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News Literacy and Fact Checking

Judging the News

Quality Journalism:

Do you know if your news is produced by quality journalism? Check out this informative poster from the News Literacy Project to help you judge for yourself. 

Engaging with the News:

When you read see, or hear a piece of news it's important to take steps to check its reliability, especially if it seems questionable. One way to do this is to engage in the SIFT technique shown below. 

SIFT was created by Mike Caulfield, a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, who the spread of online rumors and misinformation.

 

 

 

Is your news source reliable? 

News is everywhere these days, but it isn't always factual or reliable. Use the following tips from the News Literacy Project to determine if the source you are reading is trustworthy. 

 

1. Do a quick search of the source: 

Plug in the name of the website, news site, blog, etc. into Wikipedia your preferred search engine and see information comes up on it. 

2. Look for Standards: 

Reputable news sites will have ethical standards and policies communicated directly on their site. These can often be found on the very bottom of their sites under about, history, or corrections. 

3. Check for Transparency: 

Is it clear who owns the website/news organization? Do you see an authors name attached to articles/information? Can you contact the authors/newsroom/editors? The answers should be yes. 

4. How are errors handled? 

Credible news sources allow for error correction. Does the site you are reading allow for this? 

5. Assess other news coverage.

Don't just get information from one source, see what other news sources say about it-especially from standard based news sources.