People develop preferences for some “go-to” media sources over others, or just to look up a topic of interest and read stories with the most catching headlines.
However, when you want to make sure your sources are presenting accurate facts and necessary background information, where can you turn?
To make matters even more complicated, some sources might seem like news but are really parodies or biting social commentary.
Some people have even started doubting the relevance of all news sources! We need to feel like we can trust the sources to provide relevant and accurate information. So, which are considered the most reliable news sources?
Key Words to Know:
Bias or Slant
Yellow Journalism
Political Left
Political Right
Independent
Conservative
Liberal
Progressive
Alt-Right
Freedom Caucus
First Amendment
Skeptical
Parody
For Discussion: Have you ever read a news source that you found hard to believe or outlandish? What caused you to start doubting? How did you react to the information? Can you think of examples in which someone was clearly misinformed due to the information he or she received?
Here is a list of the most popular sources, priding themselves on their reliability:
Wall Street Journal
New York Times
BBC
NPR
The Economist
PBS
The Associated Press
And a few that are less-trustworthy:
The Onion
Sources with a known, pronounced or extreme political bent, like Breitbart
Activity: Choose a topic that is in the news today and do a Web search for news on that topic. Read 3-4 sources, using some from the list above, and some not listed. What similarities do you find? Any differences? What questions do you have after reading?
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