News Research Guide

In addition to web search platforms like Google, you can also find news sources using library's resources. Some advantages include:

• The library provides access to subscription resources, helping you get around paywalls
• News outlets included in the library's resources generally adhere to journalistic integrity standards addressed below.
• The library's resources include advanced search options not available in Google
• While Google prioritizes news items based on your search history, library resources are free of that kind of bias
   

Here are two main library resources for news:

Newspaper Source Plus  Full text articles from more than 1,200 newspapers, as well as magazines, newswires, and TV and radio transcripts

The New York Times: The library has a campus-wide subscription to The New York Times online. You will need to create an account using your arcadia.edu email for access.

To find out if the library has a subscription for a specific news source, such as a local paper, search for the name of the publication using the Find a Journal tool. The results will tell you if the library has a subscription, and how you can access it.

We want to make this research guide as useful as it can be! That's why we are asking you to share your feedback! Use this short form to tell us what you think and/or suggest content to include.

There are some dubious news organizations out there. There are also individuals and groups of people who intentionally spread misinformation, rumors, and outright lies, which is especially easy to do online.  That is why it is important to remember that there are many news organizations that practice with journalistic integrity - a code of ethics that is shared across the profession.

According to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, some of those key ethical concepts include:

• Seek truth and report it
  • Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
• Minimize harm
  • Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.
• Act independently
  • The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public (not the government or corporations).
• Be accountable and transparent
  • Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public.

Journalists practice ethics with good reporting practices, such as:

• Providing accurate information that is verified before it is released.
• Clearly identifying the sources of information.
• Keeping sources anonymous only when they have information that cannot be obtained elsewhere and may face danger, retribution, or other harm for sharing.
• Gathering, updating, and correcting information throughout the life of a news story. 
• Acknowledging mistakes and correcting them promptly and prominently.

Even within one news source, there are different types of items with different objectives and qualities. Within a single news story, factual reporting and opinion statements may exist side-by-side. A recent study from the Pew Research Center determined that while Americans can often distinguish a statement of fact from a statement of opinion, they also sometimes confuse the two. As you engage with the news, consider some common types of new stories:

"Straight news" stories are focused on reporting the facts of an event, without providing much analysis or opinion.

Opinion pieces are generally labeled with "opinion" or "op-ed." The author provides their opinion about and/or analysis of a topic or event.

Editorials are usually clearly labeled. They are generally authored by one or more members of a news outlet's editorial board, which generally operates independently of the newsroom, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the organization as a whole.

Breaking news pieces, sometimes called developing stories, are usually "straight news" pieces. Since they are reported quickly, often while an event is still ongoing, they may not provide a fully detailed account of the event. As time passes, reporters are generally able to get a clearer picture of the event and verify details, so breaking news items are often updated and/or corrected. 

Investigative reporting generally takes place over time. Journalists cover a story carefully and in depth over a sustained period of time. Investigative reporting has led to landmark outcomes in American public life, such as the release of the Pentagon Papers or, more recently, the #metoo movement. 

When identifying bias in a news item, it is helpful to consider what type of news item it is. Generally speaking, most news stories contain both factual reporting and some degree of analysis.

For news outlets that adhere to journalistic integrity standards, the facts should be verifiable. One way to verify facts is to compare them among a few different news sources. This is typically fairly quick and easy to accomplish.

Bias may be found in the analysis portions of a news story. Look for loaded language, tone, and value judgments. It's also useful to consider what points of view are covered and what perspectives may be missing.

It's important to remember that journalists are people, and that while they may strive to remain objective, their own biases or viewpoints may be present in their writing. It is also important to remember that the reputation of a news organization does not hang on a single news story. For example, the presence of a single biased opinion piece in a well-respected publication such as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal does not render either publication totally biased and untrustworthy.

When thinking about the reputation of a news organization, it's useful to consider their track record for factual reporting alongside their  political leanings. If you want to get an overview of a new organization's reputation, look them up on mediabiasfactcheck.com. That website's staff reviews news stories produced by different organizations, looking at their track record for passing fact checks, using reliable sources, using biased wording and/or misleading headlines, what stories they choose to cover, and if they have a strong political affiliation. They then rate the organization for factuality, bias, and credibility, using a format that conveys that information clearly, so you can quickly and easily get an idea of a source's reputation. 

When you turn on a nightly news program on a local station such as Philadelphia's 6abc or Fox29, you encounter a very different type of program than what you might see during prime time on a national cable network such as MSNBC or Fox News. Like different types of text-based news articles, different types of TV news programs have different goals and are intended for different primary audiences. While there are common elements among many different types of TV news, there are also qualities that differentiate types of programming. 

Let's consider a few different types of TV news programs.

Local daily or nightly news programs typically deliver fact-based reporting alongside some commentary, analysis, or opinion. Generally there will be one or two anchors based in a news studio who deliver content and make transitions from the studio to correspondents at different locations, pre-recorded segments, or in-studio segment hosts. Typical segments in local daily news programs include things like top national and local headlines, traffic, and weather, and human interest stories. Local daily news programs also sometimes contain segments of sponsored content, which promote a business, product, or tourism, and are paid for by a company or organization.  In the Philadelphia area, two examples of local daily news programs are 6abc Action News and Fox 29 News.

National broadcast news programs also typically offer primarily fact-based reporting alongside some analysis, commentary, and opinion. Like local news, national news shows typically have an anchor in the news studio who both delivers content and moderates the show as it moves between segments and correspondents. National news programs do not provide local content such as regular weather coverage. Some examples of national broadcast news programs include shows such as PBS NewsHour or ABC World News Tonight.

News talk shows tend to follow one of a few different formats. One characteristic that they have in common is that these types of shows are not focused on delivering fact-based reporting on the news of the day. Instead, these shows mostly provide analysis and commentary about the news, and generally contain a lot of opinion.

