Evaluating Sources

We are bombarded with news and information every day. 

• What skills do you need to evaluate what you find?
• How do you distinguish the good from the bad, what is biased, misleading, distorted, or outright false? 

This guide provides a variety of resources to help you become a more savvy and critically-informed information consumer.

Evaluating news stories, social media posts, and other content you find online or IRL requires a different strategy than what you may have learned in school.

Rather than just looking at the information itself, use the SIFT Method described below to learn more about the source of the information to determine whether it's credible.

For more information, check out our guide to combatting misinformation on social media.

S.I.F.T.-- Fact Checking Like a Pro

STOP

Do you know the website or source of information? Check your bearings and consider your purpose. 

INVESTIGATE THE SOURCE

Know the expertise and agenda of your source. Look up your source in Wikipedia. Consider what other sites say about your source. Open multiple tabs and explore. 

FIND TRUSTED COVERAGE

Look for the best information on a topic, or scan multiple sources to find out what the consensus is. Use Ctrl + F to find specific words. 

TRACE TO THE ORIGINAL

Find the original source to see the context, so you can decide if the version you have is accurately presented. 

The CRAAP test is one quick way of checking to see if your sources are credible and good to use for your research.

When trying to spot bias, ask yourself these questions: 

1. What kind of information is it?

Is it news? Opinion? Ad? Does it appeal to your emotions, or does it make you think?

2. Who and what are the sources cited, and why should you believe them?

Are the sources given? Are the sources associated with a political party or special interest group?

3. What’s the evidence, and how was it vetted?

What’s the evidence, and how was it vetted? Is the source a document? Witness? Or is it hearsay/speculation?

4: Is the main point of the piece proven by the evidence?

Did the sources provided justify the conclusion or main point of the story?

5. What’s missing?

Was there an aspect or point that was not covered or unclear that you are left wondering about?

Based on questions from the American Press Institute.

"Evaluating Sources for Credibility" by Anne Burke, Lisa Becksford, Daria Dorafshar, Andreas Orphanides, and Josephine McRobbie is licensed by CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US