Not every doomsday story you read is fake news – some of it is very real – but a lot of it is nothing more than a few obscure facts wrapped in hysteria and paranoia.

Here is how most fake news gets created and how it often spreads as fact.

The basic purpose of these ten forms: the presentation of a false picture of reality.

You could find more forms, or divide these ten into sub-categories.

The ten basic forms are:

Direct lying about matters of fact. (This sometimes includes doubling down on lies already told, or telling a bigger lie after the first one.)

Leaving out vital information.

Limited hangout. (This is an admission of a crime or a mistake, which only partially reveals the whole truth. The idea is that by admitting a fraction of what really happened and burying the biggest revelations, people will be satisfied and go away, and the story will never be covered again.)

Shutting down the truth after publishing it—includes failing to follow up and investigate a story more deeply.

Not connecting dots between important pieces of data.

Censoring the truth, wherever it is found (or calling it “fake news”).

Using biased “experts” to present slanted or false “facts.”

Repeating a false story many times—this includes the echo-chamber effect, in which a number of outlets “bounce” the false story among themselves.

Claiming a reasonable and true consensus exists, when it doesn’t, when there are many important dissenters, who are shut out from offering their analysis.

Employing a panoply of effects (reputation of the media outlet, voice quality of the anchor, acting skills, dry mechanical language, studio lighting, overlay of electronic transmissions, etc.) to create an impression of elevated authority which is beyond challenge.

These are all traditional forms and methods.

Some advice on determining if the news you read is fake: Always get three sources of the same story, including one mainstream media source, look for sourced quotations – outsourced news is not always inaccurate, but often is embellished, approach a news story that sounds surreal as if it is – look at skeptic websites for rebuttals and look for “updates” or “follow-up” that provide perspective on a story.

If you want to read up on how to identify fake news, before you end up spreading a rumor or false story as fact, check out The Daily Sheeple.