Helping learners contemplate the truthfulness of information is becoming an important objective for educators. The focus has frequently been on evaluating the value of a single source. A different perspective might target knowledge of the orientation taken by sources. The reality is that sources may align themselves with different political perspectives – liberal or conservative – and slant their messaging accordingly. This is often described as spin and concerns not so much the factual accuracy of what is reported, but what is emphasized or ignored and how the facts offered are explained.
Attempts to identify how different news sources exist and one of the most useful in my opinion comes from adfontsmedia. This organization categorizes sources along multiple axes – reliability and bias (spin). Within this two dimensional space the organization positions sources you likely know (e.g., CBS, Fox News, CNN) and some you don’t (e.g., Alternet, Info Wars). The methodology used to position news outlets is based on expert analysis of a sample of multiple articles from sources. The organization offers educators both free and paid resources for classrooms.
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