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Current Topics & Controversial Issues: News Resources

Introduction

In 2016, the Pew Research Center found that 62% of Americans get their news from social media.  Given the dramatic increase of fake news sites or news sites that promote a certain point of view at the expense of the facts and truth, it is important to know if the news you are reading is real, unbiased, factual, and truthful, or if it is fake.  

With the rise of clickbait and fake news stories on social media, it is important to know what news sources are trust-worthy and reliable with a minimum level of spin or bias.  A recent study by Stanford Economist, Matthew Gentzkow, found that 1 fake news story had the effect of 36 television campaign ads in 2016 Election.  

We encourage you to read widely from reputable news sources in order to avoid confirmation bias: the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.

News Databases from UAFS

How to Spot Fake News

"How to Spot Fake News" from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions