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And then there is this:
So about that viral list of fake news sites
By James Hoyt 12:14 pm EDT November 17, 2016
Melissa Zimdars, associate professor of communications at Merrimack College
http://college.usatoday.com/2016/11/17/fake-news-sites-list-melissa-zinders/

Corrections & clarifications: The following story has been updated to correct misquoted information from Professor Zimdars. A screenshot of a portion of the list of misleading websites has been replaced, to reflect the fact that Professor Zimdars took down her list, as she mentions considering doing in the interview.

Have you seen that list of fake news sites to avoid that’s been spreading like wildfire this week?

It was created by Melissa Zimdars, associate professor of communications at Merrimack College. USA TODAY College talked with Professor Zimdars to ask her about her list.( Read more... )

7 ways to spot fake news stories
By JV, Brooklyn College 6:45 pm EDT November 15, 2016
http://college.usatoday.com/2016/11/15/7-ways-to-spot-fake-news-stories/

Fake news is the news right now.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a statement on Saturday following speculation that false information on the social media platform influenced the outcome of the presidential election.

Then on Monday, both Facebook and Google announced new policies to restrict advertising revenue for phony news sources.

So a lot of people are concerned about fake news and how to keep misinformation from spreading online. Some solutions are emerging — at a recent hackathon held at Princeton University, a group of four students developed a Google Chrome browser extension to classify stories as verified or non-verified.

But even if the Internet gets better at shutting down bogus stories, it’s never going to be perfect. Here are seven easy ways to protect yourself and your timeline.cut

1. CHECK THE DATE
This happens all the time — old news stories are repackaged and reposted to generate a fresh wave of clicks, and they get spread around Facebook in a flash. Do you remember seeing your friends posting a story after Donald Trump’s election that President Obama had moved to permanently protect Planned Parenthood? The story is true, with the caveat that the rule has not yet gone into effect — but it was originally posted in September. When it resurfaced last week, it created the impression that the measure was in direct response to Trump’s election, which is not the case.

While old news may well be accurate and not actually fake, resharing it often takes it out of context, which can turn it into accidental misinformation.

So before you do anything else, check the publication date of the story, or run a quick web search of the headline to see when the event it’s about originally happened.

2. CHECK THE SOURCE AGAINST ITSELF
Maybe the story itself seems plausible (“Hillary Clinton hospitalized following a stroke”) but when you check the source’s other stories, you get things like “Area woman cures HIV through harmonica music” and “Something good happened in Florida.” That’s a dead giveaway that the source is trying out a little (fake) legitimacy to bring in (and trick) readers.

And speaking of the source …

3. LOOK CLOSELY AT THE WEBSITE
Check out the source’s site before you blindly repost. Does it look like it was designed by a kindergartner on a sugar high with a basic knowledge of HTML? Steer clear.

You should also pay attention to the domain name — sometimes it will look like a legitimate domain, but with just a few letters changed. Also look out for top-level domain extensions (com, org, edu) that you don’t recognize, and labels that are a little too on the nose; if a story about the miraculous healing power of cinnamon buns takes you to cinnamoncouncil.org, it’s probably shady.

Everyone knows The Onion, but some satirical sources (WeeklyWorldNews.com, The Borowitz Report) are less well-known. Others (DailyCurrant.com, DrudgeReport.com.co, MSNBC.co) self-protect by calling themselves satire but try to pass as legitimate.

Look for tiny disclaimers hiding in corners and copyrights. Snopes has a good list of these sites here. And on that note …

4. VERIFY WITH FACT-CHECKING SITES
Snopes is a great one. Factcheck.org and PolitiFact are others. Don’t hesitate to use them.

5. CHECK THE SOURCE AGAINST OTHER SOURCES
Let’s say your possibly legitimate story about Clinton’s stroke came from a possibly legitimate source, but you’re not sure. Check to see who else is reporting on it. If the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA TODAY, CNN or other reputable sources haven’t picked it up, chances are good it’s not valid.

Related: About the rumor that Harambe got over 10,000 votes …
And even if they have, check to see if they’ve done their own reporting; if every story links back to the same original source, it’s completely possible there will be a batch of corrections issued the next day when something turns out to be false.

6. USE REVERSE IMAGE SEARCH
For hoax sources, a legit-looking photo can be a great tool for tricking inattentive readers. Find the photo’s original source by using TinEye or Google’s reverse image search to determine if it has been misrepresented.

Also, speaking of images, this should probably go without saying, but memes are not a reliable news source.

7. BEWARE OF EXTRAVAGANCE
Clickbait is called bait for a reason — it has to be interesting enough to break the scrolling cycle and take you to a new page. This means pulling out all the psychological stops, appealing to your humor, sympathy and frustration.

Any time a story seems to be too funny, too uplifting, too terrifying or infuriating, that should trip an alarm in your head. Then follow up with your new arsenal of tricks, and it’s almost impossible to go wrong.

Jillian Vandiveer is a Brooklyn College student and a USA TODAY College digital producer.