--- title: How to check: who, how, who else — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «How to check: who, how, who else», a lesson of the politics course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Most claims can be checked with three questions: who says so, how do they know, and who else reports it? --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Politics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/) / How to check: who, how, who else # How to check: who, how, who else Lesson 35 of the politics course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/0/) — Most claims can be checked with three questions: who says so, how do they know, and who else reports it? - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/1/) — It is like a playground rumour that "school's closed tomorrow": you ask who said it ("a boy in Year 6"), how he knows ("his cousin heard"), and whether any teacher or the school website says the same; usually the rumour falls apart by the second question. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/2/) — Fact-checkers do this for a living; they also use tricks like lateral reading, searching for a website's name in a new tab, and reverse image search, searching with a picture instead of words. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/3/) — Checking works both ways: it can show a thing is fake, and it can show a thing is real, like a protest photo printed by three big outlets with the photographer's name. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/4/) — When something scares you or you cannot tell, show a trusted grown-up and wait before sharing; "not sure yet" is an honest answer. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/5/) — The first question is who says it; something heard from someone who heard it from someone else is called hearsay. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/6/) — The second question is how they know: a real study has a name, scientists and usually a link, and other scientists often check it first in peer review. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/7/) — The third question is who else reports it: real big news is usually reported by many outlets within hours, though sometimes one outlet really gets a true scoop first. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/8/) — Fact-checkers check claims, look for evidence, ask experts and show their working, and rate claims true, false or misleading. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/9/) — Lateral reading means checking a website by opening a new tab and reading what others say about it. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/10/) — A reverse image search finds where else a picture has appeared and when, which can show it is old or edited. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/11/) — When something online is scary or upsetting, showing a trusted adult is a good step, and it is fine to say "I don't know if this is true". - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/12/) — Breaking news is often wrong at first, so waiting before sharing gives time for the facts to come out. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/13/) — Sponsored content is an advert made to look like news, and the label "paid for by" tells you someone is selling something. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/14/) — Checking can also show something is real: a named photographer and several big outlets are good signs. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/15/) — Some people say to trust official sources first, others say officials can be wrong too, so check the evidence as well. - ← previous: [Algorithms, bubbles and false balance](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/34-algorithms-bubbles-and-false-balance/) - next →: [Checking practice: true, false and not sure yet](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/36-checking-practice-true-false-not-sure/) - ↑ back to [Politics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/)