Questions to ask when evaluating the news
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Questions for Evaluating News
Questions to ask about the news item you're reading and to ask yourself. Adapted from materials from the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University School of Journalism.
Media bias
All news sources have political leanings, left (more liberal), right (more conservative), and centrist. Determining the partisan bias of a news source isn't an exact science, but here are a few sources that may help:
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AllSides Media Bias Ratings
News web site whose stated mission is to provide "multiple angles on the same story so you can quickly get the full picture, not just one slant." Their Media Bias Ratings page provides a searchable list of news outlets with ratings based on AllSides' own methodology, which you can read more about on their "How we rate media bias" page. Also check their About section for more information about the site's staff and funding.
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U.S. Media Polarization and the 2020 Election: A Nation Divided
PEW Research Center report on the news habits of Americans. Based on a survey of over 12,000 U.S. adults conducted in October and November of 2019. Participants, self-identifying as either Democratic liberals or Republican conservatives, were asked which news sources they trusted. Among other things, helpful for figuring out if the news source you're consulting is liberal or conservative leaning.
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SPJ Code of Ethics
The Society of Professional Journalists' statement of principles for the ethical practice of journalism. Does the news story you're reading, viewing, or listening to follow these guidelines?
Confirmation bias
As news consumers, it's important to keep our personal biases in mind, too. Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that confirms our beliefs and avoid or ignore information that challenges them. It's important to read about a topic across multiple (credible) news sources to get the full picture.
Fake news
Is the news report you're reading or watching outright false or not and how can you tell? Note: this is not the same thing as political bias. A story might have a political leaning or position with which you disagree, but that doesn't make it fake. Some tools to help you determine the veracity of the news:
Fact checking sites
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FactCheck.org
A project of the The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. " Their primary focus is "on presidential candidates in presidential election years, and on the top Senate races in midterm elections. In off-election years, our primary focus is on the action in Congress."
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PolitiFact
Fact-checking site owned by the nonprofit Poynter Institute for Media Studies. In brief, they check statements made by politicians in "transcripts, speeches, news stories, press releases, and campaign brochures" as well as on "TV and social media." See About section for more information about their process, staffing, and funding.
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Global Fact-checking Sites
A database of global fact-checking sites maintained by the Duke University Reporters’ Lab. You can use the map to explore sites around the world or browse sites in list form.
Tips for recognizing fake news
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How to Spot Fake News
Tips from factcheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Also available as
a video and
an infographic.
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Fake news. It's complicated.
Article explaining the current information ecosystem and breaking down the difference between dis and mis-information. By Claire Wardle of First Draft, a project of the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.
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A Field Guide to “Fake News” and Other Information Disorders
"Explores the use of digital methods to study false viral news, political memes, trolling practices and their social life online." A project of the Public Data Lab with support from First Draft at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
News industry (and partners) efforts to build trust and transparency
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Credibility Coalition
Self described as "an interdisciplinary community committed to improving our information ecosystems and media literacy through transparent and collaborative exploration." Among other ideas, they're investigating web annotation standards that would help indicate the credibility of news stories and elevate more credible stories in search engine results. See their About page for more information about who's involved.
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Trusting News
A project "helping journalists earn news consumers’ trust" by investigating how people decide what news is trustworthy and what practical steps journalists can take to gain users' trust. See their About pages to find out more about the project's newsroom partners and team of researchers.
