5 Tips for news literacy during Election Week

I created these five tips for good news media literacy this week for the upper school students at my school but wanted to share them here as well. Please feel free to share with your own students if you think they would be useful. ​

Here are five tips to ensure you are getting (and sharing) good information:

1. Know the difference between news reporting and opinion/commentary. Both are valuable, but reputable news reporting isn't trying to persuade you to a viewpoint.
2. Always ask, "What's your source?" when someone shares news. Evaluate that source; you may want to use the nonpartisan Media Bias Chart. Sources in the green box are the most reliable, even if their opinion sections lean left or right.
3. Don't re-post/share without verifying the information.
4. This NYT article gives estimates for how long it will take each state to fully count all votes. It might be helpful to refer to it if you hear early results from specific states.
5. BE SKEPTICAL of anyone who shares results or makes predictions before the votes are fully counted. Breaking news is always subject to what we call "Big Story Bias" where people make assumptions and rush to judgment. On the Media has a guide to breaking news that might be useful (the point about shootings is for gun violence stories).