The Most Trustworthy News | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

The Most Trustworthy News

Can we trust anything in the news?

230
The Most Trustworthy News
Pixabay

So ever since the "fake news" scandal started rocking social media, I began to ask myself: "Should we really censor fake and intentionally misleading news?" While I still don't have an answer to that, I do believe that we as voters, consumers, etc. should have an educated choice when it comes to where we get our information. Which brings me to this article. I will be listing some trustworthy and non-trustworthy sites. Note that these are not in any particular order.


First we will start off with the trustworthy sites.

1. Snopes

Okay, okay, okay... before you dismiss me for my, ahem, liberal bias, hear me out. Snopes has been fact checking and myth busting since the mid 90s. And they have a habit of showing their work too; if you don't like the Snopes analysis, scroll to the end of the article and click one of the citations that they have. That simple.

2. Politifact

A project of the Tampa Bay Times, Politifact evaluates statements made by congressmen, the White House, lobbyists, and interests group. In fact they won a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2009, for "its fact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters." They even have an "Obameter" which measures the performance of President Barack Obama in regards to his campaign promises.

3. National Public Radio

NPR makes it its initiative for accuracy in reporting. According to their website, "We tell stronger, better-informed stories when we sample a variety of perspectives on what we’re covering. The best reporting draws on the experiences of experts, influential figures and laypeople from across the demographic spectrum." They also talk about mistakes they have made covering past stories and how they apply those lessons going forward.

4. Public Broadcasting Service

In addition to having top quality educational programming, PBS also broadcasts news. As the majority of their funding comes from grants, telethons, fundraisers, and pledge drives, they receive little, if any corporate funding. They also make clear guidelines on how they maintain journalistic integrity.


And now for the not so trustworthy news sources. Not that these are hyper-partisan news sources who clearly swing to one side of the political spectrum.


1. Infowars

Home of ultra-conservative conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Infowars is not the most accurate source of information. In fact, there is a video on forty-five of his failed predictions right here.

2. Breitbart

Big Journalism, Big Hollywood, and Big Government. This is what Milo Yiannopoulos and his ilk believe are taking over this country. The articles on the website are often condescending, often criticizing climate change scientists and the president, often times with very little evidence supporting their ideology.

3. Huffington Post

So imagine if Tumblr became a news outlet. That is essentially what the Huffington Post is. Since so many of the articles written on HuffPo are actually opinion articles, it is quite hard to sift fact from opinon when reading their articles.

4. Occupy Democrats

Arguably the most biased page you will see on this list by far. Occupy Democrats has the lowest rating on Politifact (only ONE of their statements rated Mostly True). With their misleading headlines and misinformation, they have as much journalistic integrity as the National Enquirer. Yes, I went there.


Now before I conclude this article I wanna show you guys a picture.

Luke Dzwonkowski constructed this diagram and it not only does it give you an approximation of what leans where, it also gives you some tips to consider when evaluating sources.




Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

5 Things To Do That Are Better Than Writing A Paper

Don't waste your time trying to write that paper when there are so many more interesting things you could be doing.

6935
computer keyboard
Unsplash

Writing a paper is never fun and is rarely rewarding. The writer's block, the page requirement, be specific, but don’t summarize, make sure you fixed any grammatical errors, did you even use spellcheck? and analyze, analyze, analyze.

Papers can be a major pain. They take up so much time and effort that by the end of the process you hate yourself and you hate the professor for making life so difficult. Questions of your existence start roaming in your mind. Am I even cut out for college if I can’t write a single paper? Am I even capable of taking care of myself if I lack the energy to open my laptop and start typing?

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons Why Sisters Are The Best

Who could be a better friend than your own sister?

4203
sisters
Taylor Hooper

I can barely remember back when I was the only child. Most would say it’s because it is extremely difficult to remember things as a toddler but I would say it's because I was bored until my sister came along. My mother always says how important the "sister bond" is and with every year that passes I realize how right she is. Instead of writing a novel about all of the wonderful things there are about having a sister I decided to list a few of them instead.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

How To Adult

You're gonna make it after all.

5005
how to adult
Twitter

It is the time of our lives that we are beginning to enter the adult world and most of us, if not all of us, have no idea what we are doing. It's like starting a video game, but skipping the tutorial. We're all just running around aimlessly hoping we accidentally do something right that moves us along the right path. Now that graduation has just happened, or is right around the corner for some of us, it's time to start thinking about how we are going to take care of ourselves once we are on our own.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

7 Signs You're A Starbucks Addict

I'll be the first one to admit I'm addicted to Starbucks.

2953
drinking coffee
Tumblr

If you’re anything like me, you love a good cup of coffee. My coffee always comes from Starbucks; I refuse to drink it from anywhere else. Over the years, it’s become one of my biggest addictions. So, if you are aware that you’re a Starbucks addict as well, or maybe you need to check to see if you’re an addict, here are seven ways to tell.

Keep Reading...Show less
people  in library
Photo by redcharlie on Unsplash

College involves a whirlwind of emotions, whether it’s from the stress of an assignment (or twenty), or from fighting with your roommate. It can be overwhelming at times and it’s important to take a step a back and calmly think things over. Maybe gain some perspective. The following aren’t foolproof tips and may not apply to you, but I was able to find success with them (hope you do too!)

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments