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Learn the Lingo
The Digital Learning Center: Center for News Literacy put together a glossary of key news terms that include accountability, bias, hostile media effect, news driver, and more. Use the link below to check out their guide and learn about these important concepts.
- Glossary: The Language of News Literacy
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Avoid a Filter Bubble
Are your news sources diverse? How do you encounter viewpoints different from your own? Can you listen and try to understand the other side?
If the answer is no, you may be in a filter bubble!
What is a "filter bubble"?
- Eli Pariser's TED Talk:Your own personal, unique universe of information you live in online. And what's in your filter bubble depends on who you are, and it depends on what you do. But the thing is that you don't decide what gets in. And more importantly, you don't actually see what gets edited out
- Techopedia:The intellectual isolation that can occur when websites make use of algorithms to selectively assume the information a user would want to see, and then give information to the user according to this assumption
Source: William H. Hannon Library. (2017). What is a filter bubble? http://libguides.lmu.edu/fakenews/FilterBubble
Learn More About Your Filter Bubble
Use the following resources to find out more about confirmation bias and your filter bubble.
- How Facebook News Feed WorksAn overview of how Facebook's news feed works and how it influences what we see.
- Fun facts from the new Facebook filter bubble studyFacebook’s new study on the filter bubble has a lot of interesting tidbits on how liberals and conservatives consume content on the platform.
- Apply Magic SauceUniversity of Cambridge's personalization engine that accurately predicts psychological traits from digital footprints of human behavior.
The Filter Bubble by Call Number: ZA4237 .P37 2011The hidden rise of personalization on the Internet is controlling--and limiting--the information we consume. In 2009, Google began customizing its search results. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on....In a personalized world, we will increasingly be typed and fed only news that is pleasant, familiar, and confirms our beliefs--and because these filters are invisible, we won't know what is being hidden from us.--From publisher description.
Library Databases
Use the University of Rhode Island University Libraries databases to find news from reputable sources. Here are some good starting places.
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
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- What's included? Reports researched and written by journalists, on a variety of current topics. Reports include an introductory overview; background and chronology on the topic; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources.
- What dates are covered? 1923-. Updated weekly.
- Nexis Uni (LexisNexis) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? News, law, and business information service. Includes news from national and international newspapers; wire services and articles from hundreds of periodicals; and a number of other reference sources. All sources are full-text. Updated daily.
- ProQuest One Business This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Comprehensive business library containing millions of full-text items across scholarly and popular periodicals, newspapers, market research reports, dissertations, books, videos, and more.
- Providence Journal (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Articles from the Providence Journal. Searchable page images available for 1829-1982 and 2017 to present. Full text available from 1981 to present.
- What dates are covered? 1829 - Present.
Tips for Finding Reliable News
What to do:
1. Read, watch, and listen very widely.
2. See the list below for some generally reliable sources that are mostly open access resources. *Note that some sites have limits on the number of articles you can freely access per month.
3. Recognize that even typically reliable sources, whether mainstream or alternative, corporate or nonprofit, rely on particular media frames to report stories. They select stories based on different notions of newsworthiness.
4. Be critical of the sources you share and engage with on social media.
What to avoid:
1. Fake, false, and regularly misleading sites that evoke an emotional response by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, or profits. Examples:
2. Websites that may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information. Examples:
3. Websites that use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions. Examples:
4. Purposefully fake satire/comedy sites that can offer critical commentary on politics and society but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news. Examples:
Source: Pace University. (2016). Tips. http://libguides.pace.edu/fakenews
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URI Students, Faculty, and Staff Only
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URI Students, Faculty, and Staff Only
PPL or OSL Resource - Public Library Card May Be Required for Use
Must Be Accessed from Within a URI Library
Free Resource - Available to AllCreated By:
Alicia Vaandering, 2/2017