Evaluating Web Sources
Looking for unbiased news written for and by young adults? Check out The Cramm!
Olivia Seltzer founded The Cramm when she was just 13 years old . It's a daily news update, sent by text or email, that details the day's top news stories affecting teenagers around the world. It's written in a simple yet effective manner. In an interview with NRP, Olivia (who is now 16) said, "I write The Cramm exactly how I talk to my friends. And also, everything I write, I'm writing it from a young person's perspective, and I think that that's really important." What started as one teen's idea is now a worldwide effort to spread nonpartisan, teen-centered news.
Check out The Cramm:
Need a tool to help you figure out facts from fake news? Try using this:
Librarian Tips on analyzing sources
Mrs. Aszkler's Tip
Click restraint.
A strategy that involves resisting the urge to immediately click on the first search result. Instead, students scan the results to make a more informed choice about where to go first. Learn more here.
Miss Rish's Tip
Read laterally.
Consult third-party sources to make sure what you're reading is legitimate. This could be as easy as Googling the name of the resource or author. It's really easy to manipulate websites, tweets, and articles. If something seems fishy, step away from that resource and conduct your own research on its validity. Learn more here.
Mrs. Young's Tip
Visit a fact-checking website.
There are many good ones, like FactCheck.org, International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), PolitiFact.com, or Snopes.com.