected. And he pursues his craft with the skills of a prosecutor making a case in court.
Related: Visit our How to Fact-Check History Lesson Plan Don’t leave fact-checking to the fact-checkers by Joseph Hogan
- Lesson plan 1: Intro to Fact-Checking
- Lesson plan 2: Media Literacy and the Lost Cause Narrative
- Read transcript
- Producer: Sianne Garlick
- Editor: Cullen Golden