Telltale signs:

Misassessment of importances.

Asserting as facts data which are not naturally or wholly consistent with the flow of events in time.

Implying through rhetorical devices that certain facts reflect extremes of goodness or evil; on the particpants' characters.

Leaving out key information which if known would substantively change the perspective of the story, or its impact.

Implying associations not supported by the fact. For example, "He visiteds the home of a known communist until midnight", without including that it was a large cocktail party with over 100 guests.

Including false data or leaving out germane, valid data.

Implying or stating wrong targets or wrong sources of things (the local librarian being accused of having Hnery Miller's books in the library, for example).

There are probably others but if you used just these you would be really sensitive to bad journalism.

Amos