The Four Moves (SIFT)

The Concept

The SIFT method was developed by Mike Caulfield (University of Washington). It is the industry standard for digital verification. Most people read “Vertically” (scrolling down the page). Verification requires reading “Laterally” (opening new tabs to check the page).

The Acronym: S.I.F.T.

1. STOP

• The Check: As discussed in Lesson 1.1, if you feel strong emotion, stop.

• The Action: Do not share. Do not read further. Just pause.

2. INVESTIGATE the Source

• The Mistake: Looking at the “About Us” page. (A liar will lie on their About page).

• The Tradecraft:

  1. Highlight the name of the website (e.g., “The Daily Truth”).

  2. Right-click and select “Search Google for ‘The Daily Truth'”.

  3. Crucial Step: Add the word -site:thedailytruth.com to your search.

  4. The Result: This forces Google to show you what other people say about them, while hiding their own site. You want to know their reputation, not their self-description.

3. FIND Better Coverage

• The Scenario: You see a shocking story on a blog you’ve never heard of.

• The Tradecraft: Search for the topic of the story (e.g., “Mayor arrested for corruption”) in Google News.

• The “Cross-Reference” Rule:

  • If AP, Reuters, or BBC are reporting it: Likely True.

  • If no one else is reporting it: Likely False. (Big stories do not stay secret).

  • If only “known partisan” sites are reporting it: Likely Propaganda.

4. TRACE Claims to the Original

• The Problem: The internet is a game of “Telephone.” By the time a quote reaches you, it has been stripped of context.

• The Tradecraft:

  • Click the links in the article. Do they actually lead to a source?

  • If they link to another blog, click that link.

  • Keep clicking until you find the Primary Document (The police report, the video, or the scientific paper).

  • The Surprise: Often, the original document says the opposite of the headline.

Action Item: The “Hover Test”

Go to a news site you visit often. Hover your mouse over 3 hyperlinks in an article.

• Do they look like internal links (keeping you on the site)?

• Or are they external citations (proving their work)? Good journalism provides an audit trail. Bad journalism hides it.