What Not to Believe About the Coronavirus

A massive river of information about the novel coronavirus flows through social media and the internet. Some days I almost feel swamped by it. And it isn’t slowing down. It can be hard to tell what story is accurate and what is full of baloney (fish?). It could take hours or even days to wade through enough information to figure out the truth about a particular story. Checking with a reliable website like CNN or NPR is a good start news and also for double-checking what you’ve read or watched elsewhere. Following guidelines for evaluating internet resources will help you analyze news stories. Luckily, there are websites out there that have already done some evaluating and fact checking for you. Check out this guide for How to Avoid Misinformation about COVID- 19/Coronavirus. It includes a list of known sources of misinformation on the coronavirus and COVID-19, as well as a list of specific sources of good information. Lastly, don’t miss the column of misinformation trackers, where you can type in or browse for your “fact” and see how real it is.