Applying your lateral reading skills, just as when you investigate the information source, you can investigate the facts, claims, and evidence the source provides.
We encounter claims online all of the time. Claims can be classified using the following three types:
In this guide, we are focused mostly on Claims of Fact. In this case, whether a claim of fact is true depends on what evidence someone provides to back up the claim. We can investigate whether a claim of fact is true, reasonable, or plausible by reading laterally to find other trusted sources that corroborate the evidence or that refute the claim. If a claim of fact is true, then multiple news or information organizations will probably document or report on it. So, by reviewing multiple sources, we should be able to find a kind of consensus among reputable information organizations about the facts.