This page provides tools and resources that you can use to help you assess whether news sources that you find are trustworthy or not. Below, you will find fact-checking resources, tips on how to critically evaluate the quality of information you find online, and links to library resources that contain good quality news sources.
The following is a list of databases in the library's collection that can be useful for finding reliable and trustworthy sources of news.
Since you cannot believe everything you read, how can you make sure that the news sources you find are reliable and credible? The CRAAP test is a useful method to evaluate the news that you find online.
CRAAP stands for:
When applying the CRAAP test to news articles to determine whether they are fake news, evaluating the information for Authority, Accuracy and Purpose are especially important.
See the CRAAP test library guide for more information.
Below is a list of websites that can serve as fact-checking resources.
Pulitzer Prize wining site run by editors and reporters from the Tampa Bay Times (Florida) newspaper. "PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics.... The PolitiFact state sites are run by news organizations that have partnered with the Times." Read about their principles under 'About Us.'
"FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania....a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor 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."
"Headquartered at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, FlackCheck.org is the political literacy companion site to the award-winning FactCheck.org. The site provides resources designed to help viewers recognize flaws in arguments in general and political ads in particular."
"Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy."
Fact Check (Washington Post)
"The purpose of this Web site, and an accompanying column in the Sunday print edition of The Washington Post, is to “truth squad” the statements of political figures regarding issues of great importance, be they national, international or local."
"The definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation."
Duke Reporters' Lab: Fact Checking
Includes a database of global fact-checking sites, which can be viewed as a map or as a list; also includes how they identify fact-checkers.
International Fact-Checking Network fact-checkers’ code of principles
The International Fact-Checking Network "is a forum for fact-checkers worldwide hosted by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies."
(Reprinted from University of California - Berkeley Library)