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WRI 102: Young Adult Romantic Fiction (Sp 2021)

Credibility?

For More Information

For a comprehensive guide to website evaluation please see David Murray, Humanities Librarian's Library Guide on the topic.

Podcast

Worried about citizens' diminishing standards of information evaluation? How about the Fake News phenomenon? Why has the great promise of the internet, the so-called "information superhighway," given way to "filter bubbles" and "confirmation bias" that reinforce our pre-conceived notions of the world? Why do Facebook and Google increasingly exert monopoly power over the distribution and consumption of online information? Find some answers by listening to The Failed Promise of the Internet, an NPR podcast aired February 3, 2017.

To avoid the "walled garden" effect, obtain at least some of your news from content creators directly. Curate a mix of credible, authoritative news sites that represent a range of political perspectives. I recommend KCRW's Left, Right, and Center podcast and the Read Across the Aisle app for iOS and Chrome. Follow on X (Twitter) not only the commentators with whom you agree, but also one or two with whom you disagree. If, for example, your political beliefs lean left, follow David Brooks (NYT), National Review, and/or The Bulwark. Conversely, conservatives might follow Gail Collins (NYT), The Atlantic, and/or Mother Jones. Allow yourself to feel uncomfortable by sampling credible sources of information that do not conform with your own beliefs or ideological framework.