LibGuides: Fake News &amp; Bad Info: Media Literacy Resources: Four Moves and A Habit: Demo

Current News Climate

How well the public is equipped to parse through news in the current environment?

news consumers must make rapid-fire judgments about how to internalize news-related statements
- news-related statements that can come in snippets or with little or no context
growing political divide in which sources Americans get news from and trust

1. Check for previous work

Start with Snopes, a fact checking site.
- an article on the story\labeled it as fake news satire
Check ABC 10 News, aired it on their fact or fiction segment, where it was determined to be fiction (see link below)

2. Go upstream to the source

the TikTok video originally came from an article published by the same TikTok user, @mousetrapnews.
@mousetrapnews has their own webpage dedicated to news stories about Disneyland parks.
the original article claimed Disney was battling Florida in the courts over the minimum drinking age
- no evidence such as sources or court filings are mentioned.

3. Read laterally

Google @mousetrapnews
the About page admits they are a SATIRE website and only write fake stories about Disney Parks

4. Circle back

what might arouse your suspicion?
- article explains the National Minimum Drinking Age Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Reagan
- the article asks the reader, "Didn’t think you would get a history lesson from us, did you?"
- asks a follow-up question "Now that we have set up the act, we have some Disney news to go with it.",
check another the user's Instagram account
- "Real Disney News That is 100% Fake" and "The Onion Of Disney News".

Snopes
Notice the "lateral reading" methods Snopes uses to fact-check a claim.
Is Disney World Lowering the Drinking Age to 18? (Snopes)
A rumor said that Disney World was "battling the Florida government in court" to get a drinking age exemption for anyone age 18 or older.
ABC News 10 Fact or Fiction: Disney World lobbying to lower drinking age on Florida property?
KGTV) — A TikTok video seen millions of times claims Disney World is lobbying to lower the drinking age on its Florida property to 18. The video links to an article which says the Walt Disney Company is battling Florida in the courts to lower the drinking age on its property in order to increase revenue at EPCOT. But the whole thing is fiction.
Mouse Trap News
Mouse Trap News is the world’s best SATIRE site. We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff. From Disney Park announcements to Disney Hotel and resort news to made-up Disney partnerships, you can be assured that anything you read here is not true, real, or accurate, but it is fun. So technically our slogan The Moused Trusted Name in Disney News isn’t true, but we thought it was creative and funny, so we are running with it.
National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984
The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act, [23 U.S.C. § 158], requires that States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds.