News

News is meant to inform citizens of current events. However, some "news" exists solely to mislead the public or sway opinion. Own your point of view by knowing the facts before you make a decision about a topic. Bias is everywhere. Know how to spot it. Be the author of your opinions with a solid, factual base. Be a critical analyzer of information in all its forms. Know the author (source) and purpose or intention of the information. Cross reference information to test its legitimacy.

fake news

fact checking and bias

Use these resources to check facts and bias.

Describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, consumer advocate that aims to inform the public on the factual accuracy of political claims, news, ads, etc.
Politifact seeks to present true, unbiased facts. Through the use of a graphic "truth" meter, one can check news stories, people in the news or subjects of interest for accuracy.
The oldest and largest fact checking online site. Sources are documented to encourage independent fact checking.
Aims to debunk email scams, internet hoaxes, and fake news circulated through email, blogs, social media, online forums and fake news sites.

current events

Check out front pages from newspapers all over the country. See the different perspectives and bias.

How do I find and print full news articles ?

Many newspapers will let you print daily articles from their websites. Some will require subscriptions. Use an extension (e.g. Diigo, Read and Write, Chrome settings) to create a page in readable format for printing. Historical (yesterday and beyond) news articles are available through our databases, ProQuest and Gale OneFile. Please contact sfrindt4747@bcsdny.org for database password information or instruction.

evaluating websites

Know your website domains: (having one of these extensions does NOT ensure accuracy or valid information.

  • .com = commercial

  • .gov = government

  • .edu = education

  • .org = non-profit organization

  • .net = network resources

  • .mil = military

Flowchart_-How-to-evaluate-websites-Kathleen-Morris-1winq0c.pdf

Use this worksheet to evaluate websites, news articles, popular magazine articles.

craap.pdf

Here's another version of an evaluation worksheet that includes "objectivity".

webevalform.pdf