Media Literacy Guide: Reliable Journalism

Bias is everywhere.  We add have it and journalists or reporters are no exception.  Being aware of bias is important.  You can use biased news or reports, no problem, as long as you acknowledge the bias.  For instance: vaccines.  They are controversial and what you will read about vaccines come from dramatically different points of view.  It is important to be aware of the reporter views on this or other controversial topics. 

• Bias from Wikipedia (while not considered scholarly, this article is very good at describing bias and cannot be edited or tweaked)
• How To Detect Bias In News Media from FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
• Understanding bias from the American Press Institute
• Video: How to avoid bias in your searches

• AllSides Media Bias Chart - A patented bias rating systems which reflect the judgment of the American people. It is not accurate - there is no such thing as an accurate measure of bias - but the ratings provide a sense of political leanings of the source.  This makes it easier to provide different perspectives on any topic.  You can help rate the bias of news media.
• Pew Research Center: Journalism & Media: Trust and Accuracy

The following list contains news sources that are reliable - we know this because they publish their code and standards, telling us what is required before publishing news. If you are unsure, Google the news service and "code of ethics" OR 'code of conduct" OR "standards & ethics" OR "policies & guidelines".  News providers should have required standards to guarantee honest and researched articles.

•  NY Times Standard & Ethics
• Wall Street Journal Dow Jones Code of Conduct
• The Los Angeles Times Ethics Guidelines
• About the Christian Science Monitor
• The Washington Post Standards & Ethics
• The Seattle News Newsroom Policies & Guidelines
• BBC (British Broadcasting Co.)   BBC Guidelines - Editorial
• CNN (Time-Warner Journalistic Integriy)
• Web sources: for example: Al Jazeera Code of Ethics