Fact-Checking on the Eve of April Fool's Day
March 31, 2026
Note: If you are attending the Online News Association conference in Chicago today, I’ll be presenting on AI tools from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Stop by Salon A1 and lets break the internet!
April Fool’s Day is tomorrow, so why not have a newsletter on fact-checking tools, right? In all honesty, with AI tools generating deepfakes, pretty much every day is April Fool’s Day.
So that’s why it’s so important to have AI tools at your fingertips. Here a few gems I use on a regular basis. You can find many more on the Journalist’s Toolbox fact-checking page.
Kudos to Henk Van Ess and Craig Silverman for sharing and training us on these tools over the years:
Deepfake-o-Meter
Check images, video and audio. Free, but it requires a signup. You can select from several AI detectors that produce results by percentage of certainty of AI use.
FotoForensics
Breaks down EXIF and DNA of a photo to detect if it’s been doctored.
Phone Validator
Use this database to verify phone numbers. It’s a good way to detect robo-call and spam numbers. Test it with some numbers you know. It’s very helpful around local and national elections to see if numbers are tied to fundraising scams.
Google Fact-Check Explorer
Search for fact-checks by topic, name, etc. It also has an image search built-it that instantly gives you a
Google Image Search
Load an image or link to one and find where and when it has appeared online. Look for context. Also try the “About This image” feature.
ImageWhisperer
Media verification and AI detector developed by Henk van Ess.
GIJN Video: Interview with Henk van Ess
This 55-minute presentation covers how to use tools to detect AI in images, video, etc. Includes this guide on how to do it.
Pic Detective
A free reverse image search tool that can detect matches even when photos are cropped, flipped or color-adjusted.
TinEye
Another reliable reverse image search tool. It runs a different algorithm than Google and produces excellent results.
CrowdCounter
Need a crowd estimate? This AI tool estimates the number of people in an image. Test it with some familiar images before using it on anything publishable. Another useful tool for checking crowd sizes: MapChecking. Video: How to use MapChecking
Which Face Is Real?
Test your ability to check for deepfakes.
Google’s Odd One Out
Guess which of the four images are AI-generated. Great practice for spotting deepfakes.
Google Earth Measure Tool
Measure distances between points on the earth’s surface. Helpful for measuring distance in sniper/gun violence stories, police chases, etc. Google Earth images are part of the public domain so you can publish them. Just credit Google Earth. | Google Permissions page
As much as I love using fact-checking tools, we need to realize that they are not perfect. Journalist and tool creator Henk van Ess reminds us that AI detection tools are always are behind the AI deepfake creation tools: Why AI Detection Fails on Fakes That Matter Most
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More Tools and Research
FilesDesk
AI-powered file renaming tool that automatically analyzes your files’ content and metadata to generate smart, descriptive filenames, saving you from manual renaming and messy folders. It supports a wide range of file types—including images, documents, audio and video and can batch-process or monitor folders to keep your files consistently organized.Project Genie
Google DeepMind’s interactive world generator.iPalettes
A color palette creator using keywords for design inspirationYouTube to Transcript
Generate YouTube transcripts in more tban 125 languages for free.
Want More Training?
Contact Mike Reilley at mikereilley1 (at) gmail (dot) com to schedule an AI tools training for your staff.
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Textbooks
Data + Journalism
Samantha Sunne and I co-authored the 2nd Edition of the textbook, “Data + Journalism” that will be available late summer on Routledge. (Order 1st edition here). It’s an introductory- to intermediate-level guide to learning data storytelling from A to Z. The second edition features new tools, datasets, exercises and AI tools.
The Journalist’s Toolbox
My new book, “The Journalist’s Toolbox A Guide to Digital Reporting and AI” is published by Routledge. You can order it here,
In Quotes …
“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” --W.E.B. Du Bois
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