Write a proportionate media verdict
See this course’s project requirements
A media-verification packet with a claim map, provenance trail, cue log, independent-channel check, claim-specific verdicts, and a share-or-hold note.
Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.
What to include
- Extract the event, place, time, and consequence claims.
- Trace the fictional media history and separate reposts from independent sources.
- Record cues with alternative explanations and detector limits.
- Verify the request through a separately established channel.
- Write claim-specific verdicts and a private sharing decision.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Observations remain separate from inferred causes.
- Source history and independent evidence are accurately traced.
- Verdicts distinguish contradicted claims from unknown production methods.
- The final action avoids unsupported claims and unnecessary amplification.
Want more background?
The idea in everyday life
Return to P1: the picture is archived as Westbridge in 2022, but caption says Eastbank today and all classes canceled. Supplied current Eastbank library notice: “Open as scheduled; evening room 2 class moved to room 3.” The image’s generation method is unknown. Use labels SUPPORTED, CONTRADICTED, UNVERIFIED.
A useful verdict can be partial: caption false, event unknown, generation method unverified.
Write a proportionate media verdict: guided practice
A useful verdict can be partial: caption false, event unknown, generation method unverified.
Use paper or a free local text editor. This is an original fictional practice case; do not submit its records to a real service. Start this lesson with these facts, even if an earlier variation changed them. Return to P1: the picture is archived as Westbridge in 2022, but caption says Eastbank today and all classes canceled. Supplied current Eastbank library notice: “Open as scheduled; evening room 2 class moved to room 3.” The image’s generation method is unknown. Use labels SUPPORTED, CONTRADICTED, UNVERIFIED.
1. Assess the image context
Compare caption with the dated archive.
You should see: Today/Eastbank image context: CONTRADICTED.
The earlier different-location match directly conflicts with the caption.
2. Assess cancellation
Compare “all classes canceled” with the current official notice.
You should see: All classes canceled: CONTRADICTED; one room move is SUPPORTED.
The official notice supports a narrower operational change.
3. Assess generation method
Record whether the evidence proves AI generation.
You should see: AI-generated: UNVERIFIED.
A misleading caption does not establish synthetic production.
4. Write the verdict
Combine separate labels and cite the fictional record IDs.
You should see: P1 misuses an older Westbridge image and contradicts the current library notice; AI origin remains unknown.
Separate verdicts avoid replacing one false certainty with another.
What to finish
Write a proportionate media verdict record with the worked decisions and changed-case check.
Watch for this
Reducing a multi-part claim to one overconfident true/fake label.
How can I tell I understand it?
Use evidence labels that match what is actually established. Explain the evidence behind the result and correct any mismatch.
Quick knowledge check
Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.
You’ll get an explanation for each answer. Signed in? Your results save to your account.
Pass the check. We’ll save the progress.
Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.
Go to the knowledge checkOptional course overview video · same video as Lesson 1
Election Misinformation Symposium: Fighting Misinfo Through Fact-checking and Deepfake Detection
From Center for Media Engagement. Watch here or open it on YouTube .
Optional course overview. Follow the written steps below at your own pace.Tools, templates, and lesson sources
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Sources and further reading
Explore the references behind this lesson.
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12
Inspected the primary preprint abstract: artifact categories, absent artifacts, and difficulty of provenance without context.
Access: Public page or PDF inspected without payment or institutional sign-in on September 12, 2026. Optional external accounts are unnecessary for this course.
Reuse: Link and original paraphrase only. Public access does not grant blanket reuse; no provider text, figures, or exercises are reproduced.
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12
Inspected lateral reading, upstream checking, reverse-image searching, and the distinction between existing interventions and ongoing AI research.
Access: Public page or PDF inspected without payment or institutional sign-in on September 12, 2026. Optional external accounts are unnecessary for this course.
Reuse: Link and original paraphrase only. Public access does not grant blanket reuse; no provider text, figures, or exercises are reproduced.
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