Fact-Checking the News
Regardless of where you get your news it's important to approach the story with a critical lens. Consider the potential hidden agenda, credibility of sources, and reputation of the source. If you're unsure of where to start, these websites are trusted fact-checking resources.
The following websites can help you find more information about a party, candidate, or an organization's political position to help you judge the type of political influence is present:
Vote411.org- allows you to enter your address to see what issues are on your ballet, who is running, compare candidates side-by-side, and see when upcoming elections and registration dates are.
Govtrack.com- allows you to find out who your representatives in Congress are and how they voted on specific legislation and what bills they sponsored and more.
Pew Research Center- Pew Research Center, a non-partisan fact tank, has a political party quiz to help you determine what party your views most align with.
Ontheissues.org- This bipartisan website provides information about where different politicians stand on a variety of issues.
Usa.gov- explains how to get in contact with your your federal, state, and local elected officials.
Ballotready.org- This website allows you to type in your address and see who your candidate is and what referendum are going to be on your ballot.
Ballotpedia.org- allows users to enter their address to get information on ballot measures, candidates, information about candidates, polling locations and hours for your location and more. Ballotpedia.org also has information about different political parties. Click here to learn more about different political parties.
FollowTheMoney.org- allows users to research passed ballot measures and see how much money was raised in support and opposition of the measure.
From the Valencia Library's LibGuide, Fake News: Separating Truth From Fiction, fake news is:
Fake news is false or misleading information intended to deceive readers into believing it is credible and true information. Regarding fake news, Sapna Maheshwari of the New York Times states that while some fake news is spread with the intent of "Seeking to make money from advertising, false information can also arise from misinformed social media posts by regular people that are seized on and spread through a hyperpartisan blogosphere."
Communications expert Barbara Alvarez warns that "Without the knowledge of appropriately identifying fake news, these websites can do an effective job of tricking the untrained eye into believing it’s a credible source. Indeed, its intention is deception."
As technology becomes more and more advanced, there are many ways fake sources are used to "trick" or "fool" people into believing something is true when it is not. In addition, people have confirmational biases, which happens when someone seeks out certain information that supports the readers ideas, and therefore, more likely to be believed.