DON’T GET TAKEN IN! TIPS FOR ANALYZING NEWS SOURCES

AVOID WEBSITES THAT END IN “LO”. Example: Newslo. These sites take pieces of accurate information and package it with other false or misleading “facts” (sometimes for the purposes of satire or comedy).

AVOID WEBSITES THAT END IN “.COM.CO”. They are often fake versions of real news sources.

ARE REPUTABLE NEWS SITES REPORTING THE STORY? There should typically be more than one source on a story.

ODD DOMAIN NAMES…generally equals odd and rarely truthful news.

LACK OF AUTHOR ATTRIBUTION…may signify that the news story is suspect and needs verification.

BE CAREFUL OF BLOGS POSTED UNDER NEWS ORGANIZATIONS. Some news organizations let bloggers post under their banners; many of these do not go through the same editing process. Examples: Buzzfeed Community Posts and Forbes blogs.

USE SNOPES AND WIKIPEDIA to check for more information about a source. (But be careful about Wikipedia because anyone with Internet access can write articles and/or make changes to its articles.)

BAD WEB DESIGN/USE OF ALL CAPS…could be a sign that the source should be verified and/or read in conjunction with other sources.

DOES IT MAKE YOU REALLY ANGRY? Keep reading about the topic via other trusted sources to make sure it doesn’t have misleading or false information.

ASKING YOU TO “DOX” OTHERS. (DOX is when someone searches for and publishes private or identifying information about a particular individual, usually with malicious intent.) Any site that encourages DOXing is unlikely to be a legitimate news source.

READ MULTIPLE SOURCES. Other sources: votesmart.org (exact voting records of elected officials; state & federal); Oyez.org or SCOTUS.gov (Supreme Court cases).

Established U.S. & British Media Outlets:

• The New York Times – Columbia University has awarded it 122 Pulitzer Prizes (Source: NY Times).

• The Washington Post – 48 Pulitzer Prizes. (Source: Wikipedia.)

• The Los Angeles Times – 44 Pulitzers. (Source: L.A. Times.)

• The Economist, The Guardian, BBC (U.K.)

• Associated Press

• Public Television & NPR