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A Guide to Civic Literacy

This guide will help to serve Brazosport College's community to learn about and engage in civic life at the local, county, state, and federal levels.

Assessing Sources for Credibility

Finding Credible Sources

When searching for information about candidates, issues, or current events, it is important to make sure that the information is reliable and credible. To assess a source, consider the following:

  1. Authority: Who is the author? Who is the publisher? What credentials does the author have to publish on this topic? What is the reputation of the publisher? For online sources, what is the URL (e.g., .com, .gov, etc.)?
  2. Accuracy: Where did the author get their information? What do other sources say about the same topic, and does this source align? Is the information up-to-date?
  3. Purpose: What are the goals of the author or publisher? Why did they create this source? Who is the intended audience? What biases are present?

You can use the following worksheet from the Gators Vote! 2022 event to practice assessing sources.

Bias, News Sources, and Social Media

Assessing Bias

Often, the way you get your news can influence how much bias will be present in the source. For example, an article from a reputable newspaper will likely be less biased than a blog post shared on social media. Use the resources below to help you identify the potential biases in the news you usually consume and learn how to identify whether something shared on social media includes credible information.

  • Media Bias Chart: This resource created by Ad Fontes Media lists major news outlets on a chart displaying whether they report mainly facts or fabricated information and where they fall on the political spectrum.
  • News Literacy Quiz--Should you Share It?: We can all make better choices about the information we consume, share and act on. But can you tell the difference between social media posts that are false or misleading and those that are credible? Test your news literacy skills with this quiz and help stop the flood of misinformation.
  • AllSides: This website exposes people to information and ideas from all sides of the political spectrum, so they can better understand the world — and each other. Features include balanced news coverage, media bias ratings, civil dialogue opportunities, and a technology platform.