2.4.2 Check out the information: the Triangle method

Commonly used in the educational system the triangle method consists in locating three independent sources that point to the same answer in order to pro-duce the most accurate information. This method is not making a distinction be-tween quality websites and poor quality ones but it helps in checking the information.

Applying this concept can be more powerful that we can imagine. As an example one can take a recent news event such the riots in Tibet in 2008. If we look at the news provided from the United Kingdom (BBC. (2008). Tibetans describe continuing unrest.) and Germany (Berliner Morgenpost. (2008). China rüstet sich für « die entscheidende Schlacht ».) as symbols of West-ern media Tibetans were suffering a true chaos in March 2008.

On the other hand by having a look at CCTV (China Central Television) (XinHua. (2008). Commentary : Facts about Tibet should not be distorted.) some information posted by Western media were according to them totally biased and incoherent. And when having a look at the proves advanced by the Chinese Me-dia it is actually giving them reason. (Beijing Review. (2008). Dialogue: Media Coverage on Tibet.) The inaccuracies came from the facts that

Western media did not know well enough the Chinese and Tibetan cultures and lan-guages and were associating captions to images which were not true.

In this configuration looking at three independent sources is critical. Who could have thought that Western medias can be wrong for example.

Triangle method application

Reliable sources is then a necessary condition for data accuracy but this condition is not sufficient you need moreover to look at three independent and reliable sources information which point to the same answer.