English 111 - Roberts: News Articles

The CRAAP Test for newspaper sources:

Currency: When was the news article published?

• News sources will include a byline, which should list the author's name, the date the article was published, and possibly a secondary time/date when the article was updated or reviewed. 
• The byline is usually located directly below the title/header of the article, although some online news sources will list the byline at the very end of the article. 

Relevance: Does the article meet your research needs?

• Scan of the first few lines of an article. Most news articles will be upfront regarding the primary topic of the piece, as the goal is to not bury the lede (the main idea).
• Check the headline, or captions to any images included. These may also provide quick clarity to what the article will cover. 

Authority: Who wrote the article? What newspaper or organization published the article?

• You can always run a quick Google search on an author in the byline to see what their education background is--do they have a degree, or years working in a specific industry?
• Also, check the perceived reliability and bias of the news organization that published the article. 
  • Linked at the right are two media bias charts that lists partisanship of many news organizations.
  • It may be appropriate to use a biased piece of media if you are using it to discuss the bias itself--always check with your professor before including biased or unreliable sources in your project.

Accuracy : How accurate is the information? Is the information free of grammatical and spelling errors? Did the author include sources for their information?

• Similar to academic journal resources, keep an eye on spelling and grammar. If you are noticing issues in this area, you may want to take another look at the other CRAAP test variables to see if you are truly using a reliable source. Professional publications will attempt to publish error-free resources. 
  • If there are errors in a newspaper article, reputable sources may list corrections to these errors at the bottom of the webpage, or in the case of physical newspapers, in subsequent issues. 
• Also, most online news articles will include hyperlinked text that serves as supplementary, supporting materials to the points the author is discussing. While they may not provide a formal citation list, these hyperlinks function in similar ways by connecting topics together and providing a chain of information to the reader. 

Purpose: Why was the information created? Is the information biased in any way? Is it trying to sell you something? Note any advertisements included in your sources. 

• While our academic database resources will be ad free, many news sites include a large variety of ads. The news publishing industry relies heavily on advertising, and sometimes user subscription fees to stay in business. This is a part of the traditional news publication model, and has been for centuries. On most, if not all news sites, you will see advertisements listed throughout the page, including in headers, at the right/left columns of the page and sometimes even embedded within the formatting of the main text. 
• Advertising should never be a part of the article content itself. While the text may reference products or companies, the information supplied should be unbiased and informative in nature, rather attempting to sell you anything. 

MLA 9th Edition:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper, Date of Publication, URL or permalink.

Parker-Pope, Tara. “How to Age Well.” The New York Times, 2 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/guides/well/how-to-age-well.

APA 7th Edition:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Title of Newspaper, Day Month Year of Publication, URL or permalink.

Mitchell, T. (2009, June 5). Women’s health. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/

Ethics is a critical value within the field of journalism. The main values of good journalism involves the following concepts (quoted from the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics page):

• Seek Truth and Report It: Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
• Minimize Harm: Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.
• Act Independently: The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public.
• Be Accountable and Transparent: Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public.

Interested in learning more about ethics in journalism, check out the full code of ethics here (link opens in new tab): https://www.spj.org/spj-code-of-ethics/

Whenever looking at resources that include interviews, it is good practice to research all parties involved--this includes the interviewer and interviewee, as well as the publisher of the interview itself. 

Click for a larger version of the graphic

For an up-to-date version of the media bias chart: Adfontes Media Bias Chart

The chart itself can be a little bit confusing. The Harvard Library provides great information on how to use/understand this chart.

• "The bias rating, on the horizontal axis, ranges from most extreme left to middle to most extreme right. The reliability rating, demonstrated on the chart’s vertical axis, rates sources on a scale from original fact reporting to analysis, opinion, propaganda and inaccurate/fabricated information."
• Interested in learning more about the how the bias scores are calculated? Ad Fontes provides documentation on their methodology.

Click here for a larger version of the graphic

For an up-to-date version of the media bias chart, click here: Allsides Media Bias Chart

This chart does not measure reliability, but partisanship. They describe their methodology as: AllSides assigns a rating of Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, or Right to each media outlet or writer, as well as a numerical rating on the AllSides Media Bias Meter.

For more information on how to spot types of media bias check out this page: https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/how-to-spot-types-of-media-bias. Types of media bias include: Spin, Unsubstantiated Claims, Opinion Statements Presented as Facts, Sensationalism/Emotionalism, Mudslinging/Ad Hominem, Mind Reading, Slant, Flawed Logic, Bias by Omission, Omission of Source, Attribution, Bias by Story Choice and Placement, Subjective Qualifying Adjectives, Word Choice, Negativity Bias, Photo Bias, Elite v. Populist Bias