Checking for Credibility
Initial Observations:
To get a quick, initial overview of a source, look at information the source provides about itself. For example, for a website, look at the website's "About Us" page.
In-Depth Evaluation Strategy:
To dig deeper into the credibility and reliability of a source, you'll need to do more reading and investigating, including:
- fact-checking
- learning what other sources say about the source or website (lateral reading)
The video below, from the University of Louisville, discusses "lateral reading", which is a strategy professional fact-checkers use to determine how reliable an online source is.
Citizen Literacy was created by Robert Detmering, Amber Willenborg, and Terri Holtze for University of Louisville Libraries and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Checking for Bias
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The Newseum has created a Fairness Meter. The poster is in .pdf format; here is the text of the poster (from NewseumED):
Unfortunately, news doesn't come with labels of "FAIR" or "BIASED." But you can develop your own "fairness meter" by using three key factors to measure how straight or slanted a story is.
Word Choice Does the story simply present the facts or lead you to make judgments about them? Example of Leading Language: The superintendent's pet project failed spectacularly less than three months after she shoved it through the approval process. Look for:
Context Does the story provide the big picture or just a slice of what's going on? Example of added context: Prior to accepting the role as city transportation manager, Smith received a PhD in urban planning and ran a private limo company. Look for:
Counterpoints Does the story help you understand multiple perspectives, or only one? Example of a counterpoint: While supporters say the new tax bill will increase education funding, critics point out that middle-class families will bear most of the burden. Look for:
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