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Be aware about the degree of partisanship that news sources have. Finding reputable news sources and avoiding partisan sources will help you find news that it truthful and well research; thus, reducing your chance of encountering fake news. Vanessa Otero (2016) creates a chart to illustrate how news sources fall within the liberal and conservative spectrum. The chart was featured on the professional blog of journalism professor Dr. Dennis G. Jerz from Seton Hill University.
"Remember that journalism is a professional and academic field with a set of agreed-upon standards. People get degrees in it and people who are really good at it get jobs in it at good organizations. Peer review helps ensure mainstream sources adhere to standards; if a story doesn’t meet those standards, other news outlets report on that." --Vanessa Otero, 2016
Source: Ad Fontes Media. 2019. The Media Bias Chart. Chart, version 5
In addition to reading quality journalism, the following are good tips to help your stay accurately informed.
What to do:
Read/watch/listen very widely. Be informed about what is going on around the world.
Some generally reliable sources are (some of which require a subscription): The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Atlantic, National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour, The Economist, The Pew Research Center, Democracy Now, as well as various local sources.
Recognize that even typically reliable sources, whether mainstream or alternative, corporate or nonprofit, rely on particular media frames to report stories and select stories based on different notions of newsworthiness.
Be critical of the sources we share and engage with on social media.
What to avoid:
Websites that may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information (examples: ConsciousLifeNews.com, CountdownToZeroTime.com)
These websites sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions (examples: BipartisanReport.com, TheFreeThoughtProject.com)
Purposefully fake satire/comedy sites that can offer critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news (examples: Christwire.org, TheOnion.com)
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