Characteristics of Reputable News Sources
A reputable newspaper...
- Publishes accurate content; checks facts, and if errors are made, corrects them
- Uses reputable sources (people, documentation) and verifies those sources
- Presents headlines which accurately represent the article content (that don't play on readers' emotions)
- Identifies authors of articles clearly with bylines
- Produces its own content; doesn't merely aggregate content from other sources
- Identifies content types clearly (e.g. report vs. editorial)
- Conducts reporting not just editorializing
- Employs journalists who follow the profession's code of ethics
- Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics, four main sections: Seek Truth and Report It, Minimize Harm, Act Independently, Be Accountable and Transparent
- 10 Elements to Good Journalism (American Institute Press), selected from Kovach and Rosenstiel's book The Elements of Journalism.
Tip sheet
By IFLA (http://www.ifla.org/publications/node/11174) [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Tools
Get Research Help
Selected resources
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Evaluating News Sources: Fake News and BeyondA guide from Olin Library, Cornell Research & Learning Services,Cornell University
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Four Moves and a HabitTips to help you think critically and evaluate web sources.
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AllSidesAllSides attempts to reveal media bias and provide balanced news.
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factcheck.orgFrom the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania.
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Center for News LiteracyDesigned to help you judge the reliability and credibility of information, whether it comes via print, tv, or online.
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SciCheckFocuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy.
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Citizen Literacy resource guideFrom the University of Louisville library, an online toolkit that promotes the development of key information skills for democratic citizenship and features short videos, handouts, and activities that faculty across all disciplines can integrate into their courses and assignments.
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Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers (open e-book)OER (open educational resource) by Mike Caulfield, Washington State University Vancouver.
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The Threat of Deep FakesFrom the Council on Foreign Relations, this brief clip highlights deep-fake videos that use machine-learning algorithms that take existing images and footage to doctor videos.
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The Conspiracy Theory Handbook (2020)An ebook written by Stephan Lewandowsky, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, and John Cook, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University