REA 011/017: Pro and Con/Evaluating Sources

In addition to careful evaluation of websites when completing assignments, it is also important to evaluate information you get from news sources, both online, in print and through social media. This is especially true for current issues in the news that are often controversial and for which there are many different viewpoints. Some news is intended to be misleading. Sometimes this type of news is called "Fake News".  There are other words that are used often to describe different types of Fake News. Expand your vocabulary by learning these words:

• Fake News - a type of  yellow journalism (a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts) or propaganda that consists of deliberate misinformation
• Misinformation - false information
• Disinformation - false information deliberately shared  
• ​Hoax - false information that is deliberately presented as truthful

• Propaganda - information, especially biased or misleading, that is used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

• Bias - a strong view or opinion in favor of or against an idea
• Satire - wit, irony, or sarcasm used in a way to expose and discredit vice or folly.

And don't forget these words:

• credible (adjective); credibility (noun)  - accurate, accuracy.
• authority - academic knowledge or expertise on a topic (notice that the work 'author' is in this word!)
• objectivity - without bias; without prejudice
• evaluate - to think critically about information; to review the information