There is more misleading and false information on Facebook and Twitter than ever before. 

And many of you are spreading the falsehoods without even realizing it. 

We urge you to be more careful and to stop sharing things that have not been verified. 

The posts may look true and may even seem like they are coming from a legitimate news source, but contain blatantly false information, manipulated or altered data, revisionist history and conspiracy theories which are easily debunked. 

Even video can be altered, edited, falsified or simply contain a select portion of what actually took place.

Anyone can post anything on Twitter, YouTube or Facebook.

Newspapers fact check.

Credible newspapers never knowingly print false information.

Of course, that does not mean newspaper reporters cannot be duped or that they never make mistakes.

Newspapers take what they do seriously and have high standards for verifying the information published in print or online.

When we do publish something by mistake that must be corrected, we correct it immediately and visibly. 

So many of our readers have opted to receive free text alerts and push notifications of breaking news, sports and weather in our coverage area. Our goal  is always to be the leading source of information, but we understand that being the leading source of information only matters if that information is accurate and reliable.

How many times have you read something on Facebook or Twitter only to find out later it was simply not true?

Of course, we always hope to be first when it comes to sharing the news, but we will not sacrifice credibility in order to beat the social media crowd that often rushes to post unverified information.

There are people and organizations — some even claiming to be the “media” — that are quick to post anything sensational or scandalous, whether it has been verified or not.

We want our readers to know when they read the news in print, on the newspaper’s website or its social-media accounts they can rely on that information.

Please don’t think that something is true just because you “saw it on the Internet” or because you watched the video. 

If it looks like a conspiracy theory, sounds like a conspiracy theory, smells like a conspiracy theory, it is probably a conspiracy theory. 

We are seeing so many clearly false reports being circulated on social media regarding COVID-19, protesters across the country, American slavery, Joe Biden, Donald Trump and a plethora of other things and caution you to not be so easily duped. 

Most of us are inclined to believe something that confirms what we already believe and consequently will only take the time to fact check something with which we are predisposed to disagree. Always consider the source and if the source is questionable, more than likely the post is dubious, at best. 

So, when it comes to breaking news in our community, more often than not we will be the first to have it. When we do post breaking news, you can have the confidence of knowing, however, that we took the time to verify the information before posting on our site, sending a text alert or broadcasting it on social-media accounts.

Anyone who is going to report news has a responsibility to verify the information in the report.

That is what we do each day at your local newspaper as part of our ongoing efforts to report facts, celebrate community and demand accountability.