COMM 110: Fundamentals of Journalism

As you begin the practice of journalism, evaluating the resources you use in your reporting is key to ensure presenting accurate and useful information. Below you will find tools to guide you in assessing the reliability and relevance of both print and online sources.

For more information on journalism and communication resources at OWU Libraries go to: 

Journalism and Communication Resources Guide

You can get up to date news from print and broadcast sources -- no personal subscription needed! -- from OWU databases. 

Here are four steps to checking the accuracy and validity of what you're reading and seeing from Mike Caulfield's free online guide, Web Literacy for Student Factcheckers: 

• Go upstream to the source: Go “upstream” to the source of the claim. Most web content is not original. Get to the original source to understand the trustworthiness of the information.
• Check for previous work: Look around to see if someone else has already fact-checked the claim or provided a synthesis of research.
• Read laterally: Read laterally.[1] Once you get to the source of a claim, read what other people say about the source (publication, author, etc.). The truth is in the network.
• Circle back: If you get lost, hit dead ends, or find yourself going down an increasingly confusing rabbit hole, back up and start over knowing what you know now. You’re likely to take a more informed path with different search terms and better decisions.