Media Literacy Guide

One significant source of information for consumers on a daily basis is News Media. As we've learned in recent years, 'Fake News' or misinformation and disinformation comes in all shapes and sizes. Being able to evaluate sources of information has become a critical skill for navigating the world of "News" and information.

Here are a few things to look for when evaluating a news story.

• Domain Name – Does the story’s domain contain a country code instead of .com? This can be an indicator that you are looking at a fake news source. 
  • Note from LibGuide creator that this example may not reflect known national news sites in Canada such as CBC, Global, CTV, or others but may simply be a good reminder to make sure the URL is indicative of confirmed news sources rather than untrustworthy or mocked up news sites.
• Contact Us Page – Many legitimate news sites contain a “contact us” page. Sites that lack a “contact us” page should be questioned. Students who visit sites without a contact us page should proceed cautiously.
• Advertisements – Many fake news sites contain ads for questionable content or products that do not appear on most legitimate news sources.  Keep an eye out for the kind of advertisements that are shown on the page.

  Source: ListenWise Blog

Source: International Federation of Library Associations

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  As an academic, I was intrigued. Academic research aims to establish the truth of a phenomenon based on evidence, analysis and peer review.
  
  On the other hand, a search on Google provides links with content written by known or unknown authors, who may or may not have knowledge in that area, based on a ranking system that either follows the preferences of the user, or the collective popularity of certain sites.