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News Media

This guide will teach you how to access News resources at Triton, about various kinds of news media bias, and how to use these resources most effectively.

 

Various newspapers in the background, with the text "News Media"

Source: Jon S on Flikr, used with CC 2.0. Modified by zooming in, cropping, and adding center bubble and "News Media" text. | https://www.flickr.com/photos/62693815@N03/6277208078

Strategies for News

One of the quickest ways to check the value of the news you're reading is to think about the source. Think about:

  • Who?
    • Who wrote the article? Is it someone who is an expert on the subject? Is it someone who is known for having a certain agenda or opinion? You can Google the author and see what you find - maybe a Wikipedia page, a social media feed, a personal website, or other things they've written. You also might be able to click on their name or picture on the news website to see more of what they've written. Especially suspect is an article sponsored by a related person or company (would you trust a review for the latest iPhone that Apple paid for?).
  • What?
    • What publication were they writing for? Some sources are known for having strong biases, or for being less reputable. If you aren't sure about the news source, try searching it up and seeing what other people say about it, or check the About or Mission or Values page the website might have, and see what you can find out. You can also look at what other articles the publication has - are they all pushing one agenda, or do some of them seem like they're probably false? In cases like that, it's a lot less likely that the information is accurate.
  • When?
    • When was the article written? Sometimes if an article is old enough, it might not have important information that has happened since then. This is especially true for news! Or if an article just came out in the past couple of days, the story might be developing and need to be checked regularly.
  • Where?
    • Where was the article written? Location is an important factor in bias that is sometimes forgotten, especially for reporting on international issues.

Lateral reading is another way of saying reading things side-by-side, or to read different perspectives and articles about the same topic. This is a great way to get the bigger picture and make up for bias in the news. It also helps you understand what kind of perspectives and biases that author and publication might have, for your future reading.

lateral reading vs vertical reading

Source: https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2023/09/what-is-lateral-reading.html Used as permitted by Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND for purely educational purposes.

Facts and opinions are both valuable for writing, but it's important to be able to tell the difference when you're reading the news.

Some news sources have opinion sections that they publish alongside their fact-based news. Be on the lookout for words like "Opinion" or "Editorial" or "Perspective", especially on the top or bottom of the article. If it is an opinion-based piece, then while it may still be valuable and interesting, it is not fact-based and likely will not qualify as a reliable source.

In this screenshot, you can see that the top row of articles are news articles that are attempting to write in a fact-based way, and the bottom row of articles are opinion pieces, with various headings to mark them as such (like "Sunday Opinion" and "Editorials").

Screenshot of the New York Times homepage with news articles and opinion articles.

Source: nytimes.com as of 4/29/24

Unfortunately, while most mainstream news sources will be clear about which pieces are opinion-based, not all of them will. Sometimes they are trying to convince you of something, which means they're probably relying less on facts and more on opinions. If you're not sure if something you read is a fact, you can ask yourself questions like the ones listed in the slideshow below.

Lastly, some articles might have a mix of facts and opinions. If you feel comfortable distinguishing between the two, sometimes articles can be useful even if they're partially inaccurate, since you can find the facts and ignore the rest. To practice this, you can try printing out an article and marking the facts with a highlighter.

All these strategies might seem a bit overwhelming. The good news is, using any of them can help. If you're not sure you can check all these things, try adding just one strategy to improve. For example, the next time you read a news article, you could try searching for one more article on the topic to see what someone else says. Or if something you read seems a little fishy, do some sleuthing to see if it's a fact or an opinion. Any of these strategies should help you become a more understanding and informed news reader, which is very useful. And just like building a muscle or learning a new skill, the more you do it, the easier it gets, and the better you get at it.

P.S. If you realize you've been fooled by inaccurate news, don't feel bad! There are many examples of famous and well-informed professionals who spread what they thought was accurate information but was really not. Nobody's perfect!

Stairs going up an outdoor path

Source: Tim Green on Flikr. Used with CC BY 2.0 License. https://www.flickr.com/photos/93416311@N00/1919798630

Is this a fact or an opinion?

Is this a fact or an opinion?

  • Questions to ask yourself

Is this verifiable?

Is this verifiable?

  • Are they the only people saying this or is it being reported on by multiple sources? (This is another place where lateral reading comes in handy.)

Is this reasonable? slide

Is this reasonable?

  • If something sounds extremely unlikely or wild, especially if it makes a specific group, person, or ideology look particularly good or bad, it's probably not true, or at least exaggerated.

Is this using typical opinion words?

Is this using typical opinion words?

  • These are words that people typically use with opinions, like "believe," or does the author use first person terms like "I" or "we?"

Is this using typical opinion words?

Is this using generalities?

  • If something you're reading tries to say something is universal that probably depends on the person, it probably isn't being very careful about fact vs. opinion.

Further Reading