These five popular third-party sites can be used to help identify, track and debunk popular hoaxes.
1. www.snopes.com: The most popular myth-busting Web site.
2. www.urbanlegends.about.com: An often-updated blog by David Emery that features an Urban Legends newsletter.
3. www.hoax-slayer.com: Debunks popular e-mail hoaxes with a monthly newsletter.
4. www.truthorfiction.com: A large directory of hoaxes and rumors by category.
5. www.hoaxbusters.ciac.org: A site run by the U.S. government’s Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) to identify popular Web hoaxes and scams.
These tips were written by Erik Mueller (vice president of corporate affairs for Weber Shandwick Worldwide and adjunct professor in the College of Communications at DePaul University in Chicago) and Joshua Morton (senior account executive of corporate affairs for Weber Shandwick Worldwide). It is featured in the recently released PR News Crisis Management Volume 2 Guidebook. For more information on this and other PR News Guidebooks, visit www.prnewsonline.com/store.