Pundit shows usually feature one person, often seated at a desk in a news studio in the same manner as a typical broadcast news anchor. Instead of simply reporting news, the host provides analysis, commentary, and opinion. The host may also interview people or convene panels to discuss current events and issues that are in the news. Pundit shows can be very opinionated and can exhibit varying degrees of political bias, so it is important to distinguish them from shows that are focused on providing fact-based reporting on the news of the day. Examples of such shows can often be found during prime time on cable channels, such as Tucker Carlson Tonight on the Fox News Channel or The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.

Panel talk shows have more than one host sharing their commentary and opinion on current events and issues in the news. Guests may join them to add their voice to the discussion. There are a range of panel shows with different focuses. Some examples include morning talk shows such as ABC's Good Morning America, NBC's Today Show, and Fox News's Fox and Friends. Morning shows tend to have segments on current events, lifestyle, entertainment, and human interest stories. Other types of panel talk shows include shows such as ABC's The View, in which a group of women discuss the social and political issues, and ESPN's SportsCenter, in which a panel of hosts discuss the day's games and current topics in sports. 

Satire or comedy shows also provide analysis, commentary, and opinion on current events, and do so in a way that is meant to be entertaining, and often to poke fun at prominent people. They may use some of the conventions of a news show, such as having a host seated at a desk in a studio, much like an anchor. However, these shows generally do not provide original reporting. They may instead share information gathered by news organizations, alongside commentary, opinion, and jokes. Examples of this include satirical news programs such as The Daily Show on Comedy Central, as well as the monologue portion of late night shows such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert or the "A Closer Look" segment of Late Night with Seth Myers. 

Satire and comedy news shows have evolved over the past decade or so, and now may occasionally include some content that blurs the lines of comedy and original reporting alongside their secondary information sharing and commentary. For example, The Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper's recent special, Jordan Klepper Solves Guns, involves journalistic elements such as embedding with a group for an extended interview and seeking multiple perspectives on a topic, but remains a comedy program. Similarly, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver generally does a good job of presenting the sources of the information they use in the program both in the narration and using graphics, but also sometimes orchestrates pranks that reveal new information, such as tricking local news programs to air a segment promoting a fake medical product in the May 2021 episode about sponsored content.

Often, talk shows can be considered infotainment - a format that combines information and entertainment. However, it is important to note that individual shows, regardless of type, may tend to combine information and entertainment in different amounts, even from episode to episode. As viewers, it's important to practice distinguishing elements of fact from elements of opinion when evaluating information and perspectives presented in news-oriented talk shows. 

We have all seen something online and been unsure if we should believe it or not. We've also probably all shared inaccurate information, often unintentionally and without even knowing it! In order to feel more confident about what information to trust, it's useful to have some fact-checking techniques you can use when you want to verify information you see online. 

These techniques are adapted from the work of Mike Caulfield, a leading scholar in civic digital literacies and the Director of Blended and Networked Learning at Washington State University Vancouver.

Stop: This is a critical move! When a piece of information sparks a strong emotional response, either positive or negative, stop to think before you act on or share it. If something seems outlandish, or makes you angry, or seems too good to be true, you'll want to verify it.

Investigate the source: Where does the information come from? What kind of reputation does that source have? If it's a person or a media outlet, Google them and maybe check their Wikipedia page. What do others say about that source? Does it seem trustworthy or appear to have a track record of sharing misleading or false information?

Check other sources: Open another tab, do a quick Google search, and scan other sources to see what they are saying about the topic. Does it appear that there is a consensus among reputable sources that this information is accurate?

Just like text, images and videos can be misleading or even completely false. If you find yourself unsure about an image, try a reverse Google image search to see if you can find the original source of the photo.

No such search currently exists for videos, but there are a few things you can do to consider a video's authenticity, as outlined in this guide from CNN, and summarized here.

• Look for clues in people. Do their eyes appear to be blinking normally?  Does their speech sound normal, not slowed down or sped up? Do their words synch up with the way their mouth moves?
• Does it look like the person is in the environment in the background, or does something seem off about the relationship between the person and their background?
• Can you find the video in other sources? Do a keyword search for the person featured and the topic of the video. Can you find it in a reputable source, or better yet, more than one?

When in doubt, it's best to get a second opinion. Simply reach out about the information you're trying to verify, and a librarian can help you!

Want to practice separating fact from fiction, use some of your fact checking skills, have some fun, and maybe learn something along the way? Try playing FakeOut, a game from CIVIX, an organization based in Canada and devoted to helping students improve their digital literacy.

When you do a Google search, how are the search results ranked? You may have heard that the number of links to the page has something to do with it, or you may have noticed that Wikipedia seems to be at the top a lot. The truth is that there are a lot of factors at play in determining what you see in your search results. 

Google is a business. Their search results are their product. They make money by selling ads, which you see on the search results page and on the websites you visit. Google is really good at serving you search results that you are likely to click on. That is because your search results depend on a complex set of information about you, where you are, and what you tend to do online. When people talk about Google's algorithm, they're referring to this process of of sorting through information and serving you a personalized set of search results. 

Personalized algorithms also shape what you see in your social media feeds. For companies like Google and social media applications, their personalization algorithm is essential to their business model, so the details of that algorithm are kept secret. As a result, users may not know why they see some items and not others. 

There are benefits and drawbacks to the personalized algorithms. Regarding news sources, one potential drawback is that the algorithm is more likely to serve you news that aligns with your pre-existing viewpoints, potentially obscuring information or viewpoints that you might not agree with. Scholars are studying how this impacts people's attention to news stories and how it might impact levels of political polarization.