Reader guide
How to verify breaking news
Breaking reports arrive quickly and often without complete context. A few checks can help separate confirmed developments from recycled footage, mistaken identities, and unsupported claims.
Six useful checks
- Open the original source. Read beyond the headline and identify who reported the information.
- Check the timestamp. Confirm when the page was first published and when it was updated.
- Confirm the location. Similar place names and old footage can create false impressions.
- Look for primary confirmation. Official agencies, court documents, public records, and direct statements may clarify important facts.
- Compare independent reporting. Multiple outlets repeating one unverified post are not the same as multiple independent confirmations.
- Allow uncertainty. Casualty figures, motives, identities, and timelines frequently change during the first hours of a major event.
Images and social posts
Check whether an image appeared online before the current event, whether the account posting it is authentic, and whether the caption matches what can actually be seen. Cropped screenshots can omit dates, usernames, corrections, and surrounding context.
When sharing
Share the direct source page, include the date, and avoid adding certainty that the reporting itself does not support. If a story changes, consider correcting or deleting an older post rather than allowing an inaccurate version to keep circulating.