Civic engagement has a direct impact on the information you consume. From how the data is collected and recorded, to how the information is disseminated and reported, information is perceived through multiple lenses between its source and your mind. Sometimes, information is deliberately withheld, misrepresented, or diluted with disinformation to portray untrue narratives. As a library at an institution of higher education, we strive to enable you to access information and then to discriminate between fact and fiction, and objectivity and subjectivity, so that you can understand the information you research in the broader context of its source and the medium by which you gather it.
Libraries are historically safe havens for people to access information without judgement and, as a result, are among those targeted by outside influences to restrict the availability of materials to you.
Censorship is the suppression of ideas and information that some individuals, groups, or government officials find objectionable or dangerous. Would-be censors try to use the power of the state to impose their view of what is truthful and appropriate, or offensive and objectionable, on everyone else. Censors pressure public institutions, like libraries, to suppress and remove information they judge inappropriate or dangerous from public access, so that no one else has the chance to read or view the material and make up their own minds about it. The censor wants to prejudge materials for everyone. It is no more complicated than someone saying, “Don’t let anyone read this book, or buy that magazine, or view that film, because I object to it!”
Your research on everything from class assignments to lab work and personal health is driven by access to information, and librarians work to ensure your access to it as freely as possible.
Reporting is inherently biased by the perspectives of those telling you what is happening. More on bias, in general, can be found in the section on Information Literacy on this page.
All news sources have some kind of bias, even if it’s not on purpose. The best way to stay informed is to understand these biases and look at different viewpoints. While media bias charts can be helpful, remember that they're based on opinions, too; their positions might be debatable, and an organization's slant can change over time, just like an individual's. It’s a good idea to use these charts along with other tools to get a more balanced view.
The following is a list of codes of ethics and standards from various news agencies. Understanding these ethical guidelines can help you critically evaluate whether a news source adheres to journalistic integrity.
These articles illustrate how false information spreads online, both intentionally and unintentionally.
You may wish to consider alternative sources of news that offer accountable, critical, and investigative journalism, as well as international news agencies with a worldly perspective on events in our country:
Here are some journalists who report independently on their own or with an independent organization:
MCC Libraries has additional guides about media and information literacy to help with your understanding of election news and become more informed members of your community:
As a student, faculty, or staff member at MCC, you have access to our databases, which provide a number of current and archival news sources.
Includes full-text articles from 1,500+ U.S. and international newspapers, plus newswires, TV and radio news transcripts, videos, and podcasts. Partially full-text. Does not include the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
Provides viewpoints and topic overviews; full-text magazine, journal, and news articles; primary source documents; statistics; images; videos; and links to authoritative websites on controversial topics.
Provides viewpoints and topic overviews; full-text magazine, journal, and news articles; primary source documents; statistics; images; videos; and links to authoritative websites.
These four moves will help you evaluate online sources:
STOP: When you find a new source of information, take a moment to think. Do you feel strongly about it? Is it a website you know and trust? Don't use it or share it until you know more about it, especially if you plan to use it for an assignment.
INVESTIGATE the source. Use Google, Wikipedia, or mediafactcheck.com to learn more about the source. What's its reputation? What do others say about it? What biases might they have?
FIND better coverage. Double-check the information using sources you trust. Do they say the same thing? Do they offer different perspectives?
TRACE claims, quotes, and media to their original context.Much of what we read or view online isn't original reporting or research. This means it might contain mistakes or be changed on purpose. To be sure claims are presented correctly, trace the information back to its source.
Once you've confirmed a source's reliability, you can analyze its content more thoroughly.
Modified from Mike Caulfield's SIFT (Four Moves), which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Accessibility is important to us. While we have made efforts to make our guides as accessible as possible, it is possible that issues could be present. If you are having difficulty accessing content in these guides or if you have any questions about the accessibility of online information posted by the MCC Libraries, please contact us.