STOP: ask yourself who is sharing the information you've found. Who is their intended audience? What is their purpose for sharing the information? Are they trying to sell me something, convince me of something, or entertain me?
INVESTIGATE: instead of trusting the source to tell you about itself, consult other sources to learn more. What do others think of the source you are consulting? Are they reliable and credible?
FIND BETTER COVERAGE: you can almost always find a better source than the first one you found. Look for other sources that speak to your topic and compare them to the first source you found. Which is better and why?
TRACE CLAIMS: this is really important when using mass media sources. They often refer to data from other sources. Try to find the original source of data to determine where it came from, how reliable it is, and what other information is available to give it context.