Clickbait or Credible?

Hey readers! Welcome back for another blog! Today’s topic will be tackling the issue of finding out if news is accurate and fact-based, or totally fabricated.

Today, news is constantly being advertised to us. Whether we see a clickbait ad during a Google search, or hear a commercial on the radio, people are always pitching us “news.” There is so much for us to take in that it can be overwhelming and difficult to decipher what information is A) useful to us, and more importantly is B) accurate. Even as a nineteen year old adult I still have trouble figuring this all out. In the classroom this can become problematic when students need to do independent research. They may not know how to sort the good articles from the bad. As educators, I believe we all share a responsibility to teach students how to find credible news and information to use in both their academic work and daily fact-finding pursuits. Here are a few easy ways to help our students become intelligent consumers of news…

1) Show them a few sites you have found to be reliable in your own experience.

While we would love for our students to find perfect sources all on their own, we need to be realistic and anticipate that they may not know where to look. To help them out, we can show them some reliable, unbiased websites, databases, and newspapers. Having links to these sites on your teacher webpage, in a syllabus, or even displayed somewhere in the classroom would give students some direction when they need to do research.

2) Teach them to check the source and author.

The source of news can make or break its credibility. Students should make sure that their news is coming from a source who is well educated in the topic of discussion. Websites ending in .gov, or websites who have authors highly experienced or educated in the particular topic are ideal for their credibility. If a student is unsure if the source is credible, allow them to ask for your opinion.

3) Have them compare multiple sources.

By having students read multiple sources on the same subject, they can see what facts the sources have in common, and look past any bias that is present.

Hopefully these quick tips can help you and your students sort through the various articles on the internet and find ones that are reliable for your research!