Scrolling past a dramatic tech headline, you may wonder whether to trust it. Here is how to read tech news critically: stop reading the page, open a new tab, and check who is behind the story and what others say.
This guide is part of our coverage of technology news, where you can find more help sorting solid reporting from noise.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Year the term “lateral reading” was coined in a study | 2019 |
| High school students in the 2022 study | 499 students |
| Lateral reading lessons given to half of them | six 50-minute lessons |
| Score gain, students in traditional government classes | 25 percent |
| Score gain, students taught lateral reading | 71 percent |
The figures come from Edutopia’s report on fact-checker research and Princeton University Library’s guide to lateral reading. Figures can change as new research appears, so check the source before you rely on them.
What is lateral reading, and why does it suit tech headlines?
Lateral reading means leaving a page to judge it instead of studying the page itself. Princeton’s library guide says the term was coined by Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew in their 2019 study of how expert fact-checkers evaluate sources.
Most of us were taught the opposite, a vertical approach: read the article closely from top to bottom and hunt for mistakes. According to Edutopia, that is time-consuming and inefficient, and few readers know enough to spot factual errors that way. Technology stories show the problem well, because few readers can judge a claim about a new chip, app or security flaw just by rereading it.
Fact-checkers behave differently. They open several tabs to validate claims and check who is behind a site before they keep reading the original page.
Four steps to check a tech story in a new tab
Princeton’s guide lays out four steps. They fit neatly onto a headline about a gadget, an app or a security incident.
- Open a new tab and search for the company or website. To exclude results from the site itself, the guide suggests the -site operator.
- See what other sources say about the site. The guide notes that Wikipedia and established news outlets have standards for reliability and fact checking.
- Find out who runs it. A site’s “About” page is usually written to present its purpose favorably, so a domain lookup tool such as ICANN Lookup can show who a site is registered to.
- Evaluate the claims and evidence. Use fact-checking sites such as Snopes, and if a story says “research indicates”, search for the research itself on Google Scholar.
Say a headline reports that user records have leaked. A plain explainer on what is a data breach can help you judge whether the wording matches the event.
What the research found about teaching lateral reading
In a 2016 study, researchers gave students from middle school through college 56 tasks, such as judging a source’s trustworthiness. They summed up the results in one word: bleak.
A 2022 study then tested whether lateral reading could be taught. As Edutopia reports, 499 high school students took part, and half were given six 50-minute lessons in lateral reading. After a three-month period, students in traditional government classes had gained 25 percent, while the lateral reading group improved by 71 percent.
The test site was minimumwage.com, which claimed to offer nonpartisan information. To get full credit, students had to avoid being swayed by its dot-org address, its references to scientific studies and its claim of staff with advanced degrees. A polished look is not proof of reliability.
These studies tested students on general websites, not on tech news in particular. The habit transfers, but the numbers describe those classrooms, not your feed.
Questions to ask before you share a headline
The Widener University library guide boils lateral reading down to a short set of questions:
- Who is behind the information?
- What is their evidence for their claims?
- What do other sources say about the organization and their claims?
- Who funds or sponsors the site where the piece was published?
- Are credible news outlets reporting on, or not reporting on, what you are reading?
The Bill of Rights Institute lesson adds a useful caution: sites that rate other sites may have their own biases too. Treat any single checker as one input, not a verdict.
Warning signs worth a closer look
Edutopia lists quick signals that an unfamiliar page may be misinformation. They are prompts to start checking, not proof of anything.
- Sensational claims that sound too good to be true
- Overtly political perspectives
- Single-source reporting
- Spelling or grammatical errors
The same article suggests treating information as dubious until verified. If a story trips several of these signals, read how to spot fake tech news for more ways to separate real reporting from invention.
Frequently asked questions
What is lateral reading?
Show answer
It is the practice of opening new tabs to check a source against other trusted sources, rather than judging the source only by what it says about itself. Princeton’s guide credits the term to a 2019 study by Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew.
Should I read the whole article before checking it?
Show answer
Not necessarily. Edutopia describes fact-checkers as checking who is behind a site before continuing to read the initial page.
Can I trust a website’s About page?
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Treat it as a starting point only. Princeton’s guide says that page is usually written to favorably represent the site’s purpose, so confirm it elsewhere.
Are fact-checking sites always right?
Show answer
No source is beyond question. The Bill of Rights Institute lesson notes that such sites may have biases of their own, so compare more than one and look at the evidence they cite.
