LibGuides: Fake News & Media Bias: Recommended Resources

Critical and Scholarly Research on Journalism

"The Spread of True and False News Online" -- by Vosoughi, Roy, and Aral (MIT)
This study, published in the March 9, 2018 issue of Science, is the largest ever of its kind. Researchers at MIT analyzed roughly 126,000 stories spread on Twitter by 3 million people more than 4.5 million times and determined that false news spread "farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information."
Audience Perspectives on the Media -- Reuters/Oxford University
This exhaustive report examines the reasons for the public's low trust of the media in the U. S. and eight European countries.
Columbia Journalism Review
Analysis and reporting on contemporary journalism.
Communication and Mass Media Complete
A subscription database containing thousands of scholarly research articles on journalism and the news media [student login required].
Distinguishing Between Factual and Opinion Statements in the News
Pew Research study of more than 5,000 Americans measured ability to distinguish factual from opinion statements by media outlet, digital savvy, political awareness, and party affiliation.
Journalist's Resource--Shorenstein Center, Harvard University
Collects scholarship relevant to media practitioners, bloggers, educators, students and general readers.
Pew Research Center -- Journalism & Media
An excellent source of statistical data on all aspects of news media. The Pew Research Center conducts research into the attitudes and habits of Americans across media from social media to newspapers, cable news to talk radio.
Poynter Institute -- Fact-checking Research Database
Database of research articles maintained by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a leading school for journalism.

Resources for Faculty

Center for News Literacy
News Literacy is a curriculum developed at Stony Brook University in New York over the past decade. It is designed to help students develop critical thinking skills in order to judge the reliability and credibility of information, whether it comes via print, television or the Internet.
Data Reasoning in a Digital World
This course is designed to make students "think critically about the data and models that constitute evidence in the social and natural sciences."
Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning
Report of a study conducted by Stanford University that assessed the ability of thousands of students to interpret information online. Results and sample assessments are included.
News Literacy Project
The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, is building a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals — and ultimately a stronger democracy.

Unlike regular news services, AllSides exposes bias and provides multiple perspectives to promote "balanced news and civil discourse."

The AllSides Perspectives blog provides balanced coverage of today's top news and issues as well as unique views on media bias, filter bubbles, political polarization, and bridging divides — topics that are often ignored by the press.

AllSides for Schools features resources for teachers from single lessons to entire lesson plans.

Fact-checking Sites

Climate Feedback
Climate Feedback is a worldwide network of scientists who collectively assess the credibility of influential climate change media coverage. Its first mission is to help Internet users—from the general public to influential decision-makers—distinguish inaccurate climate change narratives from scientifically sound and trustworthy information in the media.
Fact Checker (The Washington Post)
A Washington Post column that tracks the statements of political figures and measures their truthfulness.
FactCheck.org
A nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. Monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Applies the best practices of both journalism and scholarship to increase public knowledge and understanding.
FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting)
Offers critiques of media bias and advocates for more independent journalism. FAIR's Take Action page suggests how people can petition news outlets to correct erroneous stories or clarify misleading statements.
Media Bias Fact Check
This site evaluates more than 2,200 news sources and categorizes them across a spectrum of bias and reliability.
Politifact
Rates specific statements made by politicians as either True, Mostly True, Half True, Mostly False, False, or Pants on Fire. The site also assesses positions taken by politicians on its Flip-o-Meter as either Flip, Half Flip, or Full Flip. Finally, it also tracks campaign promises and labels them as Not Yet Rated, In the Works, Stalled, Compromise, Promise Kept, or Promise Broken.
Snopes
A site dedicated to debunking urban legends and verifying the truth of claims circulating in the news.

Browser Extensions

There are many extensions that work with browsers or even single sites such as Facebook to reveal bias or alert users to fake news. The list below contains just a small sample of these tools. When choosing such an extension, be sure to research its own methods of categorizing sites as well as the background of its creators or sponsors.

B. S. Detector
B.S. Detector searches all links on a given webpage for references to unreliable sources, checking against a manually compiled list of domains. It then provides visual warnings about the presence of questionable links or the browsing of questionable websites.
Media Bias/Fact Check
Offers bias identifying apps for Facebook, web browsers, and Google News.
Open Mind
Alerts users to fake news sites, provides links to more balanced alternatives, and even assesses the partisanship of users' own online reading habits.